(£13k, for a replica.) In the past Bonhams has handled the sale of items linked to a host of artists, Angus Young, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townsend and Roger Waters among them. A replica of the amber-handled cane he used as John Hammond in Jurassic Park fetched £13,000.

The day before we speak to him about this guitar, Bonhams had a sale of personal effects and props belonging to the late director/actor Sir Richard Attenborough. Today he is the Consultant Specialist for their Entertainment Department, offering his expertise on film and music memorabilia. On Wikipedia he’s even cited as the first drummer for London punk band, The Members, but he plays that down, as we speak to him at Bonhams’ offices in London. In the year Kossoff died, Stephen Maycock was a wannabe musician himself. After all, they have been in the game since 1793.

It’d be great for it to go to a musician, someone who’ll take care of it.”īut what’s the best way of ensuring a sale like this is handled correctly? Having made enquiries, Ramm was advised to go to the auction house Bonhams, due to their expertise in selling musical memorabilia. It’s time for somebody else to have it and enjoy it. “I know it’s worth a little bit of money and that’ll help me in my later years. He’d heard about the guitar and invited Ramm to his Newcastle City Hall show in 2010, and played some Free songs on it in tribute.Īrthur Ramm is in his middle 60s now, and thinks it’s time to let the guitar go. Someone who did get their hands on it since was Joe Bonamassa. People at gigs kept asking me all these strange questions: Is that the Kossoff guitar? It must be worth a lot? How do you store it? I started thinking I’d better not play it any more, in case someone decides to take it home with them!” But then around 1989 I noticed Paul’s name started coming back into vogue, he started getting more popular again. “I wasn’t bothered about its value, it’s just a great musical instrument. The Kossoff Les Paul was his gigging guitar, right up until the end of the 80s. He left Beckett, having been replaced in time for their sole, self-titled album for Warner, but he kept playing, with the highly successful Les Humphries Singers in Germany, and more recently in Just Us Four and Snake Eyes, rock bands working the pubs and clubs across the north east. But a few months later she gave me David’s number, I spoke to him, and he said if I wanted to buy it, I could.”Īnd that Les Paul has been in Arthur Ramm’s hands since ’76. I thought it would go to a Clapton, Page, Green or Beck, one of these wonderful, monster players. “Sandie said she knew Paul had promised me the guitar and had welshed on the deal,” says Ramm, “and she’d talk to his dad, the actor David Kossoff. Back Street Crawler with Terry Slesser (second left), Paul Kossoff (centre) (Image credit: Getty Images)

Small Town Is a World by David Kossoff