“He only really ever played Free Bird on that guitar. I broke rank”: Charlie Starr on the spiritual moment he played Gary Rossington’s famed ‘Free Bird’ 1961 Gibson SG

Charlie Starr has opened up on his experiences of playing one of the most iconic Gibson guitars of all time when he performed a Lynyrd Skynyrd medley using Gary Rossington’s ‘Free Bird’ Les Paul/SG.

In November last year, Starr made headlines when he took to the stage with Rossington’s famed ‘Free Bird’ electric guitar to perform a mash-up of Free Bird and Tuesday’s Gone.

The surprise guest appearance from the legendary 1961 model (originally dubbed a Les Paul in 1961 despite its SG shape owing to naming peculiarities of that year) was part of a new project initiated by the Rossington family and Chicago Music Exchange (CME).

Indeed, the CME was announced as the new custodian of Gary’s guitar collection, with the retailer confirming it would be loaning out the late guitar icon’s Les Paul/SG to a string of high-profile players for live use.

It was a big move. As per CME’s own words at the time, “No-one has ever played these instruments live other than Gary”, with Starr himself describing the whole experience as “sacred”.

Now, in a new interview with AL.com, Starr has reflected on that gig, revealing he decided to slightly subvert expectations when he had Rossington’s six-string in his arms.

“I mean, honored is not the word. Honored, that word is not quite special enough sometimes, but it was really great,” he muses. “There’s actually two of them. They brought two of them, and I chose the one of the two.

“He had several [Gibson SGs] and those two are the ones we’ve all seen the most in video footage and photographs. Anyway, he only really ever played Free Bird on that guitar. So I thought, ‘Wow, this guitar was used as a specific tool for a specific song,’ and I broke rank and played Tuesday’s Gone on it.

“Dale Rossington [Gary’s widow] was there with their daughters, and it was just really emotional. I’m sure other people might think that’s silly, but it was hard to not get emotional holding that guitar.”

Blackberry Smoke “Free Bird” “Tuesdays Gone” on Gary Rossington’s guitar St Augustine FL 11/7/24 - YouTube

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Such hallowed guitars are often surrounded by a fair level of mysticism, and when quizzed whether he could feel a spiritual connection with Rossington when he played this particular guitar, Starr adds: “I think so.

“Gary’s, as soon as I played a note on it, it was like, ‘Wow, man,’” he continues. “A lot of these instruments just inherently sound like the tracks that we’re used to hearing them all. Obviously, Gary played a lot of different guitars, but you just hear certain things that ears have become accustomed to hearing, and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s it.’”

It's not the only case we've seen of notable guitars once owned by late guitar heroes being loaned out for live use in recent months.

Last year, it was announced Jeff Beck's own Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster would receive the same treatment – and Steve Lukather and John Mayer have already played it.