Duane Allman’s old guitar ‘Layla’ sells for $1.25M
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of the Allman Brothers Band, from left, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Gregg Allman and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson, eat at the H&H Restaurant in downtown Macon, Ga. Fans of Duane Allman say they didn’t expect the late musician’s old guitar to sell for $1.25 million at a recent auction. The Telegraph reports that the gold-topped guitar is the one Allman played in the hit song “Layla.”
MACON, Ga. >> Fans of Duane Allman in Macon, Georgia, say they didn’t expect the late musician’s old guitar to sell for $1.25 million at a recent auction.
The gold-topped guitar is the one Allman played in the hit song “Layla,” where he performed with Eric Clapton, the Telegraph reported.
Until recently, the guitar affectionately called “Layla” had been on display at the Allman Brothers Band museum at The Big House in Macon.
“I don’t think anybody expected that,” Museum Director Richard Brent said of the amount. “The history of it is what sold it.”
Brent said the man who bought the guitar at the auction is an out-of-town collector who wishes to remain anonymous.
The buyer has agreed to share the instrument with the museum during certain times. That means it will be coming back to the museum in late November, Brent said.
“It will be coming back to The Big House in late November,” Brent said. “We couldn’t ask for more than that.”
Duane Allman played the guitar on the first two Allman Brothers records, and in “Loan Me a Dime” with Boz Scaggs, Brent said. The recording “Layla” with Derek and the Dominoes is among the last times Allman played that guitar.
