Christine’s Baby Grand at MusiCares Auction

[aleuzzi]

ttps://www.goldminemag.com/collecting-news/christine-mcvie-songbird-baby-grand-piano-amongst-top-sellers-at-musicares-auction

From the article:

Fleetwood Mac fans will be pleased to know that Christine McVie’s stage-played "Songbird" Yamaha C3 Baby Grand piano sold for $50,800 (estimate: $20,000-$30,000) to benefit the MusiCares charity at an auction held by Julien's Auctions.

On Sunday, February 4 at Julien’s Auctions MusiCares Charity Relief Auction, McVie’s piano was among other top sellers such as Dua Lipa's Illusion Catsuit and Jon Bon Jovi's Takemine guitar (each sold for $50,800).

Livestreamed for the first time from the GRAMMY Museum, the event went on before the GRAMMY Awards and brought in over $500K to benefit MusiCares.

McVie’s beloved Yamaha C3 Baby Grand piano stage played for two decades between the tours for Rumours and The Dance in 1977 and 1997 in Fleetwood Mac’s closing encores of “Songbird” in concert.

Other Fleetwood Mac items made a mark as well. A signed Stevie Nicks Barbie doll, sold for a remarkable $7,800. The "Stevie Nicks Barbie Doll" (in original box) is inspired by the songstress' style during the era of the Fleetwood Mac album Rumours, signed by Nicks on the box, and inscribed “Stevie Barbie Loves Ya!” on the back of the box. Perhaps riding on the success and popularity of the Barbie film, the selling price of $7,800 for the doll was twenty-six times its estimate of $300.

[bombaysaffires]

Wow, who knew there was still stuff of hers to sell....I thought it all went in that previous auction

[DownOnRodeo]

Yeah I thought it was bought by this guy a few years back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrTFsCCDsj0

Maybe he sold it back for a sweet profit?
Or it could be one of multiple out there.

[soul_drifter333]

They must have gotten that info from Stevie when she was explaining how she taught Christine to play the piano in her unique plunk, plunk style.

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

Yeah I thought it was bought by this guy a few years back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrTFsCCDsj0

Maybe he sold it back for a sweet profit?
Or it could be one of multiple out there.

That guy Brian Larsen bought a piano that was programmable (is that the term?) and had a song that chris had worked on saved inside it. i don't think that was her actual songbird piano, though...

-Lis

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

That guy Brian Larsen bought a piano that was programmable (is that the term?) and had a song that chris had worked on saved inside it. i don't think that was her actual songbird piano, though...

-Lis

For probably 20 years now, nearly all grand pianos you see at a concert are just "a keyboard", sitting inside a grand piano case. Daily tuning of a real grand was too time consuming, AND, the crew couldn't make much noise while the piano tech took an hour or more to tune it. And keyboard sounds got good enough that the difference was negligible.

I mean, Billy Joel and Elton John still probably use real ones, but the Eagles have been using fake ones for decades now.

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

For probably 20 years now, nearly all grand pianos you see at a concert are just "a keyboard", sitting inside a grand piano case. Daily tuning of a real grand was too time consuming, AND, the crew couldn't make much noise while the piano tech took an hour or more to tune it. And keyboard sounds got good enough that the difference was negligible.

I mean, Billy Joel and Elton John still probably use real ones, but the Eagles have been using fake ones for decades now.

Aw, that's an illusion ruined, Homer! Seriously, it makes sense though, and good of them to go to the trouble as aesthetically, having Christine at at least appear to be playing on a grand at the end of the show hits the right notes. It wouldn't have had quite the same emotional appeal otherwise.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

That guy Brian Larsen bought a piano that was programmable (is that the term?) and had a song that chris had worked on saved inside it. i don't think that was her actual songbird piano, though...

-Lis

Brian purchased the piano that was used during the 2014/2015 tour. This piano that is up for auction is a different piano.

[DownOnRodeo]

So maybe the one that sold this time was an actual acoustic piano, as per the description of that model on the Yamaha website. If it was just used to plonk out some Songbird chords alone while she sang over the top of them, they might have managed with a minimum of tuning. Especially given the whole history of the original Songbird being recorded live on a grand. The one in The Dance video looks acoustic, or at least doesn't seem to show any digital controls. Maybe that is the Yamaha in question?