Anyone familiar with the world of the Grateful Dead knows that one of the band’s most devoted and excitable fans was the late Bill Walton, the illustrious Hall of Fame NBA center who died in May 2024 at 71. During his life, Walton proudly boasted of having attended more than 800 Dead or Dead-related shows and could be seen in the front rows at many of them. But to get a sense of how tight he was with the band, how far back that connection went, and how much memorabilia he stashed away, a just-unveiled auction of items from his personal collection will provide a touch of bounce.
“The Personal Collection of Bill Walton,” which launched yesterday and will be open for online bidding through June 11, has much of what any Walton fan would expect. There are jerseys from his UCLA and Trail Blazers years, his 1986 Boston Celtics championship ring, his 1970 passport, commemorative championship watches, and other items.
But the auction’s catalog also features 16 pages devoted to souvenirs from his years in Deadland. Among the goodies are limited-edition prints of the Europe ’72 front and back album covers signed by artist Stanley Mouse ($500 to $1,000); 13 tour books dating back to 1986 (listing itineraries, hotels where the band members were staying, and other workaday information, $250 to $500 total); the “Uncle Sam skeleton” artwork used in The Grateful Dead Movie ($500 to $1,000); and a drum cymbal autographed by the band’s Eighties lineup, including Brent Mydland ($5,000 to $7,500). (Jerry Garcia’s sense of humor is seen in his inscription: “Hey Bill! Beat this.”) A poster from one of the Dead’s 1966 shows at the Avalon Ballroom, about two decades before Walton first saw them, is available for $300 to $500.
Starting in 1999, Walton took over the late Bill Graham’s role as “Father Time” at the post-Garcia Dead’s New Year’s Eve shows. Four of those extravagantly cloaked and adorned outfits, including his “Red, White and Blue” from a few years back, are each available between $500 to $1,000. Walton also attended the band’s Fare Thee Well shows in 2015, and the auction includes not only his backstage passes but a printout of the speech he gave at one of the Chicago concerts ($400 to $600). Posters and setlists from shows by Furthur, Dead and Co., and Phil Lesh and Friends are also up for grabs.
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Among the most intriguing items in the auction is a drum head signed by members of the band (including Garcia) as well as managers Danny Rifkin and Jon McIntire and legendary road crew members Kidd Candelario, Robbie Taylor, and Laurence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff. Rarely are all those autographs seen in the same place, so it makes sense that the starting price is $5,000 to $7,500.
A few non-Dead music items are also being auctioned off, including a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours that’s personally signed by Mick Fleetwood; a Keith Richards guitar pick from the 2000s; a Chicago “tote bag” (with a pass from the show where he joined them onstage); and Walton’s backstage passes to shows by Phish, the Eagles, Tom Petty, the Who, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. For anyone who wants to buy or wear one of the six-foot-11 Walton’s many shirts, especially his Dead ones, keep in mind that they’re pretty much all XL or XXL.
