Eric Clapton Crossroads Centre Radio Smithsonian: Guitar: Electrified, Amplified and Deified The Lemelson Center: The Electric Guitar NPR.org: Present at the Creation: The Electric Guitar PBS.org: The Blues PBS.org: American Roots Music ERIC CLAPTON'S CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL premiered on December 1, 2004 and rebroadcast on December 11, 2006 on PBS (check local listings). In the summer of 2004, a spectacular gathering of musicians from across the guitar world performed together at Eric Clapton's three-day Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. GREAT PERFORMANCES presents highlights from the unprecedented event featuring a once-in-a-lifetime showcase of guitar luminaries performing rock anthems, blues classics, and bluegrass hits. Joining Clapton are fellow axe legends Carlos Santana, Joe Walsh, and J.J. Cale; bluesmen Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, and Jimmie Vaughan; as well as James Taylor, country superstar Vince Gill, bluegrass player Dan Tyminski from Alison Krauss' band Union Station, and young star John Mayer. Highlights include renditions of classics like "After Midnight" and "Layla," as well as recent hits like Mayer's "City Love." Proceeds from the extraordinary guitarfest went to support the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation center founded by Eric Clapton in 1997. The festival also offered guitar clinics, exhibits by leading manufacturers, and displays of guitars from the private collections of Clapton and his friends, which were auctioned by Christie's in June 2004 and garnered more than $7 million to aid the Crossroads Centre. Find additional information about the guitar and its emergence as a crucial instrument in popular music in the essay by contributor Ed Ward. Watch video interviews with Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, John Mayer, and Hubert Sumlin, and read an interview with Jimmie Vaughan in Dialogue. Check out the music from the show as well as video excerpts of three numbers in the song list. Visit the Web companions of two other shows that featured Eric Clapton, CREAM REUNION CONCERT (2005) and CONCERT FOR GEORGE (2003). Special funding for ERIC CLAPTON'S CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL was provided by SBC. Top banner photos: John Mayer, Eric Clapton flanked by Doyle Bramhall II on guitar and Nathan East on bass, and a close-up of Clapton (Jun Sato/Wire Image). "Crash 3," Clapton's graffiti Fender Stratocaster. Jimmie Vaughan performed "Six Strings Down." This program is available on DVD.