Eric Clapton to rock KeyArena Saturday

If there were rock 'n' roll justice in this world, before his concert at the KeyArena on Saturday Eric Clapton would send a roadie to run across Seattle Center to retrieve his most famous guitar. I'm speaking here of "Brownie," the Fender Stratocaster, serial number 12073, that Clapton used on "Layla." Paul Allen owns "Brownie" now, and the guitar usually sits behind bulletproof glass in Experience Music Project.

To understand why Clapton no longer has possession of his most famous instrument is, in some small way, to understand the man himself. Though he is the world's most famous living guitar player, Clapton has always been a star never quite at home with stardom. When a graffiti artist scrawled "Clapton is God" on the side of a London tube station in 1967, it spawned copycats, and the slogan was soon all over town. Clapton immediately tried to distance himself from the holy review. But the accolades have continued, and he's the only person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (with the Yardbirds, with Cream and as a solo artist). Along the way, he's earned 80 gold and platinum albums and 18 Grammy Awards.

Yet there have always been hellhounds on Clapton's trail. In his 2007 best-selling autobiography he wrote of drug addiction, alcoholism, infidelity and the death of his 4-year-old son after a fall from a high-rise. Clapton wrote that the only reason he didn't take his own life during his worst alcoholic phase was that "I knew I wouldn't be able to drink anymore if I was dead."

But in that darkness, Clapton still toured and produced albums, finding some solace in music. Those travails may be why his interpretation of old blues songs come off with more authenticity than others of his generation and ethnic background. "Tears in Heaven," his ode to his dead son, has become one of his signature tunes, a heartbreaking moment in his concerts.

Clapton has always cited Muddy Waters, Freddie King and Robert Johnson as being hugely influential on his development, and he's quick to give credit to his precursors. If his set list in Seattle is similar to others on the tour, he'll include "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Rocking Chair" and a few other chestnuts in the show.

He's also a singer with a unique timbre whose voice makes every song sound melancholy. His most recent album, 2009's "Clapton," was most notable for something he's not usually associated with: vocal turns on pop classics like Johnny Mercer's "Autumn Leaves."

For several years Clapton has been touring with the same six-piece band, anchored by Willie Weeks on bass and Steve Gadd on drums, crack studio musicians, well up on his catalog. Clapton is the only guitarist, and he usually includes an acoustic segment during the show, where he puts down the electric guitar and sits on a stool. He always looks more comfortable with just the acoustic, as if the change in guitar changes how he sees himself.

Which brings us to "Brownie." After Clapton got sober two decades ago, he set up the Crossroads Centre for addiction in Antigua. To fund the facility, Clapton had several high-profile auctions of his guitars. Paul Allen paid $450,000 for "Brownie" at a 1999 Christie's auction, and brought it to EMP.

To Clapton, "Brownie" was just another guitar, one he grew tired of not long after "Layla" was cut. Clapton didn't even attend the auction where "Brownie" was sold but watched it over the Internet. It was the most ever paid for a guitar at that point, but to Clapton the instrument was devoid of the sentimentality his fans attached to it.

And even if Clapton gets wistful for his old friend, there's not a chance in the world he'll bring "Brownie" onstage at the Key. "Brownie" has left Seattle for the moment — the guitar is on loan to a Phoenix museum this year. "Brownie" is behind glass there, too, untouchable, a memory preserved.

Charles R. Cross: charlesrcross@aol.com or www.charlesrcross.com