ERIC CLAPTON

Born: Eric Clapp; Ripley, England, 30 March 1945

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Unplugged (1992)

Hit songs since 1990: "Tears in Heaven," "Change the World," "Layla" (from Unplugged )

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Eric Clapton became one of music's biggest superstars in the late 1960s. He has maintained that status throughout his career despite suffering tremendous personal chaos at many junctures of his life. Although successful in a variety of musical styles, Clapton keeps returning to the blues, a musical form that inspired him from the onset and seems to mollify the up-and-down circumstances of his life.

Clapton grew up in post–World War II Ripley, England. At nine years old, he discovered that his parents were, in fact, his grandparents; that his sister was actually his mother, and that his brother was his uncle; and that his mother had turned the newborn Clapton over to her parents after giving birth at age sixteen following an affair with a married soldier. The emotional fallout from the discovery of his illegitimate birth fueled Clapton's insecure and enigmatic behaviors throughout his life.

Clapton Is God

As a preteen, Clapton enjoyed all music but was exhilarated by the blues. He received a guitar from his grandparents at thirteen and practiced so obsessively that it interfered with schooling. Clapton finally dropped out of Kingston College of Art in 1962 to pursue music professionally. He joined the Yardbirds in 1963. They recorded two albums before Clapton fled the pop-driven band (fellow guitar icon Jeff Beck replaced him) to immerse himself in the blues with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Soon he impressed critics and fellow musicians alike with his blues-rooted, imaginative guitar improvisations, swelling his popularity. The worshipful phrase "Clapton is God" became a standard chant at live performances and commonly appeared as graffiti. Clapton left Mayall after a year and formed the power trio Cream, with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in 1966. Egos clashed from the start and their substance abuse was rampant, but Cream managed to last until 1968. They produced some of rock's most prolific songs, including "Sunshine of Your Love" and "White Room."

After Cream Clapton fleetingly jumped in and out of various band formations leaving behind a scattered trail of classic songs and albums. Clapton played for a short time with close friend and Beatle George Harrison. In addition, he journeyed with another Beatle, John Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band. Clapton joined Traffic's Steve Winwood and formed Blind Faith in 1969. Blind Faith recorded one album and enjoyed a sold-out world tour before breaking up. At that point, Clapton decided to record his first solo album and he chose friends, Delaney and Bonnie, who had backed up Blind Faith, as his playing mates. It spawned the classic "After Midnight" but Clapton left Delaney and Bonnie to form another short-lived, legendary group, Derek and the Dominoes. Here he worked and formed a deep friendship with famed guitarist Duane Allman. His signature "Layla" along with many other dynamic songs came about during this time, as did a heroin addiction. Drugs and an obsessive love affair with George Harrison's wife, Patti Boyd, whom he later married, began to consume Clapton. Additionally, he was staggered by the 1971 deaths of Allman and fellow guitar mate Jimi Hendrix. Derek and the Dominoes tried to record again but anguish coupled with drug use left Clapton emotionally paralyzed and he disappeared into seclusion.

He resurfaced three years later, drug-free, and his solo albums 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) and Slowhand (1977) offer a glimpse into his musical eclecticism. They feature the reggae-styled "I Shot the Sheriff" from 461 Ocean Boulevard and the chunky rock of "Cocaine" and easy groove of "Lay Down Sally" from Slowhand. Incidentally, Slowhand is a nickname that still sticks to Clapton from the "Clapton is God" era when the audience would patiently wait for him to change a broken guitar string by clapping in a slow, rhythmic manner.

Although he had kicked hard narcotics, alcoholism debilitated Clapton throughout the early 1980s. He continued to tour, release solo albums, and score soundtracks to the Lethal Weapon films, but his personal life and his health were in a shambles. In 1986 his union with Italian model Lori Del Santo produced a son, Conor, and his tumultuous relationship with Boyd ended in divorce in 1988. Along the way, Clapton received treatment for alcoholism and issues stemming from his disjointed childhood, both of which were destroying his career. In 1990 Clapton emerged in strong physical and mental health and looked forward to becoming an active parent to his son. A four-CD career retrospective, Crossroads (1988), and the roots-oriented Journeyman (1989) were big successes, plus he won his first Grammy Award in 1990 from Journeyman for "Bad Love." The cloud looming over Clapton seemed to be lifting. However, a series of numbing tragedies way-laid this comeback period.

In August of that year, Clapton's close friend and virtuoso guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter accident after the two had performed together in concert. Additionally, two members of Clapton's touring entourage, also his close friends, lost their lives in the mishap. Clapton was devastated. Vaughan, also an alcoholic in recovery, was at the high point of his career. However, there was barely time to grieve. On March 20, 1991, Conor died after falling to the street from a high-rise Manhattan apartment through a window that had been left open accidentally.

Striving On

Numbed with heartache, a secluded Clapton received an outpouring of love from fellow musicians. He continued to stay sober through Alcoholics Anonymous and used music to channel his sorrow. Clapton wrote several songs about Conor and one of those, "Tears in Heaven," became a hit. The song appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Rush (1991) and was included on his Grammy Award-sweeping acoustic effort, Unplugged (1992). The album, performed live, also features a reworked version of his signature "Layla," and a variety of old blues classics such as "Rollin and Tumblin" and "Before You Accuse Me." The success of the raw Unplugged furthered Clapton's decision to record From the Cradle (1994), an album comprised solely of old blues classics. Recorded live in the studio with almost no overdubs, the album was a huge success and Clapton showed that his electric blues guitar skills were still comparable to his days with Mayall and Cream. Additionally, Clapton was finally gaining recognition for his vocal skills. A reluctant singer, Clapton began focusing on singing in his days with Delaney and Bonnie. He honed his singing in subsequent solo efforts and surfaced as a likable pop voice in mainstream hits "Wonderful Tonight," "Forever Man," "She's Waiting," and many others. Many younger fans, unfamiliar with his "Guitar God" status, primarily consider Clapton a singer.

He scored a Grammy Award in 1997 with the single "Change the World," written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds for the soundtrack to the film Phenomenon (1996). The song inspired his introspective Pilgrim (1998), an impressive departure from the unprocessed blues of From the Cradle. Driven by rhythm and blues flavorings and techno-electronic influence, Pilgrim presents Clapton's voice as soulful and meditative. The autobiographically styled songs chronicle the mindset of an artist who has endured great pain. The song "Circus" deals with his son's death as does "My Father's Eyes," which also alludes to issues regarding Clapton and his own father, whom he has never met.

When Clapton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 for his work as a solo performer, he became the only performer in music history ever triple honored. Previously he was inducted with the Yardbirds in 1992 and Cream in 1993. Riding with the King (2000)—on which Clapton collaborates with the celebrated "King of the Blues," B.B. King—marked a strong return to the blues. The two bluesmen trade guitar and vocal licks on twelve classics that come mostly from King's repertoire. Riding with the King won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Sorrow greeted Clapton again when his uncle Adrian, his mother's brother with whom he was raised, passed away during the recording of Reptile (2001). He dedicated the album to Adrian, whom he had believed to be his brother throughout the early days of their childhood. Reptile serves as a career montage of sorts for Clapton with nearly every musical style that he has played through the years embodied within the fourteen songs. He followed Reptile 's release with a world tour, reportedly to be his last, and chronicled the tour with the live, One More Car, One More Rider (2002).

Although hailed for a lengthy portion of his career as "God," Clapton's understated demeanor suggests none of it. He usually performs dressed in comfortably casual attire with eyeglasses adding to his relaxed and modest manner. The aura is more of a sage survivor who has learned plenty along the way. However, when the spirit moves, usually stimulated by the familiar chug of a twelve-bar blues backdrop, Clapton ascends to the playing that brought about all the worship in the first place.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends on Tour with Eric Clapton (Atlantic, 1970); Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (Polygram, 1973); 461 Ocean Boulevard (Polygram, 1974); There's One in Every Crowd (Polygram, 1975); E.C. Was Here (Polygram, 1974); No Reason to Cry (Polygram, 1976); Slowhand (Polygram, 1977); Backless (Polygram, 1978); Just One Night (Polygram, 1980); Another Ticket (Polygram, 1981); Money and Cigarettes (Warner Bros., 1983); Behind the Sun (Warner Bros., 1985); August (Warner Bros., 1986); Journeyman (Warner Bros., 1989); 24 Nights (Warner Bros., 1991); Unplugged (Warner Bros., 1992); From the Cradle (Warner Bros., 1994); Pilgrim (Warner Bros., 1998); Blues (Polygram, 1999); Riding with the King (Warner Bros., 2000); Reptile (Warner Bros., 2001); One More Car, One More Rider (Warner Bros., 2002). With B.B. King: Riding with the King (Duck/Reprise, 2000). Soundtracks: Lethal Weapon: Original Soundtrack (Warner Bros., 1986); Lethal Weapon 2: Original Soundtrack (Warner Bros., 1989); Homeboy (EMI International, 1989); Rush (Warner Bros., 1991); Lethal Weapon 3: Original Soundtrack (Warner Bros., 1992); Lethal Weapon 4: Original Soundtrack (Warner Bros., 1998); Phenomenon (Warner Bros., 1996).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

R. Coleman, Clapton!: An Authorized Biography (New York, 1986); E. Clapton with M. Robarty, Eric Clapton: In His Own Words (London, 1995); C. Sandford, Clapton: On the Edge of Darkness (New York, 1999).

donald lowe