Jerry Garcia's guitar fetches $1.9M at New York auction
By Gina Vasquez
Posted 6/3/17
(Guernsey's via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — A guitar that Jerry Garcia played everywhere from San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom to Egypt's Great Pyramids fetched over $1.9 million at an auction …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Jerry Garcia's guitar fetches $1.9M at New York auction
Posted
By Gina Vasquez
(Guernsey's via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — A guitar that Jerry Garcia played everywhere from San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom to Egypt's Great Pyramids fetched over $1.9 million at an auction Wednesday night. The Grateful Dead frontman's guitar — named Wolf — was sold at the Brooklyn Bowl, a bowling alley, restaurant and music venue. The sale price includes the buyer's premium. The proceeds are earmarked for the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.
The guitar was owned by devoted Deadhead Daniel Pritzker, a philanthropist, musician and film director who bought the instrument in 2002 for $790,000.
"I've been a fan of The Dead since I was a kid, and playing this iconic guitar over the past 15 years has been a privilege," said Pritzker. "But the time is right for Wolf to do some good."
SPLC President Richard Cohen said the organization is grateful Pritzker "is willing to part with this piece of music history to support the SPLC's mission fighting hate and bigotry."
The auctioneer says Wolf first appeared in a 1973 New York performance the Grateful Dead gave for the Hells Angels.
The instrument bears a devilish looking, cartoon-like image of a wolf's face — eyes menacingly narrowed, ears pricked up, red tongue hanging out, fangs at the ready.
The 1977 film "The Grateful Dead Movie" was directed by Garcia and features extensive footage of the instrument.
Garcia died in 1995.