Eric Clapton!

Eric clapton is arguably the greatest, or atleast in the top 3 (imho) guitarists to have graced our ears an eyes in the past 50 years. Commonly associated with his solo and Cream work, I hope to shed a small little bio I suppose, and talk about one of the legends of Rock and Blues as we know it.

Although in Numerous bands throughout the years, his style has always been deeply rooted in the blues. Good, clean blues.

Clapton joined The Yardbirds, a blues-influenced rock and roll band in 1963 and stayed with them until March 1965. Synthesising influences from Chicago blues and leading blues guitarists such as Buddy Guy, Freddie King and B.B. King, Clapton forged a distinctive style and rapidly became one of the most talked-about guitarists in the British music scene.
In March of 1965, right as he left the band, they had their first big hit, For Your Love in which he played guitar.

Still obstinately dedicated to blues music, Clapton took strong exception to the Yardbirds' new pop-oriented direction, partly because "For Your Love" had been written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hits for teen pop outfit Herman's Hermits and harmony pop band The Hollies. Clapton recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement, but Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck (although Page would also eventually join the band).

In 1965 he joined the immensly influential band, John Mayall & The Blues Breakers. They soon released the extremely popular, and influential by standards of today, "Blues Breakers". The passionate playing in nightclubs, along with his 1960 Les Paul and Marshall amp, soon created an absolute craze worldwide about him. Soon, the Graffiti which read "Clapton is God" was everywhere.



It was in 1966 he left The BluesBreakers and formed, along with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, Cream. Once again his style of blues was noticeable in the group, but we see, the "Fire and Ice" clapton of the 60's especially prominent during the 3 years Cream was together. Searing solo's, ones of such skill and intensity they make you quiver, became a hallmark. Crossroads was a huge hit, Sunshine of your love reached #5, and White Room, with the ending solo, reached #6. Cream was arguably the worlds first supergroup. It was the first time that 3 already very, very famous individuals, joined together, and came up with stunning results.

1967 was the year in which Clapton's worship was challenged. Jimi Hendrix had recently arrived, and soon british crowds and famous bands were packing halls just to see this legend. Although many people today and then said that Jimi was a better guitarist, a poll taken in britain during the height of Hendrix's and Cream's careers (late 60's... 69 i believe) had Clapton winning the majority for better/most popular guitarist. Clapton was a huge fan of Hendrix, and hendrix of him.

When Cream broke up in 69, Clapton joined the short lasting supergroup Blind Faith, which ending up becoming more of a touring group, and was sold out most of the time in it's U.S and British tour. It did not last long however, only a year.

Clapton decided to step into the background for a time, touring as a sideman with the American group Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. He moved to New York in late 1969 and worked with the band through early 1970. He became close friends with Delaney Bramlett, who encouraged him in his singing and writing, which would show determined growth in his next effort.



Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills, on whose solo albums Clapton played), he released his first solo album in 1970, fittingly named Eric Clapton, which included the Bramlett composition, "Bottle Of Red Wine", and one of Clapton's best songs from this period, "Let It Rain". It also yielded an unexpected U.S. #18 hit, the J.J. Cale cover "After Midnight".


Taking over Delaney & Bonnie's rhythm section — Bobby Whitlock (keyboards, vocals), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums) — Clapton formed a new band which was similarly intended to counteract the 'star' cult that had grown up around him and show Clapton as an equal member of a fully-fledged group. Tony Ashton from The Remo Four, Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, Paice Ashton and Lord always referred to Eric as Derek and christened the band, Derek and The Dominoes. Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison had brought him into contact with Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd-Harrison, with whom he fell deeply in love. When she turned him down, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, most notably the hit single "Layla", inspired by the Persian classical poet Nizami Ganjavi's "The Story of Layla and Majnun", a copy of which a friend had given him; Clapton found a strong similarity between the situation of Layla and Majnun and the one between him and Boyd-Harrison.


Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is considered Clapton’s masterpieceWorking at Criteria Studios in Miami with legendary Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, the band recorded a brilliant double-album which is now widely regarded as Clapton's masterpiece. The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the elegiac piano part.

The Layla LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd -- who was also producing the Allmans -- invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists — who previously knew each other only by reputation — met backstage after the show, and then both bands retired to the studio to jam (an impromptu session which, happily, was captured on tape). Clapton and Allman fell in love with each other's playing and became instant friends, and Allman was immediately invited to become the fifth member of The Dominos. (These studio jams were eventually released as part of the 3-CD 20th-anniversary edition of the Layla album.)

When Allman and Clapton met, The Dominos had already recorded three tracks ("I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Keep On Growing"); Allman debuted on the fourth cut, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out", and contributed some of his most sublime slide-guitar playing to the remainder of the LP. The album was heavily blues-influenced and featured a winning combination of the twin guitars of Allman and Clapton, with Allman's incendiary slide-guitar a key ingredient of the sound. It showcased some of Clapton's strongest material to date, as well as arguably some of his best guitar playing, with Whitlock also contributing several superb numbers, and his powerful, soul-influenced voice.

Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a blistering version of "Little Wing" as a tribute to him which was added to the album. One year later, on the eve of the group's first American tour, Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. Adding to Clapton's woes, the Layla album received only lukewarm reviews on release; he later commented that the album's initial poor reception had angered and disillusioned him, as he had (perhaps naively) expected it to be assessed on its merits rather than his involvement.



The shattered group undertook a US tour. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the surprisingly strong live double album In Concert. But Derek and the Dominos disintegrated messily in London just as they commenced recording for their second LP. Although Radle would be Clapton's main bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), the split between Clapton and Whitlock was apparently a bitter one, and it took until 2003 before they worked together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the Later with Jools Holland show, playing and singing "Bell Bottom Blues", available on a "Later with Jools" DVD). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic — some years later, during a psychotic episode, he murdered his mother with a hammer and was confined to 14 years to life imprisonment. Gordon was moved to a mental institution after several years, where he remains today.

The In Concert CD (Live at the Filmore) is one of the greatest examples of his playing I have seen. Listen to the Filmore version of "Why Does Love have to be so Sad"... amazing, even if it 14 minutes long.

Clapton would have a rough time in the 70's. With a very heavy drug addiction, and to add to that a growing amount of alcoholism, his career declined heavily in the 70's, though he still had some hits. In the Concert For Bangladesh, he passed out, was revived on Stage, and kept playing. Pete Townshend of The Who organised a concert to help kick his addiction, and by the middle to late 70's, he was largely free of the drug addiction.

The 1975 album There's One In Every Crowd continued the trend of 461. Its original intended title The World's Greatest Guitar Player (There's One In Every Crowd) was altered, as it was felt the ironic intention would be missed. (Clapton's own original cover artwork, a (self-)portrait of a miserable-looking character with a pint glass, was also replaced by a photograph of Clapton's dog Jeep, apparently with its muzzle on a coffin.)

The 80's

In 1984, he performed on Pink Floyd member, Roger Waters solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and went on tour with Waters following the release of the album. Since then Waters and Clapton have had a close relationship, and in 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund and on May 20, 2006 performed with Waters at the Highclere Castle playing two set pieces of "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb".

As Clapton came back from his addictions, his album output continued in the 1980s, including two produced with Phil Collins, 1985's Behind the Sun, which produced the hits "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting", and 1986's August. Although they were good albums in their own right, They were only of modest success in the charts.

August, a polished release suffused with Collins's trademark drum/horn sound, became Clapton's biggest seller in the UK to date and matched his highest chart position, number 3. The album's first track, the hit "It's In The Way That You Use It", was also featured in the Tom Cruise-Paul Newman movie The Color of Money The horn-peppered "Run" echoed Collins' "Sussudio" and rest of the producer's Genesis/solo output, while "Tearing Us Apart" (with Tina Turner) and the bitter "Miss You" echoed Clapton at his angry best.

The period kicked off Clapton's extensive two-year period of touring with Collins and their August collaborates, bassist Nathan East and keyboard player/songwriter Greg Phillinganes. Despite his own earlier battles with the bottle, Clapton also remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand produced by Anheuser-Busch, which had also marketed earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood.

Clapton won more plaudits and a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the critically-acclaimed 1985 BBC television thriller serial Edge of Darkness.





In 1989, Clapton's commercial and artistic resurgence finally came full circle with Journeyman, which featured songs in a wide range of styles from blues to jazz, soul and pop and collaborators including George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, David Sanborn and Robert Cray. This kicked off the Journeyman Tour, which was one of his greatest tours to date. Lasting through 1989 to 1990, this tour was one of the hallmarks of his career. The side of Clapton that had been hiding 18 years was once again released, we see the real clapton. On stage, he was known for his classy and stylish outfits, suiting his style whenever he needed so. If your interested in this tour, and possibly the height of his solo career, I encourage your to read about this tour.

In 1985 Clapton, while still married to Pattie Boyd-Harrison, had started a relationship with Yvonne Khan Kelly; they had a daughter, Ruth, in the same year. Clapton did not publicly acknowledge his daughter's existence for several years (she eventually made a spoken-word appearance on his 1998 album Pilgrim and in 2001 was pictured in the Reptile album artwork). Clapton and Boyd-Harrison divorced in 1989 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to his son Conor in August 1986 (the month of his birth prompting the title of the album released that year).

The early 1990s saw tragedy enter Clapton's life again on two occasions. On August 27, 1990 guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was touring with Clapton, and two members of their road crew were killed in a helicopter crash between concerts. Then, on March 20, 1991 at 11:00AM, Conor, who was four and a half, died when he fell from the 53rd-story window of his mother's New York City apartment, landing on the roof of an adjacent four-story building. A fraction of Clapton's grief was heard on the song "Tears in Heaven" (on the soundtrack to the 1991 movie Rush), co-written with Will Jennings, which, like the MTV Unplugged album that followed it, won a Grammy award.

While Unplugged featured Clapton playing acoustic guitar, his 1994 album From The Cradle contains new versions of old blues standards highlighted by fine guitar playing.

Clapton finished the twentieth century with critically-acclaimed collaborations with Carlos Santana and B. B. King. Clapton's 1996 recording of the Wayne Kirkpatrick/ Gordon Kennedy/Tommy Sims tune "Change the World" (featured in the soundtrack of the movie Phenomenon) won a Grammy award for song of the year in 1997, the same year he recorded Retail Therapy, an album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the pseudonym TDF.



In 1999 Clapton, then 54, met 25-year-old graphic artist Melia McEnery in Los Angeles while working on an album with B.B. King. They married in 2002 at St Mary Magdalen church in Clapton's birthplace, Ripley, and as of 2005 have three daughters, Julia Rose (2001), Ella May (2003), and Sophie (2005).

In November 2002 Clapton masterminded The Concert for George, a tribute to George Harrison, who had died a year earlier of cancer, at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Ravi Shankar, amongst others.

The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, to be written by Christopher Simon Sykes and to be published in 2007, were reportedly sold at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair for USD $4 million. [4] Clapton initiated the revival of Cream, playing at London's Royal Albert Hall in May and New York's Madison Square Garden in October 2005.

In 2006 it was announced that Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II would join Clapton's band for his 2006 and 2007 tour. Trucks is the third member of the Allman Brothers Band to support Clapton, the second being keyboardist Chuck Leavell who appeared on the MTV Unplugged album.

On May 20th, 2006 he performed with a set band consisting of ex-Queen drummer Roger Taylor and ex- Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, at the Highclere Castle.


Phew!

I love him. Alot of this was my typing, but I must be honest, I had to take parts from Wikipedia and a forum I frequent, as I just dont have the time atm .

So, what are your opinions of Clapton, even if you didnt read even a sentence of this overly long post?

The lyrics to his songs aren't very good, neither is his singing, but you can't deny his talent with the guitar.

I'm a Clapton fan, infact I just saw Buddy Guy live a couple weeks ago and he played with Clapton and BB King alot back in the day.

Clapton is God


No doubt man. I don't have any much to say about him, except that he's ****ing awesome.



Though I liked him more in Cream than when he went solo. All of his later stuff was too pop-influenced for my tastes. The Cream stuff, yea, driving guitar solos, killer riffs, awesome bass playing by Jack Bruce......man, nothing can compare.




Edit: And isn't this just the sickest cover you have ever seen?

DUDE!

Clapton is not God, he's like His dad or something. Currently, Cream is my favorite band, and I've been known of Eric Clapton before I've gotten into music.... he's great, one of the greatest indeed.

Cream is still Clapton at his best IMHO. The concert at Albert Hall shows theve still got it.