An Eric Clapton guitar dubbed “one of the most famous and important in history” has sold for $1.2 million.
The 1964 Gibson, first played by Clapton while touring the US with Cream, went at auction in Nashville, TN for $1.27 million (£1.02 million).
It was sold by Julien’s Auctions, with a portion of the proceeds going toward “Kicking the Stigma,” an Indiana-based mental health awareness initiative.
“The Fool” was named after the Dutch art collective commissioned to custom paint the guitar – which Clapton played during Cream’s 1967 debut US tour.
The guitar would become his principal guitar for most of his career with rock supergroup Cream, and has been described as “a surviving symbol of the Summer of Love.”
Clapton is said to have gifted the guitar to Beatles member George Harrison after the 1968 breakup of Cream, before it fell into the hands of Todd Rundgren, who sold it in 2000.
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.
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