Ray Jackson, a singer in the seventies with Geordie band Lindisfarne, then celebrated the purchase with an impromptu performance for staff and customers.
Mr Jackson’s partner first spotted the mandolin in Oxfam’s cabinet and photographed it for him. He came in the following Saturday, tried it, and bought it on the spot.
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The instrument – a Northfield, handmade in Missouri and among the most sought-after makes in the world – had been donated to the shop just two weeks earlier.
The £2,800 sale will go towards Oxfam’s humanitarian and development work worldwide.
Mr Jackson is known by some as the uncredited player behind the mandolin interlude on Maggie May, Rod Stewart’s 1971 chart topper. He also played on Mandolin Wind and Farewell from the same album, Every Picture Tells a Story.
The singer collects mandolins – he owns seven or eight in total, and three mandolas, and still has the instrument he played on Maggie May. He described the Abingdon find as one of his most unique.
“This mandolin is beautiful – it’s got a fantastic sound,” Ray said. “I’m so pleased it ended up in this shop, otherwise I wouldn’t have had it. I’ve bought a lot of secondhand things in my time, but this comes pretty high as one of the most unique.”
On working with Sir Rod Stewart, he said: “Rod invited me over to his house – he even sent a chauffeur for me. He said ‘I’ve got this song I want you to play on.’
” I hadn’t realised it at the time, but the album was one of the biggest sellers of that year, and of any year since. I was proud to be on it, even though I didn’t get a credit.”
With his Oxfam-sourced mandolin in hand, Jackson went on to play in the Stert Street shop, performing the famous interlude from Maggie May to staff and customers – more than 50 years on from the original recording.
Ray Jackson with the mandolin in Oxfam in Abingdon (Image: Oxfam)
Michila Wearn, who manages Oxfam in Abingdon, said: “We put this beautiful mandolin in the cabinet a few weeks ago – we had no idea what was about to happen.
“When Ray came in and told us what he’d played on, we couldn’t believe it. I used to sing Maggie May to my daughter to wake her up in the mornings – so for me it was a really special moment.
“When he performed, the atmosphere in the shop was electric.
“It’s a fantastic example of what ends up on our shelves, and of the difference a single donation and a single sale can make to Oxfam’s work.”
Sir Rod Stewart (Image: PA)
Ray Jackson was lead vocalist and mandolin player with Lindisfarne, whose albums include Fog on the Tyne, released in 1971 – the same year Maggie May went to number one.
Lindisfarne are still touring and Ray now plays with a folk rock group called SilverBlues.