Last week’s announcement that the Hofner bass Paul McCartney bought in 1961 and had stolen in 1972 has taken another twist.
Cathy Guest, the woman who found the bass in her attic in Sussex, England, is hoping he will give her a reward.
A single mother of two children in school, she says she put a note in the guitar case explaining her financial situation.
“My husband (Hadyn) inherited it when another family member (his brother Graham) died and he’d had it for years.
“He had no idea where it came from. He was a keen musician and used to play all the guitars at home, including Paul’s bass. We both loved music and I still go to gigs every weekend.”
She adds that McCartney’s team had been in touch promising a reward for its safe return.
“I’ve still got the offer open with them and I’ve taken advice. It’s part of rock ‘n’ roll history and it’s not like they’re a small band.”
McCartney paid roughly $38 for the bass in Hamburg, Germany, and he played it on such Beatles classics as “Love Me Do,” “She Loves You,” and their cover of “Twist and Shout.”
Now estimated to be worth $12.6-million, it was found after a five-year search undertaken by Hofner, and journalist Scott Jones and his wife Naomi. They named the search The Lost Bass Project.
They discovered that the unnamed thief who stole it from a back of a van in London in 1972 during the recording of the second Wings album, Red Rose Speedway, sold it to Ron Guest, owner of the Admiral Blake pub, for a few pounds and some beers.
He gave it to his older son Graham, and after he died in a car accident, Haydin, Cathy’s husband, inherited it. He died in 2020.
It was returned to McCartney in December and it took two months to authenticate it.
They had planned to make the announcement, but Cathy’s son, Ruaidhri, went ahead and broke the news on social media.
He has followed up his initial post with the following: “As of recent, the Trace The Bass project has tried to jump in on the recent news when in truth, the project nor people involved had nothing to do with finding and returning the famous Höfner. The true story shall be told in time. For now, I ask for patience.”
No word from McCartney’s camp if they will send Cathy a check.
REUTERS PHOTO
