Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton was born on the 30th of March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey. His mother Patricia Molly Clapton was only sixteen years old when he arrived into the world. The soldier who fathered him, Edward Walter Fryer, left for war before Eric's birth and returned to Canada shortly after. Young Eric grew up believing his grandmother Rose and her husband Jack Clapp were his parents. He thought his actual mother was his older sister. This family secret shaped his early life until the truth emerged decades later.
His musical journey began with an acoustic Hoyer guitar given to him for his thirteenth birthday. The steel-stringed instrument proved difficult to play, causing him to lose interest briefly. Two years later, he picked it up again and started practicing consistently. He preserved his practice sessions using a portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder. He listened to them over and over until satisfied with the sound.
In 1961, Clapton left Hollyfield School in Surbiton to study at Kingston College of Art. He was expelled at the end of that academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. By age sixteen, his playing had become advanced enough to get noticed locally. Around this time, he began busking around Kingston, Richmond, and the West End. In 1962, he performed as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast Dave Brock in pubs around Surrey.
Eric Clapton joined the Yardbirds in October 1963 and stayed with them until March 1965. The band initially played Chess/Checker/Vee-Jay blues numbers and attracted a large cult following when they took over the Rolling Stones' residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, London. They toured England with American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II. A joint LP album recorded in December 1963 was issued in 1965.
Clapton made his first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London in December 1964. Since then, he has performed there over two hundred times. When he broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. English audiences waited out the delay by doing what is called a slow handclap. His nickname of Slowhand came from Giorgio Gomelsky, a pun on the slow handclapping that ensued.
In March 1965, the Yardbirds had their first major hit For Your Love written by Graham Gouldman. The song's success led the band to move toward a pop-oriented sound. This annoyed Clapton who was devoted to the blues rather than commercial success. He left the band on the day For Your Love went public. Clapton suggested Jimmy Page as his replacement but Page declined out of loyalty to him.
He joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April 1965 before quitting a few months later. In June 1965, he jammed with Jimmy Page recording tracks retroactively credited to The Immediate All-Stars. During his second stint with the Bluesbreakers, he gained a reputation as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. The album Blues Breakers , John Mayall , With Eric Clapton was not released until after he left for the last time in July 1966.
Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 and was invited by drummer Ginger Baker to play in Cream. Jack Bruce played bass and handled most lead vocals while writing material with lyricist Pete Brown. Their first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester in 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor.
By early 1967 fans had begun to portray Clapton as Britain's top guitarist. He found himself rivalled by Jimi Hendrix who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds. Hendrix attended a performance of Cream at Central London Polytechnic in 1966 during which he sat in on a double-timed version of Killing Floor. Top UK stars including Pete Townshend and members of the Rolling Stones avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances.
In March 1967, Cream performed nine shows at the RKO Theater in New York. Clapton's 1964 painted Gibson SG guitar known as The Fool made its debut there. They recorded Disraeli Gears in New York from 11 to the 15th of May 1967. The album contained his searing guitar lines alongside Bruce's soaring vocals and Baker's powerful drumming. In twenty-eight months, Cream became a commercial success selling millions of records throughout the US and Europe.
Drug and alcohol use escalated tension between the three members. Conflicts between Bruce and Baker eventually led to Cream's demise. A strongly critical Rolling Stone review of their second headlining US tour affected Clapton profoundly. Their farewell album Goodbye comprised live performances recorded at The Forum Los Angeles in 1968.
Clapton assembled Derek and the Dominos with Bobby Whitlock on keyboards and vocals, Carl Radle on bass, and Jim Gordon on drums. He intended to show he need not fill a starring role but function well as an ensemble member. The band was originally called Eric Clapton and Friends before becoming Derek and the Dominos through a misreading of Del and the Dynamos.
His close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd whom he deeply loved. When she spurned his advances, his unrequited affections prompted most material for Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs released in 1970. Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with producer Tom Dowd, they recorded a double album heavily influenced by blues.
The title track Layla was inspired by Nizami Ganjavi's The Story of Layla and Majnun. The book moved Clapton profoundly as it told of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with an unavailable woman. The opening guitar section was recorded first while the second section laid down weeks later featured piano played by Jim Gordon. Duane Allman joined the sessions adding slide guitar to tracks like Tell the Truth and Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out.
Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions Clapton received news of Jimi Hendrix's death eight days prior. He had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster intended as a birthday gift for Hendrix. Despite lukewarm reviews upon release, the band undertook a US tour resulting in the live double album In Concert.
Clapton's career successes in the 1970s contrasted sharply with struggles in his personal life involving romantic longings and drug addiction. Still infatuated with Boyd he withdrew from recording and touring to isolation in his Surrey residence. He nursed a heroin addiction which resulted in a lengthy career hiatus interrupted only by performing at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh benefit shows in August 1971.
In January 1973 Pete Townshend organized a comeback concert called Rainbow Concert at London's Rainbow Theatre to help him kick his addiction. He returned the favor by playing The Preacher in Ken Russell's film version of Who's Tommy in 1975. His appearance involved clearly wearing a fake beard after deciding to shave off his real beard following initial takes.
In 1974 Clapton started living with Boyd though they would not marry until 1979. He was no longer using heroin but gradually began drinking heavily. He recorded 461 Ocean Boulevard that year featuring an emphasis on compact songs and fewer guitar solos. The cover version of I Shot the Sheriff became his first number one hit. The album There's One in Every Crowd continued this trend before its original title The World's Greatest Guitar Player was changed due to ironic intentions being misunderstood.
On the 20th of May 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son Conor died after falling from the fifty-third floor window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment at 117 East 57th Street. Clapton was staying nearby preparing to pick him up for lunch when he received a hysterical phone call from Lory Del Santo. He described feeling like he went off the edge of the world upon comprehending what happened.
Conor's funeral took place on the 28th of March at St Mary Magdalene's Church in Ripley Surrey where he was buried in the church graveyard. After his son's death Clapton began attending AA meetings. His grief was expressed in the song Tears in Heaven co-written by Will Jennings. At the thirty-fifth Annual Grammy Awards he received six Grammys for the single and his Unplugged album.
He performed live in front of a small audience on the 16th of January 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor Berkshire England. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and is certified Diamond selling over ten million copies in the US. It also reached number two in the UK Albums Chart and is certified four times platinum there. On the 9th of September 1992 he performed Tears in Heaven at the MTV Video Music Awards winning Best Male Video.
Clapton released Reptile in March 2001 and appeared at the Concert for New York City one month after the eleven September attacks. An event marking Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee occurred in June 2002 when he performed Layla and While My Guitar Gently Weeps at Party at the Palace concert in Buckingham Palace grounds. The Concert for George held on the 29th of November 2002 honored Harrison who had died a year earlier from lung cancer.
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked him number fifty-three on their list of the hundred greatest artists of all time. He released Me and Mr Johnson and Sessions for Robert Johnson that same year containing covers of songs by bluesman Robert Johnson using electric and acoustic guitars. In May 2005 Cream reunited for concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall followed by shows at Madison Square Garden in October.
His first album of new original material in nearly five years Back Home was released on Reprise Records. A collaboration with guitarist J.J. Cale called The Road to Escondido came out in 2006 featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston. Trucks joined his band for the 2006-2007 world tour allowing Clapton to revisit many Derek and the Dominos songs not played in decades. On the 13th of December 2013 he announced intentions to stop touring in 2015 due to travel hassles.
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Common questions
When and where was Eric Clapton born?
Eric Patrick Clapton was born on the 30th of March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey. His mother Patricia Molly Clapton was only sixteen years old when he arrived into the world.
How did Eric Clapton get his nickname Slowhand?
His nickname of Slowhand came from Giorgio Gomelsky as a pun on the slow handclapping that ensued when he broke a guitar string during a concert. English audiences waited out the delay by doing what is called a slow handclap.
Why did Eric Clapton leave the Yardbirds in 1965?
He left the band on the day For Your Love went public because the song's success led the band to move toward a pop-oriented sound which annoyed him. He was devoted to the blues rather than commercial success.
What caused the death of Eric Clapton's son Conor?
Conor died after falling from the fifty-third floor window of his mother's friend's New York City apartment at 117 East 57th Street on the 20th of May 1991. Clapton received a hysterical phone call from Lory Del Santo while staying nearby preparing to pick him up for lunch.
Which album won six Grammys for Eric Clapton including Best Male Video?
At the thirty-fifth Annual Grammy Awards he received six Grammys for the single Tears in Heaven and his Unplugged album. The live performance on the 16th of January 1992 at Bray Film Studios reached number one on the Billboard 200 and is certified Diamond selling over ten million copies in the US.