News / Rock legend seeks Shetland Bill
A FOUNDING member of heavy metal band Saxon is looking to be reunited with one of his old guitars – and he believes it may be in Shetland.
Graham Oliver was part of the English rock legends, who released four top ten albums in the UK that sold millions, between 1976 and 1996.
He sold a left-handed black and white Fender Stratocaster in 1976 after wrongly fearing that he would no longer be able to play guitar after losing the end of an index finger in an accident.
The buyer of the instrument was a man in his late 20s called Bill – from Shetland – who saw Oliver’s advert in music magazine Melody Maker and purchased it for £200 after travelling hundreds of miles to fetch it.
However, the former Saxon man is now interested in finding out where the guitar, which would be now worth “many thousands of pounds”, has ended up – as well as meeting the man who bought it.
Oliver said that it was his friend Scott Doonican who encouraged the search for the guitar, which has a rosewood neck and was sold with its original case. “It would be interesting to know where it is,” he told Shetland News.
“The advert went in Melody Maker on the Thursday and he came in his car to my house, near Doncaster, the next day.
“It must have taken him a long time. It’ll be worth a lot now. I do believe left-handed ones were finished by hand, because there wasn’t a big market for them.”
The guitarist added that the instrument was used in Saxon when the group were originally called Son of a Bitch.
“In October 1976, I had a bad accident when I lost part of my finger, and I didn’t think I would play again,” he added.
“So I put the guitar up for sale. And I needed the money as well, because I had a family. From what I remember, the guitar was in very good condition.
“Me and Steve Dawson, who founded Saxon, are writing a book called Saxon, Drugs and Rock and Roll, and we were deciding on what photographs will go in there. And this photo with the guitar popped up, which led to my friend Scott asking where it’s ended up.”
Following the sale of the guitar, the musician went on to enjoy global success with Saxon after getting accustomed to playing the instrument.
Oliver stressed that he doesn’t want to be “reunited with the guitar in the sense of owning it” – he just wants to see if it’s still being played.
“Where the search will lead, I don’t know. I’d certainly like to play it again, now that I can play the guitar,” he joked.
The Englishman added that he hoped to record music with people suffering from injuries – or musicians who have served in wars – with the guitar, if it was ever discovered.
“Maybe one day we could find the guitar and show people who have injuries or ailments that you can overcome them and play again. I could play the guitar on the recording, if that ever transpires.
“It’s pretty unusual, to have an original left-handed Stratocaster. There must be some musician on Shetland who remembers Bill.”
If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of the guitar, they can contact Scott Doonican via the Facebook link: www.facebook.com/thebarstewardsons
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