The most famous piano in southern rock is being auctioned and is estimated to fetch $100,000-$150,000. It's being sold as part of an auction of more than 600 lots associated with The Hit Factory, the New York City studio where albums like Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA, Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell and John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy were recorded.
The Baldwin grand piano, which is almost 100 years old, can be heard on sessions for Derek & The Dominos' Layla, The Allman Brothers Band’s Eat a Peach and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Street Survivors, as well as on songs by Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees and Ray Charles.
"Keeping that piano was more than holding onto an instrument," says Danielle Germarno, daughter of the late producer Ed Germarno, who bought the studio in 1975. "It was preserving a tangible piece of music legacy, where each note, each scratch, each sign of wear holds stories of artists pouring their souls into the music."
The piano is accompanied by a framed display featuring the album cover, track sheets, session photographs and an original copy of the Layla album signed and inscribed by producer Tom Dowd. The successful bidder will also receive an RIAA Platinum sales award for Layla presented to Criteria Recording Studios, the Miami studio Ed Germano purchased in 1998.
Among the other lots up for grabs are RIAA sales awards for albums by Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, Kiss, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and U2.
The auction closes on December 4. Online bids can be placed now.
