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Lot Essay
Gibson's 1952 Les Paul model was the company's response to the Fender Esquire and Telecaster. Adding to the pastiche of a new design, Gibson branded the guitar with a celebrity endorsement, Les Paul. The Les Paul was originally intended to include only the Goldtop and the Custom models until the introduction of the down market Juniors and Specials in 1955. The less expensive price point of these new Les Paul models resulted in extraordinary sale results outselling their pricier counterparts. While Les Paul's association is reserved to the classic Les Paul Customs, Goldtops and Standards the Juniors and Specials were the popular choice for great artists including Leslie West, Keith Richards, Mick Jones, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Born Winston Hubert McIntosh in Grange Hill, Jamaica, Tosh was a Jamaican reggae musician. Inspired by American radio stations he began singing and playing guitar at an early age and went on to become a major member of the musical band The Wailers. Tosh also experienced individual success as a solo artist and is credited with the innovation of the choppy and syncopated reggae guitar style.
Provenance:
Peter Tosh Dan Courtenay, Chelsea Guitars Richard Gere
Dan Courtenay recalls that in about 1990 a friend informed him of a classified in the New York Times advertising auctions. ...among the used furniture (was) some equipment belonging to the late Jamaican Reggae star Peter Tosh. Included in the lot was an electric guitar. It was hard to believe this was his famous double-cut Les Paul TV Special but of course I was going to find out. The lot that contained Tosh's guitar, also contained a road case with his name on it, a Martin acoustic that looked like he had hit someone over the head with it, as it was completely shattered, a Fender Twin Reverb amplifier... If my memory serves me there was only one other interested bidder on the items, whom I outbid and I won the auction. It's hard to believe, looking back, that things like this happened, certainly not with any frequency, but they did happen pretty often. Guitars back then were nowhere near as desirable as they are now. We kept the guitar for a while and my partner at the time then sold the guitar to Richard. "Richard would come into the shop and hang out quite a bit. Sometimes it would be after hours, after we locked up and he would play. He was always nice to deal with and a real player!"
Dan Courtenay
Provenance:
Peter Tosh Dan Courtenay, Chelsea Guitars Richard Gere
Dan Courtenay recalls that in about 1990 a friend informed him of a classified in the New York Times advertising auctions. ...among the used furniture (was) some equipment belonging to the late Jamaican Reggae star Peter Tosh. Included in the lot was an electric guitar. It was hard to believe this was his famous double-cut Les Paul TV Special but of course I was going to find out. The lot that contained Tosh's guitar, also contained a road case with his name on it, a Martin acoustic that looked like he had hit someone over the head with it, as it was completely shattered, a Fender Twin Reverb amplifier... If my memory serves me there was only one other interested bidder on the items, whom I outbid and I won the auction. It's hard to believe, looking back, that things like this happened, certainly not with any frequency, but they did happen pretty often. Guitars back then were nowhere near as desirable as they are now. We kept the guitar for a while and my partner at the time then sold the guitar to Richard. "Richard would come into the shop and hang out quite a bit. Sometimes it would be after hours, after we locked up and he would play. He was always nice to deal with and a real player!"
Dan Courtenay