JUIN 1999
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ERIC CLAPTON SELLS OUT

Le Guitarist spécial de Juin 1999 consacre 22 pages à la vente chez Chrisite's des guitares de Clapton pour le Crossroads Center.

Les photos étant nombreuses, j'ai décomposé cette numérisation en plus pages HTML pour que vos modems se reposent de tant en temps;

Découvrez les plus belles guitares du monde avec Lee Disckinson le technicien de Sloawhand.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE has always been rife in the music business. You don't need me to remind you of the fatalities, or indeed the lives and careers ruined by addiction. And neither am I here to preach about the evils of this or that. But because Eric Clapton's guitar auction in New York is such an important event, and because very few of us will be able to attend the sale, let alone scratch our noses within sight of the auctioneer, I felt you'd appreciate our behind-the-scenes glimpse. And after all it is being staged to raise cash for Eric's Crossroads Centre for alcohol and drug rehabilitation. There are some remarkable instruments in this collection of 100 guitars. I've been fortunate enough to see and play quite a few as a fan, it's a mighty weird thing to do the Layla riff on the 'Layla' Strat. But Eric has deliberately included some instruments that he feels will be 'affordable', even though his idea of affordable and ours might be rather different. Guitarist will be at the sale and we'll be bidding for a guitar to either raffle or auction at a later date. Whether that'll be financially viable is too soon to say - my bosses will set me a limit that my own job security demands I don't exceed... I have my fears though that Christie's conservative estimates will be wildly below what even the cheapies go for.

Of course there'll be viewings for those with the curiosity but not the cash, and you'll find details of these - there's one in London, one in LA and the main pre-auction viewing in New York - on page 85. If you want a memento of the event and would also like to contribute something to the Crossroads Centre, Christie's catalogue is the answer - part of the proceeds is being donated to the cause. Find info on page 77. Last, but certainly not least, if you'd like to make a donation or indeed to inquire about how to enlist as a client, details are on page 63. 1 trust you'll enjoy this world exclusive feature. I also sincerely hope that Eric raises huge amounts of cash for this most worthy cause, but let's pray that these great playing instruments, that have been owned and used by one of the century's greatest musicians, wind up in players'hands and not a Barclays bank vault!

Neville Marten

Would you buy a used guitar from this man ?

On 24 June this year, Eric Clapton is auctioning 100 guitars to raise money for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addiction. Over the next 22 pages, and with the help of ECs guitar tech Lee Dickson and Christie's expert Richard Chapman, Neville Marten looks at the cream of the crop...

CLAPTON'S PAST DEPENDENCY on heroin and alcohol is well documented. But the fact that he's winning his battle with both, while retaining a lucid mind and all his musical faculties, puts him in a position of great personal insight. Add to that the profile of an international superstar and you have someone with the capacity to make a genuine difference for others who find themselves in similar trouble.

Eric set up the Crossroads Centre in 1997 to help those with severe drug or alcohol problems. Laid out in 10 beautiful acres on the shore of Antigua's south east coast, the Centre caters for 36 adults and offers treatment and recovery facilities rivalling the finest in the world. Although two thirds of clients pay their own way, the remaining places are funded by what the Centre describes as 'scholarships'.

Using the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step plan, there are three stages of recovery.

Stage one assigns the client a counsellor to agree a regime for repairing the body's physical ravages, whereupon stage two's therapy begins in earnest. This includes individual and group sessions, stress management classes, lectures, discussion groups and of course those essential AA meetings.

Stage three sees the client returning home for a supervised programme of supportive therapy, for which the involvement of family and friends is vital. "Our mission, says the Centre, "is to help our clients to understand that by making changes in their lives they have the capacity to recover. Our goal is to offer comfort, support, a new sense of wellbeing and a true direction towards a lifetime of recovery."

The Centre relies on donations for its programme of scholarships and to that end Eric isn't backwards in coming forward : "I would like to ask for your help," he says. "For many years I have been going to the Caribbean, and this beautiful surrounding has become a very special place for me. But, because of my own past, people began to tell me more and more about the problems of alcohol and drugs on the islands the health toll, the family breakups, the battering and abuse, neglect, malnutrition, violence, crime and deadly accidents."

So Eric began to talk to people on Antigua about establishing a residential rehabilitation centre and the plan began to take shape.

"The thinking was," continues Clapton, "that this would be a place to treat people in the Caribbean, as well as people from around the world. We would have a programme of the highest calibre, provided by experienced, international staff. The cost of treatment would be held to the lowest level possible and we would reserve a third of the beds and provide scholarships for people who could not afford treatment." Crossroads Centre opened its doors in October 1998 and, as Eric states, "Now we need to raise money to help underwrite some of our clients' treatment."

But Clapton's not just holding out his hand and expecting the rest of the world to foot the bill; in order to raise a huge chunk of cash for the Centre, Eric is auctioning 100 of his own guitars, some of which will make massive sums and others that should attract more modest bids.

When auctioneers Christie's of South Kensington invited Guitarist down into the vaults, we knew you'd like to share this exclusive experience. Christie's expert is Richard Chapman, one of the world's foremost guitar historians and author of The Complete Guitarist. So over the next 22 pages, Richard, along with Lee Dickson, Eric's guitar tech for the past two decades, guides us through some of the exotic and not-so-exotic treasures on offer.

If you'd like to make a donation to Eric's Crossroads Centre, you'll find details bottom left on this page. For now, we'll leave the last word to the man himself-. "Please join me in making it possible for people to come to a place which offers them a chance to begin a meaningful, productive, healthy and sober life."

THIS YEAR SEES LEE DICKSON's 20^th anniversary as Eric Clapton's guitar technician. During that time, he's had some of the world's most famous and valuable instruments in his hands, bestwoming TLC on guitars such as the incomparable Fender Star 'Blackie', Eric's famous red Gibson 335, his various vintage Martins and belowed jazz guitars.

Well of course, I'm sad to see some of them go, but remember I'm just the custodian of these guitars, not their owner. But to part with an instrument that's been with you as long as some of these guitars have been with EC is incredibly emotional. Everyone who loves guitars can understand how gut-wrenching it must be.

Originally I made up a three-page, up-to-date list of everything he had. We were rehearsing in Los Angeles and I said, 'I've made a copy of this for you to take back to your hotel and peruse over the next couple of days', and he said, 'Why don't we just do it now?'.

So we sat down and we went straight through the list, ticking them off one after another, it took about 20 minutes, but I'd thought it would take him a couple of days to just think about it. I mean, there were so many guitars there and he hadn't seen some of them for a while. he's only keeping ones that have real personal meaning for him, like Blackie, the '64 cherry 335, some Martins and so on.

Well, quite a few of them are well documented and photographed with Eric playing them. But every guitar here is owned by him and will have been in his hands at some point.

Well, the sale will leave a large gap in my maintenance workload - it's left some seriously large holes on the shelf. But Eric' still got a lot of guitars and amps left, so I've got plenty of stuff to put back in those holes. I'll certainly miss some of them though, even though I stress I was only their keeper. Eric's love affair with them was playing them, mine was looking after them.

CHRISTIE'S OF SOUTH KENSINGTON IS IN THE process of putting together a superb commemorative catalogue for this incredible event. Featuring colour photographs of every guitar in the final line-up, with lot numbers, price estimates for each one, historical info from Richard Chapman and personal quotes from Clapton himself, the catalogue is a must for any guitar nut or EC fan.

What's more, Christie's are donating part of the proceeds to the Crossroads Centre, so every catalogue purchased will be doing its own little bit of good. It's priced at f25 plus p&p ($40 USA) and Christie's accept all the usual methods of payment. To order your copy, call one of the following numbers now...

London: 01 71 389 2401

New York: 001 212 636 2000

Or would you rather have one for nothing? Of course you would... Well, if that's the case, you'll be glad to hear that Christie's have donated five of these super catalogues for Guitarist readers to squabble over. In order to be in the running, simply answer the following easy question...

Send your answer on a postcard with your address and a daytime telephone number to: EC PC, Guitarist, Future Publishing Ltd, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BAl 2BW.

This competition closes on 30 June 1999. Multiple entries will be spread thickly with Pedigree Chum and fed to Simon Bradley's Rottweiler The editor's derision is final.

If you feel the Crossroads Centre could help you, a friend or family member, contact them on United Kingdom: 0800 783 9631; Europe : 01 1 44 1275 847187; USA & Canada : 1 888 452 0091 or 1 949 829 8803; Caribbean : 1 268 562 0035. E-mail : info@crossroadsantigua.org If you'd like to help the Crossroads Centre, please make your donations to 12722 Riverside Drive #1 06, Valley Village, California 91607 USA. Tel: 1 818 783 7886 or PO Box W219, Woods Centre, Antigua, West Indies. Tel: 1 268 562 0035. Thanks