Behind many platinum-selling songs lies a simple acoustic guitar, one that is always close to the artist, at home or on the tour bus. One such guitar is Eric Clapton’s 1974 000-28, the instrument upon which he wrote Wonderful Tonight – a love song inspired by his then-girlfriend Pattie Boyd that would become his best-selling single.
The guitar has been largely out of the public eye since it was sold at auction to a private collector in 1999 for $173,000, with the proceeds going to Clapton’s Crossroads Centre for rehabilitation from drug and alcohol addiction. That all changed earlier this year, however, when Bonham’s auction house of Knightsbridge, London, announced that it would be presenting the guitar for sale on behalf of its current owner. Would we like to come down and take a look before it went under the hammer? Yes, we would, came the swift reply.
For this guitar is emblematic of more than just a hugely important song. Built in 1974, it became a constant companion of Clapton performance, during which he used a vintage 1939 000-42 – the ‘42’ part denoting the ‘style’ or level of ornamentation of the guitar. Clapton’s longtime sideman Andy Fairweather Low, who accompanied him on the recording, which became the best-selling album, played a 000-28 that had been upgraded to Style 45 appointments (see box, page 84).
