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Offered Here: Eric Clapton 1974 Mixed Media Photography Lot Live at Madison Square Garden With Transfer Rights
Item Details: From the archived collection of celebrated rock photographer Waring Abbott, this powerful mixed-media lot documents guitar legend Eric Clapton’s historic comeback performance at Madison Square Garden on July 13, 1974. Supporting the release of his seminal album 461 Ocean Boulevard, these historic images capture a triumphant, newly sober Clapton commanding the stage. Sold with full transfer rights, the comprehensive archive includes 5 original color positive slides, 2 black-and-white contact sheets, and 39 matching black and white negative frames. While the contact sheets serve as authentic, production-era working documents—exhibiting punched holes, grease pencil marks, and expected signs of age—all slides and negatives remain preserved in very good condition.
Provenance / Authenticity: The items in this lot are sourced directly from the personal archives of renowned photojournalist Waring Abbott. Abbott’s iconic imagery has graced the pages of Time, Newsweek, People, Rolling Stone, and countless foreign publications, alongside legendary album covers and photo spreads for KISS, Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, and Bob Dylan and others.
Eric Clapton's 1974 return to touring ended a period of withdrawal from public life during his struggle with heroin addiction, after earlier work with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos had made him one of rock's most influential guitarists. The album 461 Ocean Boulevard marked a shift toward a more relaxed, song-focused style and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" became a No. 1 U.S. single and helped bring Marley's songwriting to a broader international audience.
Condition: Very good with the contact sheets having punched holes, grease pencil marks, and common signs of age and storage.
SKU: WBB1001