JFK Jr.’s white gloves, worn by the toddler the day of his dad’s funeral

THIS ITEM HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN FROM THE MAY AUCTION.

THE BLOG POST HAS BEEN REMOVED AS WELL.

The Wall of Sound comes crashing down: The sad demise of Phil Spector

April 14, 2009
Posted by Noah

Phil Spector, one of the greatest rock and roll minds of all time, has been convicted of the second degree murder of B-movie actress Lana Clarkson. This is one of those stories that ultimately begs the question: What is more important, the art or the artist?

Phil Spector was – and I would still say is – a massive musical talent, a generational influence whose true brilliance has just begun to come to life. His patented “Wall of Sound,” and his monumental outpouring of chart-topping songs in the early and mid-1960s was outdistanced only by albums he later produced for The Beatles (a controversial finish of Let It Be), John Lennon (Imagine and The Plastic Ono Band), George Harrison (the seminal, unbelievable All Things Must Pass), Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies’ Man) and The Ramones (the not so great, but commercially successful End of the Century). He also produced the recording for a little concert film called, The Concert for Bangladesh. Ever heard of it? It just so happens that it’s one of the single greatest concerts – and concert films – of all time.

Spector also happens to be a first class nut, a loon, a man completely out of his skull with madness. He always was, actually. There are many who have described him as a savant, which seems to have some merit. He was always socially awkward, given to outbursts and backstabbing. He viewed his success as revenge on those whom he deemed had persecuted him as a boy and a teenager. He grew into an obsessive recluse, a man with countless guns in the house and on his person at any given time. He is a man, as described by former wife Ronnie Spector, who threatened to kill her and display her body in a glass-topped casket if she ever tried to leave him. He is alleged to have pulled everything from a handgun (The Ramones) to a crossbow (John Lennon) on those he worked with. When he burned a bridge, he didn’t just toss a match on it, he sprayed it with gasoline, used a flamethrower and then came back with a tank to roll over the smoldering ruins.

That such a great talent should manifest such eccentric behavior – even insanity – is not uncommon. Many a great mind has been afflicted so. That it should manifest in the cold blooded murder of a woman who, by all accounts, was faithful and trusting if not the brightest bulb on the tree, is unforgivable. A good lawyer may have been able to get him off the first time, but not the second. Phil has a cozy cell in a prison waiting for him, and a hot seat somewhere else when this world is done with him.

What does this sad news leave behind? A tarnished legacy – for the time being – and that still amazing catalog. His accomplishments in the music business are way too lengthy to list here, and his influence is all over the place. There could have been no Summer of Love, Punk, Metal, Glam, Grunge or any other rock evolution over the decades without the unbelievable sounds he layered painstakingly upon one another in his recordings. In the process he created music that is still profound and infinitely listenable. Think about it: He produced and co-wrote The Righteous Brothers hit You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, the song that is believed to have been the single most played radio song of the 20th Century.

Back to my original question, then: Is it the art or the artist that will then be remembered?

This is a popular discussion around my house. My wife and I debate it at the death of most any famous musician or writer or the like. She believes in people more than I do, I think, and invariably says that the way a person lives their life will be the final indicator of how they’re remembered. Seasoned cynic that I am, I invariably side with the faceless legacy of creation. To paraphrase Faulkner, no one remembers Shakespeare’s daughter.

I asked Garry Shrum, Consignment Director and Music Memorabilia Expert here at Heritage – a man who knows his music, for sure – and he believes that Spector’s behavior will prove a stain that will never be lifted.

“The media won’t ever let anyone forget it,” he said. “It’s just what it is. He encouraged a lot of combination of rock and R&B early on and was a huge influence on all kinds of music. He was right there with it as it changed. Unfortunately, he ultimately didn’t change with the times very well when it shifted away from what he was doing. Plus his gun reputation goes way back to pulling guns on a variety of people. It’s a shame that it happened, but not a surprise.”

Phil Spector could throw away with a flick of his wrist the amount of musical talent any 1,000,000 of us might have, and refresh that deficit with a breath. The world has, and will have, his vast catalog to listen to in perpetuity as long as there is American pop culture. His name will be forgotten and, ultimately, so will his madness and his crime.

More than a few Phil Spector items have come through Heritage, a list of which can be accessed by clicking here. The top selling lot is a group of various papers that came from his mother. I couldn’t tell you if his conviction will make these things more valuable or worth about as much as the paper they’re printed on.

You know what, Wolverine? I think I’ll just stay over here…

April 10, 2009
Posted by Noah

… If that’s okay with you, Mr. Wolverine, sir.

Wolverine #1 is one of those books that everyone has. It was September 1982. Wolvie had already proven himself a force to be reckoned with, and the first bonafide breakout star from The X-Men. When Marvel went with his solo issue #1, they smartly got Frank Miller to draw this unbelievable cover. It captures all that is good and menacing in the character. And certainly makes me realize that I’m not near tough enough to play with Wolverine. The thing is, I bruise easily…

Did I mention that there’s a CGC Certified Mint 10 Wolverine #1 in Heritage’s May Comics Auction? I didn’t? Like I said, this is a book that the whole world owns, or owned at some point, so it’s not the rarity of the title that sells me on this one. It’s the amazing condition. I can only assume it was dropped right off the production press – the ink still faintly smelling of murk – into a carbon-freezing unit and immediately transported from the Cloud City of Bespin to its home in a vault somewhere on earth for the last 26-1/2 years. If you own this, then you own the best. Period. Or ellipsis. There has been one other Wolverine #1 certified 10 in the past, but that is of little import to the auction of this one.

Another awesome thing about it is the Mega-Force ad on the back. Wow, what a stinker that one was. I saw it twice.

Wolverine #1 is a classic Wolvie in Japan story, though it starts with a memorable tussle with a deranged bear somewhere in the wilderness. I don’t know quite how to put my finger on it, though, but once Wolverine got to Japan, it was always perfect for Japan. Everything about it seemed to lend a gravitas to the character while at the same time allowing him to pursue a more human type of storyline – as human as being chased by hundreds of assassins and slaying them all can be – where he was simply fighting a crime syndicate instead of malignant cadre of rogue mutants bent on punishing all human kind. Plus, as any fan of the title will tell you, everything Wolverine does in the first four issues of his own title were for the love of the gentile, porcelain Mariko. Can’t you see the big lug is enamored?

The Heritage record for a 1980s comic is a $4,182 for a Ninja Turtles #1. Don’t be too surprised if that record falls. From the catalog: “Just the second Gem Mint certified by CGC despite (more than) 5,100 submissions of this issue, which battles Amazing Spider-Man #300 for the title of ‘most-submitted book.’”

I know the movie is coming out with oh-so-dreamy Hugh Jackman. I hope it’s good, and the advance buzz has been good, but I don’t pay too much attention to that. I had my heart broken by the second and third X-Men movies. Who knows if this will actually be good. I’m assuming it’s not the Wolvie in Japan story, but rather hews more closely to Weapon X. Wolverine will seek out the clues to his shadowy origins and have a few good fights with Sabretooth. Sounds good on paper. If it sucks then, oh well, it’s just another super hero movie gone awry. Look at Spider-Man 3.

If I had to choose an X-Man to make a movie about, I reckon it would have to be Nightcrawler. I always appreciated the monk-side of the character and the origin. Blue skin? The ability to teleport? The smell of brimstone every time he does it? So what if he doesn’t have indestructible adamantium bones, and doesn’t really like to slug it out. Who does?

Here’s the link again to the lot. Check it out. I just can’t get that creepy look in Logan’s eye out of my mind….

An ode to Sturges and a lost treasure buried deep in an old file

April 9, 2009
Posted by Kristen

(When it rains it pours here at the Heritage Blog, and I find myself, for the second time in two days, in the enviable position of introducing another writer to the blog. Kristen Painter works as a cataloger and researcher in the Music & Entertainment Department here. Sounds like a rough job: handling amazing Hollywood and music merch every day, writing about it, not to mention that she works for Doug Norwine. If you know Doug, then you know what I’m talking about. Kristen has a columnist's knack for the hidden story, which makes her first blog post about one of her favorite screenwriters/directors, the always intriguing Preston Sturges, all the more appropriate as he was one of the best and most inscrutable of his day – and of his kind. Read on about a particular Sturges gem hidden in the June M&E auction. - Noah)

Preston Sturges, the creator of the most memorably sarcastic dialogue* in film history – any Barbara Stanwyck line in his 1941 masterpiece, The Lady Eve serves as further proof – was paid $5,000 in 1952 to help Billy Wilder on a screenplay tentatively titled A New Kind of Love. The film was slated to star Yul Brynner opposite Katharine Hepburn and was never produced, likely due to Brynner's binding contract with Rodgers and Hammerstein for the Broadway production of The King and I.

I know this, or more accurately, I discovered this while describing a set of Billy Wilder-related documents to be included in our upcoming Music & Entertainment Auction (June 5-7). The paperwork, hidden amongst the delicate yellowed documents, confirmed Sturges’ payment and writing schedule, as well as other fascinating tidbits from the unproduced project like “confidential” notes to Wilder on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s replacement choice for Brynner (it would’ve been Alfred Drake, if you’re curious), and Brynner’s insistence on partial payment upfront “for tax reasons.”

Hollywood is fickle, and directors are notoriously more fickle, so the film never made it past the initial stages of production.

Perhaps it was Wilder’s frustration with the limitations that the Broadway duo put on Brynner’s availability; or perhaps a Sturges/Wilder conflict that went unresolved. Both were perfectionists, though Sturges’ drinking had, by the point of this collaboration, taken a toll on his industry relationships.

What does remain from the production’s first stages are 12 pages of Sturges' handwritten story ideas, notes and stream-of-consciousness writing, including a random note on his friend Rupert Hughes:

"Upton Sinclair refused Rupert Hughes's invitation to dinner and added pointedly that he did not own a tuxedo."

Interesting, indeed, for a Sturges fanatic like me. Mingled in with more than 50 other pages of handwritten script (presumably that of Wilder and Julius Epstein, Casablanca screenwriter and Sturges’ replacement on the project) these pages stood out. The handwriting was on the wall, so to speak; small, yet open, flourished, and rounded. This find made my year. “Undeniably Sturges”, I thought to myself, hoping that I was holding in my hands something that had once rested in the lap of the daring, cynical filmmaker.

Sturges once commented: “When the last dime is gone, I'll sit on the curb outside with a pencil and a 10 cent notebook and start the whole thing over again.”

True to his words, Sturges wrote the mystery treatment in pencil on 10 cent yellow ledger paper – though probably not curbside – adding doodles and depositing coffee stains here and there. I’ve pored over the treatment, confirmed the handwriting through our third-party authenticators, dwelled on the cryptic notes (what did he mean by this or that, and how the #%# would he be able to use it?), and then parted with it, hoping it finds a good and worthy home…

For more on Sturges, skip the biographies. Rent The Lady Eve and you’ll witness the essence of the ever-copied-but-never-surpassed, forever-sarcastic-but-also-romantic Preston Sturges.

Click here to check out the treatment.

*"In my humble opinion."

There and back again: A Cataloger’s Tale of The Hobbit

April 8, 2009
Posted by Joe

(It is my pleasure this morning to turn today’s writing reins over to Joe Fay, one of our Rare Books catalogers, the father of two, and a good man. He has one of the coolest jobs in the building, working as he does day in and day out with rare and valuable first printings of great literature. It’s a thrill for me just to see some of the stuff on the rack on my infrequent forays down into the nether parts of the building. I can only imagine getting to open and look at some of the tomes. Below Joe discusses cataloging one of his – and the world’s – favorite books: The Hobbit. It’s a special volume indeed, and just one of thousands of things here that, could I afford it myself, I wouldn’t hesitate to bid on. My thanks to Joe, and enjoy! – Noah Fleisher)

In most any job or profession, some days are good, some days are not so good, and a number of days are somewhere in-between. For me, yesterday was none of these; yesterday was one of the truly special days. It was one of those days when I feel especially privileged to work at Heritage, where I have regular access to rare books of the highest order. See, yesterday was the day I was fortunate enough to catalog one of my favorite books of all time: J. R. R. Tolkien's classic The Hobbit.

This particular Tolkien classic is one of a number of rare and important books scheduled for our June 16-17 Signature Rare Books Auction #6025. In addition to cataloging the book, I was responsible for working with the consignor to get the book to Heritage from England, where it has been in the consignor's collection for many years. This part of the process could make a blog entry of its own, and perhaps I'll write of it someday – the unique challenges of communicating with consignors across an ocean and shipping and receiving material from foreign countries. And how much fun it all was and continues to be. For now, however, let us proceed to the book itself.

At first, The Hobbit is a rather unassuming little tome, as are a great deal of modern rare books. It has two covers, pages, some illustrations, a dust jacket, and rather looks like any other book you might pick up at the library. It is only when you dig into the bibliographical distinctions of such a book when the real magic of rare books is revealed, those pesky and demanding "issue points" that will tell you whether or not you have the rare and valuable first issue of The Hobbit, a virtually worthless reprint or something in the middle of these two extremes.

So you wash your hands, sit down with the book, and dive in. First, was the book published by Allen & Unwin in London? Check. Does "First Published in 1937" appear on the copyright page? Check. Does the book have all 16 misprints scattered throughout the book from page 14 to page 248? Yes. Is the overleaf/advertisement in the back of the book? Yep. Is the book bound in green cloth with dark blue decorative stamping and lettering? Absolutely. Does the dust jacket have the word "Dodgeson" on the rear flap with the "e" blacked out by hand by the publisher? Affirmative. After all this, you realize that you indeed hold in your hands a complete example of one of the 1,500 original first issue copies of Tolkien's first published fiction, printed in 1937 at a time when few outside Oxford University even knew the name John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. And that's when the satisfaction bubbles up and slaps a goofy smile across your face.

To some people, such distinctions in books mean little to less than nothing, but to "book people" like me, these are what we love. These little mistakes that can mean hundreds and even thousands of dollars of difference between two books that are sometimes exactly the same in every other way. That's what makes the rare books rare books, see, and the rest of them simply books.

In case you missed it above, here’s one more link to the listing.

Academy Awards, you say? I just ask our in-house experts…

Jan. 23, 2009
Posted by Noah

In this case, it’s our Music & Entertainment Director Doug Norwine and our Movie Poster Director Grey Smith. Both men know their stuff, know their Hollywood and are not afraid to voice their opinions on it. The sad fact is that I’ve managed to corner only one of them: Doug. Grey has been a little busy getting his March auction in order, but I reckon I’ll be able to update this post soon with his opinions.

Before I get to Doug’s – who was a longtime L.A. resident, professional musician and probably rubbed elbows with more than his fair share of Oscar winners and nominees – I know that you’re really curious about my opinions. I mean, who wouldn’t be? Besides my wife, that is… I kid, I kid..

I haven’t seen all the movies for Best Picture, in fact, I think the only one I have seen is Benjamin Button, though I think Harvey Milk was a fascinating character, and I’m dying to see Slumdog Millionaire, and have traveled quite extensively throughout India, where the film is set – specifically Mumbai – and love it deeply as a nation, but that doesn’t really qualify me to comment on its chances. So, I guess by default, I’d say Benjamin Button is the odds on favorite. It’s by the Forrest Gump guys, has all the things that modern Hollywood loves in its epics, is the closest to magical realism Hollywood can truly get and is, really, just an enjoyable movie with excellent performances across the board. In fact, Doug echoed the same sentiment:

“Benjamin Button is a special effects tour de force with a wonderful message that left you in an up mood,” he said. “It also proves Brad Pitt is not only an excellent leading man, but a superb actor.”

Nicely said. The truth is that I really don’t have a real horse in any of the races, and I won’t even watch the awards. Benjamin Button will probably win best pic, but Pitt won’t win the award. He’s too pretty. It’s sweet that he and his wife are both nominated, though… Question is, will they be able to get a full section of seats for their 300 kids.

I’ll let you know, hopefully soon, what Grey has to say about the awards. Meanwhile, enjoy this little set of Oscar-related memorabilia from past Heritage Auctions. Cool stuff…

Picture caption: The Oscar for Best Short Film of 1949, one of the last Academy Awards legally available for resale, and sold at Heritage, April 2008.

Basking in the frets of the master: Chet Atkins guitars in Feb. 21-22 Music & Entertainment Auction

Jan. 13, 2009
Posted By Noah

the frets of the master: Chet Atkins guitars in Feb. 21-22 Music & Entertainment Auction

Now, I haven’t exactly wheedled my way into the Music & Entertainment vault at Heritage World-HQ – located as it is in a steel bunker, miles underground, in a secret undisclosed location – but I know for a fact that within those hallowed steel-reinforced concrete walls there sits a section of the Cochran Collection of Guitars, a select few of which were actually played by Chet Atkins. You can link to one of them by clicking here, or on the picture above.

If I were to be in the presence of those guitars I don’t quite know what I would do. My first thought would be to pick them up and play them, or at least one of them, but I know more likely than not I would be deemed unworthy to do such a thing and my head would explode like one of the Nazis at the end of Raider of the Lost Ark. And no, I’m not joking.

If you haven’t already shaken your head in disbelief that we have actual Chet Atkins-played guitars in-house, or you don’t know who Chet Atkins even was, then I pity you… Really… All you need to know, if you don’t know already, is that Atkins was, and still is, probably the greatest country guitarist to ever live and one of the five greatest guitarists of the 20th Century, and I’d stand on Jimi Hendrix’s coffee table and say it if I could. He set the standard for great country guitar, and rock guitar for that matter, and did it all with a level of ease, and class, that had never been seen before and hasn’t been seen since.

This is one of those groupings that gets everyone who knows enough to know excited about it. Doug Norwine, head of the M&E department – and a superb musician himself – is so excited about these beauties that he’s almost – almost – at a loss for words in describing them. If you know Doug, then you know how great that means these guitars are.

Here’s a link to the catalog for the auction. Just do a search for Chet Atkins and marvel at the beauty.