Today, Sotheby’s launched From The Vault: Property From The Grateful Dead and Friends, an auction featuring a treasure trove of items from the legendary band’s career including instruments, musical equipment, clothing, posters, memorabilia and plenty of other incredible lots. From The Vault runs through Thursday, October 14.
Items up for bid come from the Grateful Dead Productions warehouse and the collections of such crew and GD family members as “Big” Steve Parish, Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff and Dan Healy. “We’re looking at the whole story of the Grateful Dead from the late ‘60s through 1995,” Richard Austin, Sotheby’s Global Head of Books and Manuscripts, told Jesse Jarnow for a GQ article. Austin has been compiling the unique items for this auction “over the past few years” according to Jarnow, who was given a preview of the collection.
“The great thing about all this stuff is that there is a patina to it that’s from touring and use,” added Austin. “We cleaned up a lot of the stuff, but some of it we left more or less as is. The fact that something is scarred or has dings on it, that’s just part of the story.” Below, find 10 particularly amazing lots currently up for auction:
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Jerry Garcia’s Pants From A Nudie Suit
In 1973, the members of the Grateful Dead each had suits prepped by the legendary Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors, who custom-designed suits for the likes of Elvis Presley, Lefty Frizzell, Cher, Gram Parsons, Elvis Presley and a who’s who of musical royalty since opening in the 1940s. Nudie’s designed skull-embroidered pants from Jerry Garcia’s suit are up for auction and estimated to score between $20 – $30,000.
“We were in Los Angeles in 1973. We decided to go to Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors on a lark,” Parish explained. “They were famous for dressing all the country artists and we were headed to Texas soon. All the band members designed their own suits. The suits were worn for a few shows, especially in Texas where we played with Doug Sahm. Jerry gave the jacket to someone later, and the pants to Ram Rod.”
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Ram Rod’s Merry Pranksters Jumpsuit
Before Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff started working for the Grateful Dead, he was part of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters crew. Ram Rod’s hand-painted jumpsuit featuring orange, yellow and pink Day Glo paint are the third lot in the auction. The outfit is thought to date back to 1966 and includes “Road” painted on the back and “RAMROD” adorning the left-hand breast pocket.
Expected to bring in between $20 – $30,000, here’s a chance to own a cool piece from an important era in American counterculture. All the wear-and-tear makes it all the more interesting.
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Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley’s Chemistry Tools
Owsley “Bear” Stanley is described by Jarnow in his excellent book Heads as the man, “most responsible for psychedlicizing the United States.” Stanley was a chemistry wiz who produced at least 1.25 million hits of LSD in the mid-60s according to Sotheby’s listing. Bear was also an innovative sound engineer that helped the Dead create the Wall Of Sound known for his incredible recordings of live shows by the Dead and many other artists of the era.
The second lot in the auction is described as, “the last remnants of Owsley’s clandestine LSD lab.” Whoever ponies up an estimated ponies up an estimated $10 – $15,000 will get a set featuring a “glass beaker, glass bottle with red and green stripes, glass bottle with ‘Champion Concentrated Embalming Fluid’ printed label, Pyrex beaker, glass rods, metal stem and two thermometers.”
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Cornell ’77 T-Shirt
Longtime Grateful Dead sound engineer Dan Healy compiled an insane collection of t-shirts over the years and there’s one in particular that stands out. Up for auction is an official GD t-shirt from the band’s legendary May 8, 1977 concert at Cornell University’s Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York.
A pristine soundboard of the performance has circulated among fans for decade before Betty Cantor-Jackson’s recording was officially released in 2017. Many Deadheads consider it among the best Grateful Dead shows ever played. The t-shirt for the show from Healy’s collection has never been worn and is estimated to bring in between $600 – $800.
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Bob Weir’s Telecaster
Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir has put his 1969 Rosewood Fender Telecaster guitar up for auction. The instrument is a beaut, made in America featuring all original parts except for “changed volume and tone pots.”
You can own Bobby’s guitar but it won’t come cheap. The lot is expected to bring in between $20 – $25,000 and is restricted to U.S. buyers.
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Wall Of Sound Power Amp
Bear designed the massive “Wall Of Sound” public address system for the Grateful Dead to use in 1974. McIntosh MC-2300 amps helped power the Wall Of Sound. One of those amps, featuring a stealie sticker on the front, is Lot 39 in the auction and comes with its original road case.
Parish confirmed the amp was used in the Wall Of Sound. The MC-2300 was property of Grateful Dead productions but now is up for auction and expected to fetch somewhere between $3 – $5,000.
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20th Anniversary Tour Backdrop
The Grateful Dead performed in front of a huge backdrop designed by psychedelic artist Rick Griffin for their 20th Anniversary Tour in 1985. Griffin’s blue and white backdrop (approximately 238 x 300″) features “Grateful Dead | Twenty Years So Far” printed underneath a skeleton holding a guitar and an American flag.
Up for auction is the actual backdrop that hung behind the Grateful Dead over the course of the tour. As Sotheby’s notes, it’s “worn from use, a few closed tears, but bright and intact.” Not surprisingly it’s one of the most cherished items available in the auction worth an estimated $50 – $70,000.
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Jerry Garcia’s Briefcase & Papers
Jerry Garcia’s one-time personal assistant, Vince DiBiase, wound up with one of the guitarist’s briefcases. The red leather attaché case — thought to be used by Jerry from 1977 – 1979 — is up for bid and comes with handwritten lyrics, drawings, letters and ephemera.
Garcia’s handwritten lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “Going, Going, Gone” and “Tough Mama” as well as to Hank Ballard’s “Tore Up Over You” are listed among the highlights included in the lot. There’s also a letter written to Jerry from his daughter, Annabelle Garcia, when she was approximately seven-years-old. But that’s just the start. Be sure to check out the full listing for more that the winner of the lot — estimated to score between $30 – $50,000 — will get.
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Pigpen’s Wurlitzer
Original Grateful Dead keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan’s Wurlitzer 120 electric piano from the ’60s is quite a gem. “The last remaining of his keyboards, bought by Pigpen, himself, in the mid to late 1960s,” revealed Parish. “Used by Pigpen for rehearsals and gigs.”
While there’s a broken key, the piano does come with its legs and features a sticker from Oakland’s Leo’s Music Incorporated on the back. Considering the estimates for some of the other lots, the estimate of between $5 – $10,000 doesn’t seem so bad.
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Bob Dylan’s Guitar Played With The Grateful Dead
Bob Dylan teamed with the Grateful Dead for the “Dylan And The Dead” tour in 1987. The Dead backed Dylan and also played sets of their own at these stadium shows. Bob Dylan’s Washburn guitar used during the run was given to Bob Weir and is up for auction.
The circa 1986 Washburn EA-20 cutaway acoustic electric model is described as in “good condition.” However, the bridge is lifting from the body and there’s a output jack loose inside the axe. The guitar is estimated to bring in between $5 – $7,000.
