I'm sorry I started a new topic... I already asked (http://www.iorr.org/talk/read.php?1,571229) which of Keith's guitars were stolen from Nellcote... Flying V, plexiglass Dan Armstrong, Gibson SE and a black Les Paul were mentioned. Any others? Have any of these guitars later resurfaced?

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

The Flying V and the Dan Armstrong were the ones he used in Hyde Park and Altamont respectfully right? That's two VERY historical guitars that's been stolen. I guess the theif knew what he was going after.

JumpingKentFlash

I imagine the Les Paul was the one with the stars and crescent moon on it he played at the R and R Circus. That one's historic too!

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
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> I guess the theif knew what he was going after.
Not really. It's pretty much known that these guitars were Stolen one night in Nellecote by a bunch of kids that Keith did let in during a druggy evening.
I don't think at the time people paid much attention to Keith's guitars, they sure didn't have, at the time, the symbolic value they would have now.

Probably they took the most unusual looking ones. One can imagine Keith's face in the morning...

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

In the morning?????

I wonder what happened to them? private collectors?

Well, when he found out the guitars had been stolen. Probably not in the morning...

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

It's not as if Keith couldn't afford some new guitars. He gets sent free ones from every guitar manufacturer in the world - let alone his untold fortune! I'm not saying he wasn't peeved about it, but he would be in a slightly better position than if you or I had our guitars nicked.

Well, of course he was in a better position financially. Guitars can be very special to their owner. Although I'm not so sure about guitar manufacturers sending him guitars in 1972.

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

Well, for Keith guitars are his working tools, so loosing a special one can be a very bad experience for an artist.
We all know not all guitars sound the same, even perfect twins, so that must've been a bummer to him, even though he could of course replace them in the blink of an eye.

I've read interviews where Keith is asked if any of the guitars resurfaced over the years. I think the only thing I can remember him saying is that there had been a few funerals over the years, "if you know what I mean". Which is a Keith quote so take it for what it's worth.

I'm not sure that Keith played the Armstrong in Hyde Park. Definetly the Flying V and an E 335, but I don;t revall the plexi one.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

I think Kent meant that he used the Flying V at Hyde Park and the Dan Armstrong at Altamont.

sjs12 Wrote:
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> It's not as if Keith couldn't afford some new
> guitars. He gets sent free ones from every guitar
> manufacturer in the world - let alone his untold
> fortune! I'm not saying he wasn't peeved about
> it, but he would be in a slightly better position
> than if you or I had our guitars nicked.

Yes, he had and has the money to buy everything he wants, but in 1971 the guitar market wasn't what it is today. There were only a few specialised shops, with the shops on Denmark Street in London, Manny's in New York and Gruhn in Nashville. Finding a '59 Les Paul could easily take a year, and finding good Strats and Tele's was even harder. So I bet he wasn't too happy about his guitars being stolen. Stolen for sure by the way was the Armstrong, a '59 Gibson ES-355, the Flying V, a Gibson ES-330, a '59 Les Paul Custom, Taylor's Bigsby Les Paul and '61 SG, two Gibson Hummingbirds and a Fender Jazz Bass. There must be more though. I believe 11 instruments were reported to the police.

Mathijs

Keith did not use Dan Armstrong in Hyde Park, as far as I'm aware of, he got it later.

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

Esperola Wrote:
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> Keith did not use Dan Armstrong in Hyde Park, as
> far as I'm aware of, he got it later.


i think he got it days before the msg concert,where jimmy visited the stones.
there is video,where keith shows jimmy his new guitar

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Oh, give me the beat, boys, and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

Do I need to repeat it?? I think Kent meant that Keith used the Flying V at Hyde Park and the Dan Armstrong at Altamont. He never said that Keith used used the Dan Armstrong at Hyde Park....

Keith reporting to the police...??? LOL, you know they didn't go out of their way to help him too much on that one. Probably had a hand in lifting the items to begin with.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

You can see Keith playing the Armstrong (albeit not plugged in) when they mimed HTW on the Ed Sullivan show in 69, their final appearance for Ed.

Any other occasions where Keith has played a Flying V?

"Rape, murder, it's just a shot away..."

>> Any other occasions where Keith has played a Flying V? <<

he has it in photos from the filming of the Top of the Pops HTW on july 3rd 69.
i've never seen that footage (only the second HTW they filmed for Top of the Pops in december 69),
so i don't know if he used it in taping, but i reckon it's real likely that he did.

>> I imagine the Les Paul was the one with the stars and crescent moon on it he played at the R and R Circus. <<

apparently not - apparently Keith gave that one to someone. on purpose, i mean.

and whether or not he could afford to replace them, stealing a musician's instruments is an utterly vile thing to do.

I dunno........maybe Keith used the Flying V to mime to some backing track on some television show??? I'm not sure, seems like I might have seen that but I'm not positive. But as far as concerts, the only time I know of him using it is at Hyde Park. That's a pity, it's a cool guitar but I've played them before.......never owned one.......just picked them up in guitar shops and stuff and they're a bit awkward to play.........and that's coming from a guy that played a Firebird for years!

Mathijs Wrote:
>
> Yes, he had and has the money to buy everything he
> wants, but in 1971 the guitar market wasn't what
> it is today. There were only a few specialised
> shops, with the shops on Denmark Street in London,
> Manny's in New York and Gruhn in Nashville.
> Finding a '59 Les Paul could easily take a year,
> and finding good Strats and Tele's was even
> harder. So I bet he wasn't too happy about his
> guitars being stolen.
>
> Mathijs

Two things - I didn't say he'd be happy about it! But this wouldn't have affected him like it would you or me!

Secondly, he was up and running with a fair few guitars not too long after that so it wasn't that hard for him.

That said, losing your guitar collection must be a bit like losing your record collection. Imagine losing everything you took your whole life to collect overnight and knowing that you will never get it back. I must get round to cataloging my collection in case the unimaginable happens and I need to make an insurance claim. It happened to my wife who lost her whole collection including loads of rare Tori Amos singles which she has never been able to replace. Serves her right for living in Middlesborough for a few years! That said, it was even worse that they left a poo on the carpet for her. I wonder if that happened to Keith and, if it did, if he tried to smoke it!

I remember a story when Bill Wyman got his record collection nicked. I think he got an offer by some record company to come in and take whatever he wanted from their archives. Anyone remember that story - possibly from one of his bios?