“Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news!” So sang Chuck Berry in 1956 at the onset of the rock-and-roll age, and the big news at the start of 2013 is the sale of a preeminent collection of keepsakes, rarities and trophies that chart the some of the most monumental moments and careers in rock-and-roll history.

Now, thanks to Nye and Company, an associate of iGavel Auctions, baby-boomers, rock-and-roll fans, Dead Heads and even groupies have the chance to acquire these talismans for their own enjoyment, on January 22 through February 5, 2013. This great trove of rock memorabilia from signed guitars to autographed back-stage passes goes on sale -- on iGavel, the online auction platform founded by Lark Mason, the nationally known Antiques Roadshow television personality.

The origin of these precious rock artifacts, with estimates ranging from $50 to $1,000, springs from colorful life of record executive Michael Klenfner, who during the '60s, '70s and '80s regularly back-slapped and shoulder-rubbed with the biggest boldface names in backbeat music. You name them, Klenfner knew them: The Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Boz Scaggs, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Patti Smith, the Outlaws, the Marshall Tucker Band, Billy Joel and The Eagles.

Klenfner and his wife Carol, a former publicist for such Rock and Roll legends as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Elton John, The Doors, Cat Stevens, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull, to name a few, recognized from Day One that rock-and-roll was no mere passing trend but rather an enduring musical expression for the ages. Evidencing this astutely correct insight are the mementos that they meticulously preserved and that now bear witness to rock's glorious history and stature. Posters, T-shirts, set lists, tour jackets, guitars and all-access backstage passes the Klenfners amassed a warehouse full of these unique and irreplaceable treasures.

Among the top highlights are:

*Pete Townshend Signed Takamine EG-33OC Acoustic Guitar

*Epiphone Les Paul Electric Guitar Signed by Les Paul

*18 Lots of Pop-Culture-Related Backstage Passes, Pins & Assorted Memorabilia, each with 40 items

*Rolling Stones Tour Jacket; The Who, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, Santana & Barbra Streisand

*Thirty-plus RIAA Gold and Platinum Awards, including, Chicago, The Eagles, Loggins and Messina, Jefferson Starship, Dave Matthews Band and Joan Jett

*Autographed Rolling Stones Framed Album, Dirty Work, 1986. Signed by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman

*Blues Brothers 2000 Memorabilia which includes: a briefcase with handcuffs attaches, with the Blues Brothers 2000 Logo on the side, a CD signed by Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman, a concert pass for Road to Ruin Blues Brothers Band Summer Tour 1980, a pin and two cardboard cutouts of the cast.

*Eight Vintage Hotel Keys, Mostly European Hotels

*Autographed Sketch on a Patti Smith Concert Poster, 1975, Probably of Michael Klenfner, drawn and signed by Bill Graham, dated 11-14-75.

*Collection of 190 Vintage Concert and Radio T-Shirts

*Several Prints by Jerry Garcia (American, 1942-1995), all signed

*Rolling Stones Cow Palace Concert Poster, Bill Graham, 1975

About Michael Klenfner

It’s little wonder that Klenfner was named one of Rolling Stone’s “Heavy 100” and New York Magazine’s “Hot 100” for the pivotal role he played in so many storied rock and roll careers.

Klenfner was also a hands-on participant in some of rock's landmark events, working the security detail at Fillmore East and pitching in as part of the on-stage crew at Woodstock. A year later Klenfner joined New York’s WNEW-FM as music director and moved on become the first album promoter at Columbia Records. Soon to follow were stints as V.P. at Arista, Atlantic and Front Line Management. As an industry heavyweight and ultimate insider, Klenfner traveled with the Rolling Stones and signed the Blues Brothers for their first record deal. In turn, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd wrote a special cameo for him in the Blues Brothers movie of 1980, wherein he essentially played himself as the president of the made-up “Clarion Records.” Around this time, Klefner's insider know-how led to his own rock-and-roll consulting business, a field he invented. Clients included Bob Pitman at MTV; Don Ienner at Sony; Clive Davis at BMG; and Charles Koppelman and Martin Bandier at SBK and The Hard Rock. 

About Nye and Company Auctioneers andAppraisers

Located in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Nye and Company Auctioneers and Appraisers is a leading regional auction house founded by John Nye in 2003. He worked at Sotheby's for 15 years, serving as Loan Portfolio Manager, Cataloger, Head of the Arcade Furniture Department, and Senior Vice President and Department Head of the American Furniture and Decorations Department. Nye appears regularly on the award-winning PBS series The Antiques Roadshow.

Nye and Company is located at 20 Beach Street in Bloomfield, New Jersey For more information, phone: 973-984-6400 or visit www.nyeandcompany.com

About iGavel Auctions

When Lark Mason founded iGavel Inc., the online international network of independently owned regional auction salesrooms, specializing in the sale of fine and decorative arts, in 2003, his stellar reputation as a leading expert, appraiser and television personality on the PBS series The Antiques Roadshow, was already well-established within the art world.

Mason served as a general appraiser and Assistant Vice President of fine and decorative arts and household furnishings from 1979 until 2003, and as a Senior Vice President and specialist in Chinese art with Sotheby’s Chinese Works of Art Department from 1985-2003.  From 2000-2003 he was a Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com, and served as a consulting curator at the Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas from 2003-2009.  

As a general appraiser with Sotheby’s Appraisal Company, Mason valued notable collections including those of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Rockefeller Foundation, and many others.  In addition to his appraisal work, he has taught courses in the fine and decorative arts at Parson’s School of Design, the New York School of Interior Design, and currently is a professor at New York University

Mason is the translator and author of many articles and books including: The Connoisseurship of Chinese Furniture by Wang Shi Xiang, Lark Mason translator; Classic Chinese Furniture of the Qing Dynasty, translator; and Asian Art, author.  In the capacity of Chinese art expert at Sotheby’s he was responsible for the cataloging of the sales and appraisal of Chinese works of art, becoming intimately familiar with all aspects of the marketplace.   He is an expert in the field of Chinese furniture, having responsibility for this area during his tenure at Sotheby’s. As a Chinese furniture specialist he has valued and advised many private collectors and institutions.

Lark Mason has appraised and advised major American and foreign institutions for the sale and appraisal of Asian and other art including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Freer Museum and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago, The Honolulu Academy of Arts, and many others.  

He regularly has served on the vetting committees for Chinese and Asian art of numerous art and antique shows including: the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, the Winter Antiques Show, and The Arts of Pacific Asia Show in New York City. 

Asian art sales occur on iGavel in the Fall and Spring and participants include Lark Mason and other iGavel associates who are independent auctioneers, appraisers, and dealers.

iGavel Auctions is located at 229 East 120th Street (between Second and Third Avenues), New York City. For more information, visit www.igavelauctions.com, or telephone 212-289-5588