Derek Trucks played Jerry Garcia’s “Tiger” guitar live just one day after it sold for $11.5 million – and broke a string
Jerry Garcia’s legendary “Tiger” guitar barely had time to settle into its new home before it was back in action. Just one day after selling for a staggering $11,560,000 at Christie’s, Derek Trucks put the instrument through its paces onstage with the Tedeschi Trucks Band at New York’s Beacon Theatre.
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Trucks’ performance came during the band’s ongoing Beacon residency, immediately following the historic auction in New York City. Tiger was purchased as part of the Jim Irsay Collection, a multi-day sale featuring hundreds of the late Indianapolis Colts owner’s prized possessions, from rare instruments to pop culture memorabilia.
The guitar was purchased by Bobby Tseitlin of Family Guitars, who makes it clear that Tiger is part of a “living, breathing collection”, meant to be played rather than “locked away in a vault or hidden behind glass”.
Tseitlin is also owner of a number of other high-profile instruments, including items once belonging to the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia, as well as a Dave Davies-owned Flying V and a Telecaster belonging to blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield.
Derek Trucks must have been visualising his performance before the historic Christie’s sale, as it’s also been revealed he was sat next to Tseitlin when he placed his winning bid. Despite the instrument’s eight-figure value, Trucks wasn’t overly careful with his performance at the Beacon Theatre, and even ended up breaking a string mid-set…
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“Every scratch, every worn fret, every vibration in the wood carries the fingerprints of the musicians who played them and the songs that defined generations,” Family Guitars notes on its website. “Our mission is simple: keep these guitars alive.”
On Friday night, Trucks put that philosophy into action, performing several songs on the instrument, including Blind Willie McTell’s Statesboro Blues, Frank Zappa’s Willie the Pimp, John Prine’s Angel From Montgomery, and Garcia’s own Sugaree.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Trucks describes the guitar’s unique feel: “It’s a really heavy guitar, but it’s really articulate when you play it. So there’s no hiding anywhere. You’re going to hear all of it, every note. It almost speaks like a piano in some ways, where everything’s clean and even. It’s not for the faint of heart. You need to know what you’re doing to play that guitar. I wasn’t worried about hurting that thing. It’s a big old heavy beast, and he can handle it.”
The Christie’s auction also made headlines beyond Tiger, with David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster fetching $14,550,000, claiming the title of the most expensive guitar ever sold, a record previously held by Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
