Leila Comments on Upcoming Grateful Dead Sale for The Wall Street Journal:
Items on the block in an auction of Grateful Dead memorabilia ranging from tiny keepsakes to this 1956 Chevrolet used by the band.
DONLEY AUCTION SERVICESCollectors of all things Grateful Dead will have what is being billed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this weekend as longtime employees of the band, close personal friends and band members themselves put up for auction an eclectic mix of memorabilia.
The auction of 722 items on April 11-12 includes many items given by the band to its staff and friends, most of which have never been available for sale before, said Dennis McNally, the band’s longtime publicist.
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The auction is expected to bring in between $1 million and $2 million, said Shawnah Donley, production manager at Donley Auction Services in Union, Ill., where the auction will take place. Money from each item sold will go to the person who put it up for auction. People who can’t attend in person can watch and bid at www.proxibid.com.
The band’s kitchen table.
DONLEY AUCTION SERVICESThe auction was planned to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary this year, and was being put together before the band decided to play its final shows ever as the Grateful Dead this summer in Chicago, said Mr. McNally—who is selling the original hand-written lyrics to the song “He’s Gone,” minimum bid $47,000. The staff got together and decided “we’ve had this stuff 20-30 years, it’s time to let it go. There’s grandchildren whose college educations need financing.”
“Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion Grateful Dead Fan Club” poster.
DONLEY AUCTION SERVICESLeila Dunbar, a former director of collectibles at Sotheby’s who now runs her own appraisals firm, said Grateful Dead memorabilia ranks “right there at the top with the Beatles, Elvis and Bob Dylan.” Mike Greenhaus, editor in chief at rock and roll rag Relix Magazine, said Dead memorabilia—including artwork created by Mr. Garcia—can be found in high-end galleries.
“The Grateful Dead scene dates back to the beginning of rock and roll art…and that art has always been one of the most valuable collector items,” he said.
The most expensive pieces being auctioned off are original artworks by famed ‘60s concert poster artists Rick Griffin, Alton Kelly and Stanley Mouse, with Mr. Mouse’s 1966 “Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion Grateful Dead Fan Club” poster having a minimum bid of $420,000. The auction house estimates it may sell for as much as $1.5 million. Proceeds from items donated by one of the band’s drummers, Mickey Hart—which include a piece of art from Mickey’s personal collection, called “Beam Man”– will go to the autism charity Hidden Wings.
Among the more exotic items offered are the kitchen table from the band’s office in San Rafael, Calif., a 1956 Chevy Bel Air used by the band and the T-shirt worn by Mr. Garcia at his last show, July 9, 1995 at Chicago’s Soldier Field—site of the band’s final concerts this July. Mr. Garcia died Aug. 9, 1995—the book he was reading at the time of his death, “The Celestine Prophecy,” with his hand-written notes, is also up for auction. Ms. Dunbar said the T-shirt is the “wild card” of the auction—it was assigned a value of “priceless” by the auction house.
A Colt pistol once owned by Jerry Garcia.
DONLEY AUCTION SERVICESAnother unique item is a .25-caliber Colt pistol owned by Mr. Garcia before he gave it to a friend, Lisa Purze, in 1990. The band liked to shoot at targets, and “Jerry thought I would like it so he gave it to me for my birthday,” said Ms. Purze. She has no idea what the gun will sell for; it’s estimated by the auction house to sell for $20,000-$30,000. “It is his gun. It was registered to him.”
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Former staffer Sue Stephens is putting up an antique chair Mr. Garcia gave her. It has a minimum bid of $10,000. Asked what she thought Mr. Garcia would think of the auction, Ms. Stephens said: “He would laugh. Jerry was never one to collect things.”
Write to Ben DiPietro at ben.dipietro@dowjones.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenDiPietro1. For more items included in the auction, scroll down.
The lyrics to “He’s Gone”
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A ticket to the Grateful Dead’s performance in Egypt.
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Jerry Garcia’s t-shirt
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JERRY GARCIA’S COPY OF “THE CELESTINE PROPHECY.” DONLEY AUCTION SERVICES
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