Jimi Hendrix's flaming fortune

Friday, 5 September 2008

Jimi Hendrix's first flaming guitar has been sold for £282,000.

The rock legend set the Fender Stratocaster on fire during a concert at London's Finsbury Park Astoria in 1967 but after the flames were put out Hendrix' press officer Tony Garland recovered the instrument and kept it in his parents' garage in Sussex, England.

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Tony's nephew uncovered the guitar last year. It was the star lot at a recent music memorabilia auction in London, where US guitar enthusiast Daniel Boucher snapped it up.

Daniel, who travelled to Britain especially for the auction, said: "I thought I'd have to pay a little bit more for it, actually. I am going to play it, I hope some of it rubs off on me."

Other items sold at the event included a copy of The Beatles' first contract with Brian Epstein, which sold for £242,000.

The four-page document was signed by John Lennon, George Harrison, Sir Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey - Ringo Starr's real name - and stated Epstein would be given 25 per cent of the group's earnings once each member was making over £200 per week.

An application for a gun permit made by Elvis Presley, along with a set of his fingerprints, sold for £46,400.

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