A “rare” bit of Elvis memorabilia won’t be lonesome tonight because an identical lock of the king of rock and roll’s hair has turned up in a garage in Fife.
Newburgh man Robert Stark got all shook up on Saturday when he picked up his copy of The Courier as it featured a story about a very familiar-looking artefact.
It was a framed strand of Elvis’s famous quiff which was due to go under the hammer at Railtons Northern Auction Centre in Northumberland that day.
It came with a letter of authenticity from Thomas Morgan, who knew the singer and claimed to have been a friend of his hairdresser Homer Gilleland.
Jim Railton of the auction house said he was confident it was the real deal and while unsure what it could make it could be £50 or £50,000 he was sure it would sell.
In fact the hammer came down at £150 on Saturday. But something was always on Robert’s mind.
He recognised the framed picture with the tiny strand of hair as a few years ago his late wife Sheena had bought the same thing.
“It must have been on a bidding TV channel and I think she may have paid £30 to £35 for it,” he said.
However, the couple weren’t even big Elvis fans.
“I am a drummer,” Robert said.
“I’ve been in lots of bands but I’ve never been a fan of his, so I wasn’t really interested in it.”
Elvis and his jailhouse lock hung in the hallway for years until Robert decided on a change two years back and stored a lot of prints and pictures in his loft.
“But then I was up there and I knelt on one of them and thought I’d better do something,” he said. “So I stuck some nails up in the garage and hung them all there.
“I didn’t give it another thought until I saw The Courier. I know it’s the same as I have the same letter on the back.”
He admitted he’d have probably given it away free to someone who wanted it. “But now, if it could fetch £5,000, I’d say give me £4,500 and it’s yours,” Robert joked.