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Lot Essay
A January 1993 interview with The New York Times in which Lou Reed enthused I just bought a really great guitar, as he described his new Danny Gatton model Telecaster, suggests that Reed likely acquired this guitar in late 1992 or early 1993. Reed acquired two Fender Custom Shop Danny Gatton Telecasters around this time - one in Honey Blonde and one in Frost Gold finish. An early live performance with the Frost Gold Telecaster, which Reed reportedly nicknamed ‘Goldie’, came several weeks later, when Reed played the song ‘Warrior King’ on the NBC television show Late Night with David Letterman on 16 February 1993. Reed evidently continued to use the Frost Gold Telecaster extensively throughout the 1990s, as the guitar would display visible playing wear to the fingerboard when it reappeared on stage in the 2000s.
Goldie served as one of Lou Reed’s main stage guitars during his Ecstasy World Tour from March to November 2000 in support of his eighteenth solo studio album Ecstasy, used to perform some of his most celebrated songs including ‘Perfect Day’, ‘Smalltown’, ‘The Blue Mask’, ‘Vicious’, and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Sweet Jane’. Reed can be seen playing Goldie for all but three songs throughout his concert at the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 24 April 2000, which was broadcast on the German music television show Rockpalast. At the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on 13 July 2000, he performed an extended version of the song ‘Tatters’ on this guitar, which features on the official concert DVD Lou Reed: Live at Montreux 2000, released in 2005. The concert footage from both Düsseldorf and Montreux shows that Reed would wedge a smoking cigarette between the E and A strings at the guitar's headstock while he played. Following two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Reed made an appearance on the British television show Later… with Jools Holland on 20 May 2000, where he played this guitar for a performance of ‘Sweet Jane’.
Reed’s most notable performance with Goldie was his rock-infused rendition of the John Lennon song ‘Jealous Guy’ as part of the concert tribute Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on 2 October 2001, broadcast live on TNT. Originally scheduled as an evening to celebrate Lennon’s life and career, the show took place less than a month after the city was devastated by the September 11 terror attacks and became a benefit concert for relief organizations working on the World Trade Center rescue efforts. According to Reed’s guitar tech Stewart Hurwood, the guitar remained part of Reed’s road repertoire throughout his NYC Man Tour in 2003 and last made the rounds in 2005-2006.
At some point after October 2001, the Joe Barden ‘hot rails’ pickups typically found on Danny Gatton Telecasters were swapped out for Fender vintage-style single-coil pickups, when Reed wanted to try out a new configuration. Lou played this guitar a lot! And loved it! It's a great guitar, said Hurwood when the guitar was originally auctioned in 2021. He was a blistering rock guitarist and he was very demanding of his instruments, added producer Bob Ezrin. He played them hard and he required of them a purity of tone beyond what most guitars were capable of. He was not casual about what he played. Every guitar he had was tweaked and perfected and brought to the perfect place to make the sounds he heard in his head.
According to Ezrin, Reed had intended to donate the Telecaster to the first Music Rising benefit auction in 2008 but got caught up in touring and shipped it too late. We went through and selected guitars for auction, recalled Hurwood. Lou said, “Send these guitars to Edge?” I was surprised and said, “You're sending Goldie, too?” He said, “Yes, I'm done with it.” That was typical of Lou Reed. He would be looking for new great things and phase out of old favorites. Ezrin and U2’s The Edge were determined to make the guitar a centerpiece of their next Music Rising auction, which would ultimately take place several years after Reed’s death in 2013.
Goldie served as one of Lou Reed’s main stage guitars during his Ecstasy World Tour from March to November 2000 in support of his eighteenth solo studio album Ecstasy, used to perform some of his most celebrated songs including ‘Perfect Day’, ‘Smalltown’, ‘The Blue Mask’, ‘Vicious’, and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Sweet Jane’. Reed can be seen playing Goldie for all but three songs throughout his concert at the Philipshalle in Düsseldorf, Germany, on 24 April 2000, which was broadcast on the German music television show Rockpalast. At the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on 13 July 2000, he performed an extended version of the song ‘Tatters’ on this guitar, which features on the official concert DVD Lou Reed: Live at Montreux 2000, released in 2005. The concert footage from both Düsseldorf and Montreux shows that Reed would wedge a smoking cigarette between the E and A strings at the guitar's headstock while he played. Following two nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Reed made an appearance on the British television show Later… with Jools Holland on 20 May 2000, where he played this guitar for a performance of ‘Sweet Jane’.
Reed’s most notable performance with Goldie was his rock-infused rendition of the John Lennon song ‘Jealous Guy’ as part of the concert tribute Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on 2 October 2001, broadcast live on TNT. Originally scheduled as an evening to celebrate Lennon’s life and career, the show took place less than a month after the city was devastated by the September 11 terror attacks and became a benefit concert for relief organizations working on the World Trade Center rescue efforts. According to Reed’s guitar tech Stewart Hurwood, the guitar remained part of Reed’s road repertoire throughout his NYC Man Tour in 2003 and last made the rounds in 2005-2006.
At some point after October 2001, the Joe Barden ‘hot rails’ pickups typically found on Danny Gatton Telecasters were swapped out for Fender vintage-style single-coil pickups, when Reed wanted to try out a new configuration. Lou played this guitar a lot! And loved it! It's a great guitar, said Hurwood when the guitar was originally auctioned in 2021. He was a blistering rock guitarist and he was very demanding of his instruments, added producer Bob Ezrin. He played them hard and he required of them a purity of tone beyond what most guitars were capable of. He was not casual about what he played. Every guitar he had was tweaked and perfected and brought to the perfect place to make the sounds he heard in his head.
According to Ezrin, Reed had intended to donate the Telecaster to the first Music Rising benefit auction in 2008 but got caught up in touring and shipped it too late. We went through and selected guitars for auction, recalled Hurwood. Lou said, “Send these guitars to Edge?” I was surprised and said, “You're sending Goldie, too?” He said, “Yes, I'm done with it.” That was typical of Lou Reed. He would be looking for new great things and phase out of old favorites. Ezrin and U2’s The Edge were determined to make the guitar a centerpiece of their next Music Rising auction, which would ultimately take place several years after Reed’s death in 2013.