The 'Lost' Keef/Mick Taylor '59 LP Gets 'Found' At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art

[crunchee]

Stolen Rolling Stones Guitar Resurfaces at New York Museum After 54 Years

A stolen Rolling Stones guitar is in the NYC Met collection | GuitarPlayer

[Steve Haynie]

It would be nice if Mick Taylor gets his guitar back.  

If the collector who had it knew what it was, why did he not offer to give back the guitar?  He was willing to give it to a museum.  

[kizanski]

"Oh, here it is..."

[kizanski]

1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

It would be nice if Mick Taylor gets his guitar back.  

If the collector who had it knew what it was, why did he not offer to give back the guitar?  He was willing to give it to a museum.  

Additionally, an unnamed source stated that Taylor is "mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met's collection," and noted the musician had "never received compensation for the theft."

 

Yeah... No shit!

[Disturber]

What do you guys think the outcome of this will be? Will the museum give Mick the guitar back, or reimburse him finacially? Or will they just pretend that it's raining and go about their business?

Will there be some kind of official investigation on how the person who owned this guitar collection got in possesion of this guitar? 

 

[kizanski]

14 minutes ago, Disturber said:

What do you guys think the outcome of this will be? Will the museum give Mick the guitar back, or reimburse him finacially? Or will they just pretend that it's raining and go about their business?

Will there be some kind of official investigation on how the person who owned this guitar collection got in possesion of this guitar? 

I don't know what the outcome will be, but I know what the outcome should be:

1. Mick walks in to the place, says, "This is my fucking guitar," takes it off the wall and walks out.
2. Mick sues everyone involved who didn't immediately bring the guitar back to him once they knew it was his; the person who had it, the museum, the guy who wrote the article (ok - I'm just kidding there, but I'm genuinely pissed for Taylor).

How it's not already in his possession is making my head spin.
Everyone knows it's his - even to the point of writing articles about it - but it's sitting in a pile with 500 other guitars at a museum?

And who "donates" 500 guitars??

 

[Hbom]

16 minutes ago, kizanski said:

And who "donates" 500 guitars??

 

Someone who stole 505 guitars.

[dgstandard]

Not a good look. Should have done the right thing and given Mick the opportunity to get his guitar back.

[tbonesullivan]

This kind of stuff continues to piss me off, like the whole thing with the Jeff Beck Les Paul and a collector who found it in a store. Collector knew it was the Beck guitar, apparently even contacted him regarding it to "ask permission" to buy it or something like that, but then Beck wanted it back. Then there was the more complicated thing between Ronnie Montrose and Gary Moore.

[kizanski]

14 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

Then there was the more complicated thing between Ronnie Montrose and Gary Moore.

And McCartney’s bass showing up in some dude’s attic.

And Frampton’s 3 pickup Custom…

[Steve Haynie]

Perhaps 15 years ago there was an exhibit of Napoleon's possessions that was impressive.  Documents signed by Napoleon and Josephine, a lock of his hair, uniforms, and his iconic hat were on display.  

A few years later I read about the Castro regime needing funds, so they were selling off some of the treasures they had confiscated.  There was a mention that one of the world's largest collections of Napoleonic memorabilia was auctioned by the Cuban government.  

I'll bet that some of what I saw in that museum display had been stolen decades earlier.  The owner may have been executed at the time.  It gives me a weird feeling about seeing that display.  It could have been legitimately acquired.  I dunno.  

[Tortious]

4 hours ago, kizanski said:

And who "donates" 500 guitars??

Dirk Ziff. Same dude that had Ed King's stolen '59. Gotta wonder about the history of some of the others in that collection.

I'm sure they took a long time and went through several hands before they got to him, but he has/had one of the biggest collections of original '59s, and I doubt he had no clue about the history of some of them, or knowledge about known ones like this that 'disappeared'.

[Hackubus]

4 hours ago, Tortious said:

Dirk Ziff. Same dude that had Ed King's stolen '59. Gotta wonder about the history of some of the others in that collection.

I'm sure they took a long time and went through several hands before they got to him, but he has/had one of the biggest collections of original '59s, and I doubt he had no clue about the history of some of them, or knowledge about known ones like this that 'disappeared'.

My CRS/CRAFT is flaring up, but has it been alleged DZ has the Beano Burst, or am I just talking out my azz per the norm?

[Jakeboy]

Such BS. Taylor should have police escort him to retrieve his fucking property.

[Biz Prof]

Dudes who steal guitars should be subjected to having a Dean headstock shoved up their arses.

[cmatthes]

10 hours ago, Biz Prof said:

Dudes who steal guitars should be subjected to having a Dean headstock shoved up their arses.

And not the "Shrimpfork" kind either!

[kizanski]

13 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

And not the "Shrimpfork" kind either!

Absolutely!  Only the classic Dean headstock will do here.

Like @thecajunboy would say, "That headstock could gig a frog!"

[soli'd]

I haven't done any exhaustive research on the whole Nellcote Theft story, but from what I've read, it all sounds pretty hazy for reasons ranging from mis-recollection, to drug-debt payoff to possible insurance fraud.  There apparently aren't any pics showing the Burst in question from the Exile sessions, while there are of many of the other guitars reportedly stolen at the time.  Who knows what actual claim Mick has at this point. 

I bet Peter Green regrets reportedly "giving away" Greenie.  I wonder what he thinks of seeing it played on Metallica tour.  

[velorush]

10 minutes ago, soli'd said:

I bet Peter Green regrets reportedly "giving away" Greenie.  I wonder what he thinks of seeing it played on Metallica tour.  

Given he's been, in HFC parlance, 'IBS' for five years next week, I doubt he has an opinion one way or the other. 😉😆

[kizanski]

17 minutes ago, soli'd said:

I bet Peter Green regrets reportedly "giving away" Greenie.  I wonder what he thinks of seeing it played on Metallica tour.  

 

6 minutes ago, velorush said:

Given he's been, in HFC parlance, 'IBS' for five years next week, I doubt he has an opinion one way or the other. 😉😆

Seeing Greenie played on the Metallica tour is how one goes from IBS status to NHRIBS/TDC status.

[Steve Haynie]

Greenie is not hidden away in a vault.  Kirk lets other people play it.  That guitar is probably in the right hands.  

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, Steve Haynie said:

Greenie is not hidden away in a vault.  Kirk lets other people play it.  That guitar is probably in the right hands.  

Sure, but the point is for good players to play it.

[Steve Haynie]

A few of Kirk's friends are good players.  

[DarkHammer]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:31 AM, kizanski said:

I don't know what the outcome will be, but I know what the outcome should be:

1. Mick walks in to the place, says, "This is my fucking guitar," takes it off the wall and walks out.
2. Mick sues everyone involved who didn't immediately bring the guitar back to him once they knew it was his; the person who had it, the museum, the guy who wrote the article (ok - I'm just kidding there, but I'm genuinely pissed for Taylor).

How it's not already in his possession is making my head spin.
Everyone knows it's his - even to the point of writing articles about it - but it's sitting in a pile with 500 other guitars at a museum?

And who "donates" 500 guitars??

 

Well, considering that everyone knows that Met Museum have thousands of stolen artefacts from Egypt, Iraq and other countries, I am not sure what outcome of Mick's guitar will be. For decades Met refused to return historical treasures that are way move valuable than this guitar, I'd say they will continue to ignore the theft of the instrument.

[kizanski]

34 minutes ago, DarkHammer said:

Well, considering that everyone knows that Met Museum have thousands of stolen artefacts from Egypt, Iraq and other countries, I am not sure what outcome of Mick's guitar will be. For decades Met refused to return historical treasures that are way move valuable than this guitar, I'd say they will continue to ignore the theft of the instrument.

Point taken, but in this case the rightful owner is a) still alive, and b) has provenance/proof that it is his. This isn't something that was stolen from a region or group of people hundreds/thousands of years ago.

That said, what have we learned here?

Well, for one thing, if you are going to avail yourself of a heroine dealer's wares, you should probably pay him the agreed upon price.
If you fail to do so, maybe an open door policy to the apartment where your valuables are kept is not ideal.
A deal is a deal.

Also, do not play guitar for the Bluesbreakers.
After playing with the Bluesbreakers, Peter Green found bodhisattva and gave away his guitars.  Keith Richards sold the '59 'Burst in question to Mick Taylor in '67 when Taylor joined the Bluesbreakers.  Eric Clapton borrowed the same guitar in '66 "for a July 31 show with his new group Cream after his own Les Paul — heard on the Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton album — was stolen from a church hall where the group had been rehearsing."
Clearly this Mayall guy was bad news.