The history of rock music is littered with broken guitarists whose cherished six-strings were swiped from the backs of vans, and even from the side of the stage. But George Harrison may be the only guitarist to have ever had one kidnapped.
It seems that nearly every guitar Harrison touched during his decorated career has become embroiled in some kind of drama or mystery. There was his house-of-mirrors-styled Futurama guitar, which he bought before Fender Stratocasters arrived in the U.K.’s borders in an attempt to replicate his hero, Buddy Holly. That instrument sold for a record-breaking $1.27 million at auction last year.
Then there’s the uncertain fate of his Gretsch Country Gentleman, thought to have been destroyed in the mid ’60s — although recent revelations have cast doubt on that narrative. Yet another of his Beatles guitars, purchased in 1967 during the making of The Magical Mystery Tour, is shrouded in mystery.
Still, the story of Lucy, his cherry red 1957 Gibson Les Paul, is perhaps the strangest of all. It's the guitar Eric Clapton used to record his lead and solo work on the 1968 White Album track “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Harrison played it on that album, as well as on Abbey Road and across his solo career.
But somewhere in the middle of all that — in 1973 — the guitar was stolen from Harrison's Beverly Hills home. It was subsequently purchased and transported across the Mexican border, leading the former Beatle to launch a TV plea for its safe return. Clearly, the guitar meant everything to him.
Even before Harrison owned it, the guitar had a star-studded history. Manufactured at Gibson's plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Les Paul was originally a goldtop and had PAF humbucking pickups, which were offered on goldtop Les Paul's only in 1957 and '58.
The guitar's earliest-known owner was the Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian, who purchased it in 1965. The following year he gave it to Rick Derringer, then performing with his group the McCoys. The finish was badly worn at the time, so Derringer had it refinished by Gibson in the same clear red color typically used on Gibson SGs.
Afterward, Derringer sold it to Dan Armstrong Guitars in New York City. Not many days afterward, Eric Clapton purchased it for himself. He never played it much, though, and in August 1968 he gifted it to Harrison. Clapton would soon be briefly reunited with it when he recorded "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with the Beatles on September 6.
Harrison clearly loved the guitar, and it seemed to have found its permanent home within his collection, until it was stolen. The story goes that it was quickly sold to a music shop, Whalin's Sound City on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Rather than wait the required 30 days to determine if the instrument was stolen, Whalin sold it within a few days to a Mexican musician by the name of Miguel Ochoa.
Harrison managed to trace the guitar to Whalin's, and then to Ochoa, as he revealed to Guitar Player in a 1989 interview.
“I called him up,” Harrison explained. “I said, ‘That's my guitar. I want it back, and I'll give you your money back.’ He said, ‘How do I know it's really you?’
"I said, ‘Okay, I'll meet you.’
“A meeting was arranged, but the guy just took off, jumped in a car, and drove to Guadalajara and kidnapped my guitar!”
By coincidence, Harrison’s former sitar mentor Ravi Shankar happened to be in the Mexican city at the time, and was due to make a TV appearance. Harrison seized the opportunity to put the heat on Ochoa.
“Ravi went on TV saying, ‘He's very upset because his guitar's been stolen and it's in Guadalajara!’" Harrison explained. "Then he read the guy's name on TV!”
It was a genius plan — but Ochoa was still playing hardball.
Eventually, Harrison and Ochoa reached a deal: The guitar would be returned in exchange for a Les Paul of the same period. Harrison managed to find the perfect specimen at Norman’s Rare Guitars — the famous vintage guitar store that played a role in the Country Gent mystery. The instrument selected was a sunburst ‘58 Les Paul, and it seemed sufficient compensation for Ochoa.
“I finally got it back,” Harrison said. “It was a really good guitar, and also it had that personal thing, because it was the 'Guitar Gently Weeps' guitar that Eric played.”
Lucy has remained in the safe keeping with Harrison's family since his death, while Ochoa's Les Paul — dubbed the Ransom guitar — has changed hands several times over the years and taken on greater value thanks to both its status as a Les Paul 'Burst and its role in Harrison's guitar history. Ochoa sold it a decade later, and it ended up on the auction block in 2022, where it fetched $312,500.
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