http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=17441489%26method=full%26siteid=94762-name_page.htmlTHE GUITAR THAT GAVE BIRTH TO ROCK 'N' ROLL.. YOURS FOR ?3M
By Pete Samson
THE guitar used by legendary blues singer Robert Johnson is up for sale - at more than ?3million.
Johnson, said to have have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical ability, used the Gibson L1 acoustic guitar on his only two recording sessions.
The Texas sessions in 1936 and 1937 produced 29 songs that were a huge influenced on future stars such as Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan ??" and led Johnson to be dubbed the father of rock 'n' roll. The current owner only realised he had Johnson's guitar when a boxed set of the singer's work was re-released in 1990 complete with a picture of him playing the battered instrument.
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The Gibson L1s were handmade between 1926 and 1930 - and each is unique. Experts who studied both the Johnson picture and the guitar confirm they are identical. The anonymous owner is selling the guitar through memorabilia website Moments In Time for ?3.25million. But famous fans such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Morgan Freeman could yet start a bidding war.
Relatively little is known about Mississippi-born Johnson, apart from the fact he died in 1938 aged just 27 - probably after drinking whisky poisoned by the jealous husband of a lover.
Eric Clapton, who released an album of cover versions of the bluesman's songs in 2004 titled Me and Mr Johnson, has called him "the most important blues musician who ever lived".
Scores of other modern acts have also covered his songs. Led Zeppelin did Travelling Riverside Blues, The Rolling Stones covered Love in Vain and Stop Breaking Down, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers sang They're Red Hot.
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