Liam Gallagher’s Wonderwall tambourine sold for £3,600 at auction
It was originally predicted to sell for £300 to £500
By Jen Thomas
Liam Gallagher’s iconic tambourine used on the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ has sold at auction.
Gallagher used it to record ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory ‘ before throwing it away, in 1995.
The tambourine had originally been expected to fetch between £300-£500 at auction, but eventually sold for £3,600.
It was sold by the album’s engineer, Nick Brine.
He looked after the sound on the record and explained: “The tambourine was used during the recording of ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory’, it was pretty battered by the end of the session and was going to be thrown away. But I claimed it.”
As well as Liam, Nick says the likes of Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, The Verve and Seasick Steve have all used the tambourine too.
The iconic musical instrument was won by a online bidder at Hansons auctioneers in Derbyshire who scored the “opportunity to own a slice of British rock history”.
Hansons’ music memorabilia valuer Josh McCarthy said: “The price took my breath away, its musical pedigree proved irresistible to bidders,” following the sale.
Oasis recorded the album at Rockfield Studio, where Nick worked.
The record sold more than 22 million copies and was voted the greatest album of the last 30 years at the Brit Awards.
‘Wonderwall’ went on to be the first song from the 1990s to hit one billion streams on Spotify.
Nick added: “That record means so much to so many people, it changed a lot of people’s lives.”
He has worked with some other huge names in music, including Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen and The Stone Roses, but he says people only ever want to know about Oasis.
“It’s the record I get asked about the most. That record just sums up the whole era and what music and bands were about.”
He also sold two bespoke Oasis football shirts in the auction.
One of the shirts was worn by Noel Gallagher in a charity football match, and they both sold for £1,750 at the same auction.
Nick says he was given the shirts after he engineered a recording session of the ‘Be Here Now’ album at Abbey Road in London.
Gallagher recently announced his third solo album is coming next year, as well as a live return to Knebworth.