Eric Clapton guitar sells for huge seven-figure sum at rock memorabilia auction
AN Eric Clapton guitar regarded as one of the most important in rock history sold for £1million.
The 1964 Gibson, first seen on Cream’s 1967 US tour, was called The Fool after the Dutch art collective which painted it.
Eric hailed its “sweet human voice”, and it is seen as a “symbol of the summer of love”.
It was bought at a rock memorabilia auction in Nashville.
Clapton described the instrument as an essential part of the ‘woman tone’ – “a sweet sound…more like the human voice than the guitar,” he said in an interview with the BBC in 1968.
‘The Fool’ was an integral part of the opening of Cream’s hit ‘Sunshine of Your Love,’ and is said to be one of the last original intact instruments from the British psychedelic music period.
It was sold for $1.27 million to a bidder on behalf of the Jim Irsay Collection at the Hard Rock Café, Nashville.
Also sold at the ‘Played, Worn & Torn: Rock ‘N’ Roll Iconic Guitars and Memorabilia’ auction was a Gibson acoustic guitar played by Johnny Cash, going for $63,500 (£51,285) – a massive $60,000 over the estimate.
A Charvel EVH series electric guitar owned by Eddie Van Halen also went for $117,000 ($94,503), above the estimate of $40,000-$60,000.
The auction continues tomorrow, offering up over 1,000 items previously owned by legends such as Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, Prince and Janis Joplin.