[Slowhand] auction-related BBC article

[Gaetano Villari]

Hello all,
 
details about the auction are given in the following BBC site article.
 
Cheers
Gaetano
 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3837649.stm
 
 
Clapton's guitar smashes record - Eric Clapton sold the guitars for his
Crossroads addiction clinic
 
A treasured guitar owned by Eric Clapton, called Blackie, has fetched a
record $959,500 (£526,000) at auction. The Fender Stratocaster was expected
to reach $150,000 (£83,000), but a bidding war broke out at Christie's in
New York on Thursday, pushing the price up.
The guitar, first used in 1973, was bought by US chain The Guitar Center.
The previous record price for a guitar was in 1999 when a bidder paid $497
500 (£330,000) for Clapton's 1956 Fender Stratocaster, Brownie. Proceeds
from Thursday's sale will benefit Clapton's Crossroads addiction clinic.
 
'Thrilled'
 
Speaking after the auction, Clapton said: "I am thrilled at the result which
is going to be of enormous help to us in achieving our long-term aims at the
centre." The Guitar Center also bought Clapton's 1964 cherry-red Gibson
ES-335 for $847,500 (£465,000) - more than 10 times its $80,000 (£43,900)
estimate. Also exceeding expectations was the star's 1939 CF Martin & Co
acoustic guitar that Clapton played during his MTV Unplugged appearance in
1992, which sold for $791,500 (£434,400). The sale, which also included
guitars from Brian May, BB King and Pete Townshend, raised more than $7.4m
(£4m) in total. Clapton first played Blackie in public in 1973 at a concert
organised by his friend Pete Townshend to help him overcome his heroin
addiction.
Guitar legend Clapton made Blackie from a number of different Stratocasters
originally bought in Nashville, Tennessee. "I feel that that guitar has
become part of me," said Clapton.
He decided to "retire" Blackie when it began wearing out in 1991.
 
Affection
 
"It is still playable," he said. "It's immensely playable, but I suppose I
was concerned that I was probably doing it more harm than good. "I had so
much affection for the guitar that I didn't want to work it any more really.
I think it was time to retire it, because it was getting thin." But he
added: "I have to put it into perspective. I don't see Blackie all that
often. My working relationship with that guitar was exclusively and
extensively through the '70s and early '80s." The guitar made its first
appearance at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, at a gig set up
by The Who's Pete Townshend. One of the last occasions when Blackie was seen
in public was in a 1990 TV commercial for Honda Japan when, at the request
of the company, Clapton used Blackie to record a new guitar solo on the song
Bad Love.