anyone know anything about a late 60s Grammer - Johnny Cash signature acoustic

[Bonneville93]

Anyone know anything about a late 60s Grammer - Johnny Cash signature acoustic? A friend of mine mentioned that he has one that he got in the late 60s as a gift. He was curious if it has any value. The only thing I can find out about the guitar is that it was made by Bill Grammer, and the model that Johnny Cash owned sold for over $100,000.

[Terry Allan Hall]

found this...

 

PICKIN' AND A GRINNIN': JOHNNY CASH'S GRAMMER GUITAR NETS $131,000 AT AUCTION

 

BY JIM MUIR

THE SOUTHERN

Posted: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 6:56 AM CST

 

 

 

CEASAR MARAGNI / THE SOUTHERN

 

VALIER -- Guitars continue to play a big part in the life of Billy Grammer, a legendary country and western singer and musician, and 50-year member of the Grand Ole Opry.

 

Grammer, a Franklin County native who now lives near Valier with his wife of 60 years, Ruth, carved out a place in country music with his guitar picking skills. But only recently was he afforded international recognition for his guitar-making skills.

 

One of Grammer's guitars -- a stage-used acoustic guitar -- recently sold for $131,000 as part of the estate auction of Johnny Cash and June Carter. The guitar was part of more than 800 personal and professional items sold during the three-day auction held in New York City that garnered more than $4 million.

 

Cash's Grammer guitar was purchased by Sharon Graves, of Grand Island, Neb., who has an extensive collection of Cash memorabilia amassed by her late husband, Terry, who died three years ago.

 

Grammer was already an established Grand Ole Opry star when he formed his Nashville-based guitar company in 1964. He remembers meeting Cash on several occasions.

 

"I first met Johnny in about 1957 and that was when he was going through a very difficult time with drug addiction," Grammer said. "He was just a down to Earth kind of guy, but I also remember him as being kind of backward; not much of a talker, almost introverted. It wasn't that he was arrogant or didn't like people, he was just backward."

 

Cash had owned the Grammer guitar, labeled "Custom Made for Johnny Cash" since the 1960s. The guitar was presented as a gift to Cash shortly before Grammer sold the company in 1968. Grammer estimated that the guitar would have sold for about $1,500 when it was given to Cash.

 

Grammer said he formed the fledgling company "on a shoestring" because of the need for quality guitars in Nashville.

 

"I had a good friend that owned a record and music store and he kept complaining that he couldn't buy a guitar that was worth a flip," Grammer said. "I was about a year getting into production, perfecting things and getting things the way I wanted. The first year we made one guitar per day and then upped that and at the end I had 18 employees and we made about five custom-made guitars per day."

 

If people are truly destined to work at certain professions then it's a fair statement to say that Grammer was born to be an entertainer.

 

The oldest of 13 children, Grammer was born in 1925 and picked up a fiddle for the first time at age 5. In those days nobody could have dreamed that music would shape his life and open a door that would lead him to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, where he was inducted as a member in 1959.

 

And while Grammer began his long musical career with a fiddle in his hands it was a love he developed for playing guitar and later making them that brought him both fame and fortune.

 

"My dad kept handing me a fiddle but I guess I had 'guitar-itis' because all I wanted to do was play the guitar," Grammer said. "I started playing chords when I was 5 and by the time I was 7 or 8 I was playing most of the songs my dad was playing on his fiddle. I'm certainly not a musical genius by any means, but I do have the natural rhythm and ear of a musician."

 

A 1943 graduate of Valier High School, Grammer also served in the U.S. Army. The hardship of the times also played a role in Grammer's future. Needing a job after World War II, Grammer pursued one with nationally known disc jockey Connie B. Gay, who had a live radio show at WARL Radio in Arlington, Va.

 

An example of how difficult the times were can be found in the method and the means that Grammer used to travel to Virginia for the audition.

 

"I didn't have the money to get there, so I went to Palmer Rea, he ran the relief office, and told him what I wanted to do and that I needed help," Grammer said. "He asked me what I needed and I told him that I needed at least $50 to get me there and back. I'd known him all my life and he gave me the money."

 

With guitar in hand, Grammer hitchhiked to Arlington, Va., where he was hired for the job over 150 guitarists.

 

"After I had worked about three months -- I was making pretty good money -- I sent a check for $50 to Palmer Rea to repay him," Grammer said. "And maybe he had a feeling I was going to do well, because he never cashed that check, and instead had it framed and hung it on the wall."

 

A few years later Grammer, with help from the legendary disc jockey Gay, landed a job on the "Jimmy Dean Show" in Washington. Shortly after Grammer went to work for Dean, the show moved to network television where it appeared on CBS for five years.

 

In 1958 Grammer formed his own band and signed a recording deal with Monument Records. The following year Grammer reached the pinnacle of his career when his hit single "Gotta Travel On" became a million-seller and a Top 5 hit on country and pop charts. Grammer also recorded hits "Bonaparte's Retreat," "Wabash Cannonball," and "I'm Letting Go."

 

Grammer's success in country music led to millions of miles in travel and appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Dick Clark's American Bandstand," "Bill Anderson's Backstage Opry," "Hee Haw" and others. He also worked as a musician for Patsy Cline and Grandpa Jones and as a session leader for Charlie Pride, Louis Armstrong, George Jones and Ernest Tubb.

 

Grammer said he is both "humbled and flattered" that a guitar bearing his name drew such a hefty price but, pointing to his own weathered Grammer guitar that he has had for more than four decades, noted that another item listed in the story about the auction also peaked his interest.

 

"I was very pleased but considering that its memorabilia and that Johnny Cash was an international star I'm not all that surprised that somebody gave that kind of money," said Grammer. "However, I'm very pleased that the article pointed out that the value of a Grammer guitar is $20,000 even without it belonging to somebody like Johnny Cash."

 

writeon1@shawneelink.net 618-625-2006

[Bonneville93]

Originally posted by Terry Allan Hall Grammer said he is both "humbled and flattered" that a guitar bearing his name drew such a hefty price but, pointing to his own weathered Grammer guitar that he has had for more than four decades, noted that another item listed in the story about the auction also peaked his interest. "I was very pleased but considering that its memorabilia and that Johnny Cash was an international star I'm not all that surprised that somebody gave that kind of money," said Grammer. "However, I'm very pleased that the article pointed out that the value of a Grammer guitar is $20,000 even without it belonging to somebody like Johnny Cash." writeon1@shawneelink.net 618-625-2006

thanks for the article... I'm going to have to look further into this alledged value

[GN-Nick]

I bought my late 60's Grammer for $300.

[Bonneville93]

Originally posted by GN-Nick I bought my late 60's Grammer for $300.

when did you buy it?

 

is it a Johnny Cash signature? does it look like this?

 

 

 

or this?

[GN-Nick]

Mine looks very similar, all the way down to the double inlays on the fretboard.

It's a G-30. I probably bought it 5 years ago.

Mine is pre-ampeg, which is desireable.

After the company was sold the headstock gained an @ symbol in the middle of the headstock.