Jerry Garcia's Alligator guitar could sell for $400,000 at L.A. auction

Record ID: 1446289

  • Title: Jerry Garcia's Alligator guitar could sell for $400,000 at L.A. auction
  • Date: 5th December 2019
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF ENTERTAINMENT MEMORABILIA AT BONHAMS, CATHERINE WILLIAMSON, SAYING: "Because the other wands no longer exist. They were sold at auction, they were bought by a company that opened a theme park in North Carolina called The Land of Oz. They were on exhibition there but that place burned down in the 80s and all of their Oz property was destroyed so this is the only surviving example of a Glinda the Good Witch wand. It was just on exhibition at the Smithsonian, it's a really important piece and we're really happy to have it."
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2019 23:31
  • Keywords: sale Bonhams Mitzy Gaynor Queen auction Jerry Garcia Glinda the Good Witch Elton John alligator guitar
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; BUFFALO, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES;
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; BUFFALO, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES;
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA005B8PBHW9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A battered Fender Stratocaster played by the late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia could fetch up to $400,000 at an auction in Los Angeles next week.
    The guitar, nicknamed Alligator because of the distinctive green alligator sticker on the front, was played by Garcia on the Grateful Dead's 1972 European tour and other live performances between 1971-1973, auctioneers Bonhams said on Thursday.
    "It is very special because it was the first guitar that (he) ever named. He had a reputation for naming his guitars," Giles Moon, director of music memorabilia at Bonhams, told Reuters.
    The guitar, made in 1955, is believed to have been given to Garcia by British musician Graham Nash.
    "Jerry played guitar on one of his albums and as a thank- you present Graham bought the guitar. Supposedly, he found it in a pawn shop in Texas and gifted it to Jerry in 1970 and then it was Jerry's favorite guitar for about 3 years," Moon said.
    Moon said the $250,000-$400,000 estimate was on the conservative side and that the guitar could sell for much higher given Garcia's skills as a guitar player and the fervent Deadhead fan base.
    The musician's custom-made Wolf guitar, which he played for more than two decades, sold for $1.9 million at a charity auction in 2017.
    The Alligator guitar is one of 70 lots up for sale on Dec. 10 from the personal collection of Garcia, the founder and driving force of the California counter culture band who died of a heart attack in 1995 at age 53.
    Garcia's Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, played while the band toured Canada in 1970, carries a pre-sale estimate of $30,000-$50,000, while a watercolor of an alligator painted and signed by Garcia in 1992 has a high estimate of $6,000.
    Garcia's collection of EC Comics Crime SuspenStories from the 1950s are also being auctioned.
    Rock guitars are among some of the most-coveted and collectible items at auction. A black Fender Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour set a world record of $3.9 million at auction in New York in June 2019.
    Other lots on sale include the original hand-written lyrics from some of Elton John and Bernie Taupin's most famous songs, including 'Your Song', 'Benny and the Jets' and 'Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road'.
    Moon said "We have six sets of original Elton John lyrics and they are all being sold separately so if you've got a particular favorite you can bid on that particular item. Collectively their estimated to bring in between 600 to 800 thousand dollars -- they're very significant. But as I say, they are probably the most important Elton John lyrics that there are."
    Glinda the Good Witch's promotional wand from 'The Wizard of Oz' is also up for sale. The wand was used in promotional black and white shots for the film and is now the only wand of Glinda's in existence.
    "The other wands no longer exist," said Bonhams' director of entertainment memorabilia, Catherine Williamson. She added "They were sold at auction, they were bought by a company that opened theme park in North Carolina called The Land of Oz and they were on exhibition there but that place burned down in the 80s and all of their Oz property was destroyed so this is the only surviving example of a Glinda the Good Witch wand and this was just on exhibition at the Smithsonian, it's a really important piece and we're really happy to have it."
    Bonhams sad the lot should reach between a low and high six figure amount.
    Mitzy Gaynor's dresses were also on display for auction. Her daring dresses during her theatrical and cinematic performances have a place in fashion history.
    Williamson said "As a singer and a dancer she had a long relationship with Bob Mackie. Bob Mackie really invented a lot of the dress styles that he is famous for, particularily for Cher, invented for Mitsy Gaynor. The nude illusion gown which is this gown that looks like you're naked except for crystals and sparkles all over your body, he invented that with Mitsy Gaynor and we have her example of the nude illusion gown."
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