The sale on September 12 will include the Gibson J45 acoustic used by Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees to compose the band’s 1975 breakthrough disco hit Jive Talkin’ is estimated at £10,000-15,000. It has been consigned by a UK private collector.
The success of that track led to the Bee Gees being offered the chance to contribute to the soundtrack of the hit 1977 film, Saturday Night Fever. It was the film’s music that breathed new life into the disco craze of the late 70s and propelled the Bee Gees to global chart dominance.
As with many long-standing bands, the Bee Gees’ sound and style changed from their early days. Ballads had been the hallmarks before disco took over, with late 1960s hits such as Massachusetts (their first number one hit in the UK and Australia).
Jive Talkin’ was the first single from the Bee Gees’ 1975 album Main Course, which marked the turning point in their career as they moved to disco.
A reminder of that earlier Bee Gees era is also on offer in this Corsham auction: a second Maurice Gibb-owned guitar, a custom-made 1968 Gibson EBS-1250 double-neck which combines a bass and guitar into a single instrument. The guitar was sold by Gibb in 1974 to another musician and collector, who has owned it ever since. Guided at £7000-10,000, it is believed to be the only one of its kind made by Gibson in 1968.
The Maton guitar used by George Harrison at The Beatles’ last appearance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1963 is estimated at £300,000-400,000.
