In a spacious, all-white showroom in Glendale, the music-obsessed auction house ANALOGr has collected an intriguing bounty of rock and pop artifacts. One of Elvis Presley’s many motorcycles, a 1976 black-and-blue Harley Davidson FLH 1200 — which he kept ready for impromptu desert rides at his spread in Palm Springs — is parked inside near the front door. Nearby is the burgundy drum kit used by Radiohead to record its 1997 breakthrough album, “OK Computer,” sitting only inches from a peppermint candy-swirled set of drums from the White Stripes.
Several hot-rodded guitars played by Eddie Van Halen fill another corner, while microphones used by Nirvana and Stevie Wonder are also within reach. There are collectibles connected to the Beatles, the Supremes, David Bowie and the Go-Go’s, but at the moment, ANALOGr founder and Chief Executive Thomas Scriven is deep into a discussion on the Grateful Dead. The firm’s current auction, Grateful Dead 2: Rare and Curated Items, is a wide-ranging gathering of band treasures and ephemera, artwork and vintage sound equipment.
“Some of these artifacts that we’re touching, they impacted music culture, pop culture, some of the biggest moments in people’s lives,” says Scriven, 44, bearded in tie-dyed jeans, sounding like a true fan as he describes the many items spread out around him. The auction was already in the planning stages when it was announced that the band’s latter-day offshoot, Dead & Company, would perform a hig.
