Bruce Springsteen’s harmonicas and handwritten lyrics will be auctioned later this month.
The 72-year-old singer’s notes for ‘Thunder Road’, ‘For You’ and ‘Night’ will go under the hammer on 28 October via Bonhams, as will two mouth organs used on the original recordings of ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Johnny 99’.
Bruce wrote the ‘Thunder Road’ lyrics in pen on four pages of ruled notebook paper, and though it contains the entire song as recorded for 1975’s ‘Born to Run’ album, the final page features two different drafts of the first verse.
The ‘For You’ document is also in pen on ruled notebook paper and features two minor differences to the recorded version; the line “but you did not need my urgency” is omitted and the word “your” is used in place of “my” in the lyric “don’t give me my money, honey”.
The three-page ‘Night’ lyrics are identical to the album version.
The ‘Thunder Road’ manuscript has an estimated selling price of $50,000 – $70,000, while the other two are expected to fetch between $25,000 and $30,000.
Meanwhile, the Hohner Marine Band “F” Harmonica used on ‘Thunder Road’ is expected to fetch $5,000-$7,000 while the Hohner Marine Band “E” Harmonica used on ‘Johnny 99’ from Bruce’s ‘Nebraska’ album in 1982 is expected to bring in $2,000-$2,500.
Both instruments are boxed and come with signed, dated and notarised letters from Mike Batlan, who served as The Boss’ musical instrument technician from 1973 to 1985.
The items were previously owned by a private collector, who had originally acquired them from the musical instrument tech.
The auctioneers previously announced the same sale will also see a host of Beatles memorabilia go under the hammer, including two handwritten setlists from the group’s early days.