NEED TO KNOW
- The Metropolitan Museum of Artwork has responded to claims from Mick Taylor that his guitar, which was a part of an exhibition in 2019, was stolen from him
- The museum informed ipromiseyoumedia that “this guitar has an extended and well-documented historical past of possession”
- Keith Richards performed the storied 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar when the Rolling Stones made their debut on The Ed Sullivan Present in 1964
Mick Taylor cannot get no satisfaction.
The previous Rolling Stones guitarist and the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork disagree on the rightful possession of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar that was as soon as performed by Taylor, 76, alongside along with his former bandmate, Keith Richards.
Taylor had final seen the guitar in 1971 when recording Exile on Important Road with the band at Richards’ villa within the South of France. The guitar, often called the “Keithburst,” named after its famed proprietor, was believed to be one in all a number of guitars stolen on the time by burglars, The Instances reported.
Over 50 years later, the guitar has resurfaced — however the Met denies Taylor ever owned it.
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Museum spokesperson Ann Bailis informed ipromiseyoumedia in a press release: “This guitar has an extended and well-documented historical past of possession.”
The instrument was donated to the museum by guitar collector and billionaire Dirk Ziff in 2019. The guitar was a part of Ziff’s “landmark reward of greater than 500 of the best guitars from the golden age of American guitar making” for the Met’s exhibition, Play it Loud: Devices of Rock & Roll.
“These guitars are examples of excellent artistry and craftsmanship in addition to visually highly effective instruments of expression and distinction,” the Museum stated on the time when saying the donation.
Taylor acknowledged the distinctive options of the guitar, equivalent to its starburst patterns, and claimed it’s his. “There are quite a few photographs of Mick Taylor enjoying this Les Paul, because it was his foremost guitar till it disappeared,” enterprise supervisor and companion, Marlies Damming, informed the New York Put up‘s Web page Six.
“The attention-grabbing factor about these classic Les Pauls [from the late 1950s], is that they’re famend for his or her flaming … which is exclusive, like a fingerprint.”
ipromiseyoumedia reached out to Damming immediately and didn’t obtain a right away response.
Per the Related Press, Taylor claimed that Richards, 81, gave him the guitar in 1967. Taylor would exchange former Rolling Stones member Brian Jones, who died in 1969, making his debut with the band in Hyde Park.
Richards beforehand performed the guitar in 1964 when the Stones made their first look on The Ed Sullivan Present, a efficiency which “ignited curiosity on this legendary mannequin,” per the Met when saying the donation six years in the past.
Richards owned it till 1971, when the late document producer and supervisor Adrian Miller, who represented artists equivalent to Ozzy Osbourne, acquired it. The instrument was then handed on a number of instances all through the years.
Christie’s put the guitar up for public sale in 2004 and didn’t promote it. It was bought by Ziff in 2016, who donated it to the Met Museum three years later.
