A pair of leather Acme Comblast cowboy boots that were formerly the property of guitarist Johnny ‘Guitar’ Byrne. The boots were purchased by Johnny from the Sterling Boot Company, Liverpool in 1960. They are accompanied by a letter dated June 15th 1960 addressed to Johnny 'Guitar' at Butlins in Pwllheli from the Sterling Boot Company.

The size 8½ is printed on the inside of the boots along with the words ‘Acme’ and ‘Comblast’. The boots measures approximately 28cm (11 inches from heel to toe). There is some general wear to the leather and the soles. The condition is very good.

Provenance: the boots are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Johny’s widow Margaret Byrne confirming the provenance. It reads: 'This is to confirm that the cowboy boots illustrated below were formerly the property of my late husband Johnny ‘Guitar’ Byrne. They were purchased from the Sterling Boot Company in Liverpool in 1960 as the accompanying letter from the company states. Johnny can be seen wearing these boots on the copy of the photo which also accompanies the boots.' Comes with a Tracks Ltd. certificate of authenticity.

According to the letter of authenticity, illustrated herein, supplied by Johnny ‘Guitar’ Byrne’s widow, Margaret, we believed that Johnny’s cowboy boots which he is wearing in the photo, illustrated herein, were purchased from the Sterling Boot Company in Liverpool (see illustrated letter). This may well still be the case.

However, Thorsten Knublauch, German Beatles historian and author of The Beatles Mach Schau in Hamburg, has strongly suggested to us in a recent email that Johnny Guitar’s boots may have been purchased in Hamburg. He points to the recollections of Lu Walters, bass guitarist with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, who recalled that members of The Hurricanes and The Beatles bought their leather jackets and boots from the Leather Erdmann shop on the Reeperbahn. In The Beatles Anthology book George Harrison remembered, “…we had found a shop in Hamburg that sold genuine Texas cowboy boots. It was just a matter of trying to get some money. We may have even paid for them ‘on the weekly’. Pete Best’s cowboy boots that he wore as a Beatle and which are exhibited in the Best’s Beatle museum in Liverpool were purchased in Hamburg. Thorsten Knublauch has colourised the photo of Paul’s cowboy boots and they were found to be the same colour as Johnny Guitar’s cowboy boots. In fact, they are an identical style and model, Acme Comblast. (Therefore, incidentally, other than Pete Best’s cowboy boots, Johnny’s are the only pair of cowboy boots to survive which are similar to those worn by a member of The Beatles.)

Yet, despite the case put forward by Thorsten, it still remains that the letter from the Sterling Boot Company does specifically refer to a pair of cowboy boots ordered by Johnny ‘Guitar’. We have looked through all of the numerous photographs in our database and cannot find a photograph of Johnny wearing a different pair of cowboy boots to those he is wearing in the photograph which originates from 1961 after The Beatles Hamburg stint. Therefore, it does remain a possibility that Johnny’s cowboy boots that we are now offering for sale were purchased in Liverpool.