Eric Patrick ClaptonCBE (born 30 March 1945) is anEnglishguitarist,singer andcomposer. Clapton is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in the history ofrock.[1]Rolling Stone magazine ranked Clapton number 2 on its list of100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.[2]
Clapton has played in a variety of different bands, includingthe Yardbirds andCream.
Eric Patrick Clapton was born inRipley,Surrey,England on March 30, 1945. Clapton's father, who already had a wife, returned toCanada afterWorld War II. His mother, was not able to bear the shame of raising anillegitimate child (a child of unmarried parents) in post-warBritain. She left Clapton with his grandparents Jack and Rose Clapp (Clapton by her first marriage) and moved toGermany where shemarried another Canadian soldier. Clapton was raised believing his mother was his sister. His grandmother did not tell him the truth until he was nine years old.
A polite and well-behaved boy, the young Clapton was an above-averagestudent, though in 1956 he failed theeleven-plus and went to St. Bedes Secondary Modern School. Two years later however, he passed the review and went to 13-plus on the strength of his art accomplishment and got a scholarship to a school inTolworth, nearSurbiton. He likedart very much. He wanted to learn to play theguitar after watchingJerry Lee Lewis ontelevision. Clapton'sobsession with playingblues music caused him to beexpelled fromKingston College of Art because he was playing the guitar in class.
Working as alabourer to pay his way, Clapton spent most of his free time playing hiselectric guitar. Eventually he joined a localband, The Roosters. He later joined Casey Jones And The Engineers with fellow band member Tom McGuiness. In 1963, Clapton was asked to joinThe Yardbirds. It was in the Yardbirds that he earned hisnickname of 'Slowhand'. The name came from hisforceful string-bending that often caused broken guitar strings. He would replace the strings on stage while the crowd slowly clapped their hands.[3]
After about 18 months with the Yardbirds, musical differences led Clapton to move on toJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakers, where his talent grew even more. It was at this part in hiscareer that Eric'sfans started using the phraseClapton is God.[4]
In mid-1966 he left the Bluesbreakers, whose members had grown to includeJeff Beck andJimmy Page. The band he formed withbassistJack Bruce anddrummerGinger Baker would become Eric's best-known band, and rock's first-eversupergroup,Cream. Cream became the "pre-eminent (best) rock trio of the Sixties"; the name came from its members being among the top session musicians in England. They played both their own songs ("Strange Brew", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "White Room") andcover versions of other people's songs ("I'm So Glad"). Like his contemporaryJimi Hendrix, Clapton helped to pioneer the use of the wah-wah pedal. He played a famous guitar called The Fool. He also developed what he called the "woman tone" on his guitar and used it to great effect. For instance, at one point during the song "Tales of Brave Ulysses", he combines the woman tone with feedback (overdriven amplifier) to create a unique sound.
Clapton became friends withBeatleGeorge Harrison, who asked him to play guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", for 1968's "White Album". Clapton also played onJohn Lennon's "Yer Blues", in a filmed performance.
While Cream were popular and had severalhit records, problems between Baker and Bruce, and the increasingdrug use of all three caused tensions that eventually broke the band up in 1969.George Harrison teamed with Clapton, to write and record "Badge" for Cream's final album.
Clapton played again withJohn Lennon and his new wifeYoko Ono, as a member of thePlastic Ono Band. He appeared with them onstage inToronto that September, and played guitar on "Cold Turkey", Lennon'ssong aboutheroinaddiction. At that time, the Beatles were getting ready to break up. Lennon thought about asking Clapton to join his and Ono's new band, but decided not to have a permanent lineup.
Clapton and Baker joined withRick Grech andSteve Winwood to formBlind Faith. Blind Faith lasted only a few months, and released onealbum. After Blind Faith broke up, Clapton formed another band, called Derek and the Dominos. Their mostpopular song was "Layla". He performed a concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 13 January 1973, thanks to his friend Pete Townshend of The Who. He started work on a new album,461 Ocean Blvd, which was released July 1974.
The inspiration for "Layla" wasfashion modelPattie Boyd. She was married to Clapton's friend, George Harrison. Clapton was inlove with Boyd. He was not happy because he could not be with her because she was married to his friend. In time, Boyd and Harrison grew apart, and Clapton and Boyd got together. They married in May 1979. All three remained friends, and Clapton and Harrison called themselves "husbands-in-law", though for some years afterwards, the friendship between them was understandably strained. Clapton and Boyd weredivorced in 1989, after they also grew apart.
Along with his drug problems, Clapton had trouble withalcohol, sometimes drinking a whole bottle or more ofliquor in a day. In the 1990s, he was finally able to stop drinking alcohol. He also found out more about his father, who had died, and about a half-brother (by his mother) he had never met, who wasmentally challenged and lived in ahospital.
Clapton is still[when?] making music and performing, sometimes with other musicians such asB.B. King.
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