Everything about Eric Clapton totally explained
Eric Patrick Clapton,
CBE (born
30 March 1945)
, nicknamed
Slowhand, is a 6 time
Grammy Award-winning
English rock guitarist, singer,
songwriter and
composer. He is one of the most successful musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries, garnering an unprecedented three inductions into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (
The Yardbirds,
Cream, and solo). Often viewed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Clapton was ranked fourth in
Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #53 on their list of the Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Although Clapton's musical style has varied throughout his career, it has always remained rooted in the
blues. Clapton is credited as an innovator in several phases of his career, which have included
blues-rock (with
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and
The Yardbirds) and
psychedelic rock (with
Cream). Clapton has also achieved great chart success in genres ranging from
Delta blues (
Me and Mr. Johnson) to
pop ("
Change the World") and
reggae (
Bob Marley's "
I Shot the Sheriff"). Clapton also achieved fame with
Derek and the Dominos through the hit song "
Layla".
Musical career and personal life
Early years
Clapton was born in
Ripley, Surrey,
England, the son of 16 year old Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, a 24-year-old soldier from
Montreal,
Quebec,
Canada; the two were not married. Fryer shipped off to war prior to Clapton's birth and then returned to Canada.
Clapton grew up with his grandmother, Rose, and her second husband Jack, believing they were his parents and that his mother was his older sister. Their surname was Clapp, which has given rise to the widespread but erroneous belief that Clapton's real surname is Clapp (Clapton is the name of Rose's first husband, Eric Clapton's maternal grandfather). Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier, moved to Canada and left Eric with his grandparents. When Clapton was nine years old, he discovered the true situation when his mother and six year old half-brother, Brian, returned to England for a visit. The experience became a defining moment in his life. He stopped applying himself at school and became moody and distant from his family. Brian died in 1974 in a road accident. Clapton also has two half-sisters from his mother's marriage: Cheryl (born in May 1953) and Heather (born in September 1958).
Clapton grew up quiet, shy, lonely and in his words a "nasty kid", who was very serious about his musical goals. However he's also known to have had a sense of humour.
Clapton spent his secondary school years at the
Hollyfield School in
Surbiton. Clapton received an acoustic Spanish Hoya guitar for his 13th birthday. He found learning the instrument very difficult and nearly gave up. He was influenced by the
blues from an early age and practiced long hours to learn chords and copy the music of blues artists that he listened to on his
Grundig Cub tape recorder.
After leaving secondary school in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but he was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. Around this time Clapton began busking around
Kingston,
Richmond and the
West End of London. When he was 17 years old Clapton joined his first band. It was an early British R&B group called The Roosters. He stayed with this band from January through August in 1963. Clapton did a brief seven
gig stint with Casey Jones and the Engineers in October 1963.
The Yardbirds & the Bluesbreakers
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.
Still obstinately dedicated to blues music, Clapton was strongly offended by 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.
Cream
Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 (to be replaced by
Peter Green) and then formed
Cream, one of the earliest
supergroups. Cream was also one of the earliest "
power trios", with
Jack Bruce on bass (also of
Manfred Mann, the Bluesbreakers and the
Graham Bond Organisation) and
Ginger Baker on drums (another member of the GBO). Before the formation of Cream, Clapton was all but unknown in the United States; he left
The Yardbirds before "For Your Love" hit the
American Top Ten, and had yet to perform there. During his time with Cream, Clapton began to develop as a singer and songwriter, as well as guitarist, though Bruce took most of the lead vocals and wrote the majority of the material with lyricist
Pete Brown. Cream's first gig was an unofficial performance at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester on
29 July 1966 before their full debut two nights later at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Cream established an enduring legend on the high-volume blues jamming and extended solos of their live shows, while their studio work was focused on shorter versions of the same songs.
In early 1967, Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivalled by the emergence of
Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly formed Cream at the
Central London Polytechnic on
1 October 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a shattering double-timed version of "Killing Floor". Top UK stars including Clapton,
Pete Townshend,
The Rolling Stones and
The Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.
It was with Cream that Clapton first visited the USA. They went to New York in March 1967 for a nine show stand at the RKO Theater. They returned to New York to record
Disraeli Gears from
11 May -
15 May 1967.
Cream's repertoire varied from soulful
pop ("
I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("
Spoonful") and featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming.
In a mere twenty-eight months Cream had immense commercial success, selling millions of records and playing to standing-room only crowds throughout the U.S. and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first bands to emphasise musical virtuosity, skill and flash. Their U.S. hit singles include "
Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "
White Room" (#6, 1968) and "
Crossroads" (#28, 1969) - a live version of
Robert Johnson's "
Cross Road Blues."
Although Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the band was destined to be short-lived. The legendary infighting between Bruce and Baker and growing tensions among all three members eventually led to Cream's demise. Another significant factor was a strongly critical
Rolling Stone review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour, which affected Clapton profoundly. By this time he'd also fallen deeply under the spell of the music of
The Band after they'd released the album
Music from Big Pink and began to believe that rock music was heading in a new direction. He was so infatuated with them that he even asked to join them, but was turned down. The band was unnamed early on simply called "Eric Clapton and Friends" with its final name, Derek and the Dominos, an accident, by all accounts. Whitlock claims the previous performer,
Tony Ashton of
Ashton, Gardner and Dyke mispronounced their provisional name of "Eric and the Dynamos" as Derek and the Dominos. While in Clapton's biography a different story emerges claiming Ashton told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", Del being his nickname for Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos."
Clapton's close friendship with
George Harrison had brought him into contact with Harrison's wife
Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, 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 classical
Persian poet
Nezami Ganjavi's
The Story of Layla and Majnun, a copy of which his friend
Ian Dallas had given him. The book moved Clapton profoundly as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he couldn't marry her. Clapton found a strong similarity between the situation of Layla and Majnun and the one between him and Boyd-Harrison.
Working at
Criteria Studios in Miami with legendary
Atlantic Records producer
Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's
Disraeli Gears, 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. Clapton and Allman played all night in the studio 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 barely started recording anything. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" on
28 August as well as "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out." In a window of only four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman", and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad." When September came around, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band. In the two days he was absent, the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing." Duane returned on the 3rd to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late." On the 9th, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "Thorn Tree in the Garden" was recorded.
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. Many critics would later notice that Clapton played best when in a band composed of dual guitars; working with another guitarist kept him from getting "sloppy and lazy and this was undeniably the case with Duane Allman."
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. On
17 September 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed
Stratocaster that he'd planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the
Layla album received only lukewarm reviews upon release; Clapton took this personally, accelerating his spiral into drug addiction.
The shaken group undertook a US tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. 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. The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set
Crossroads), but the results were mediocre. Tom Dowd and Duane Allman were not there to help them and Derek and the Dominos soon disintegrated messily in London. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on
October 29 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's 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 wasn't 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 and years later murdered his mother during a
psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16 years to life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.
These remarks helped spark the creation of
Rock Against Racism when its founder,
Red Saunders, commented: "Come on Eric... Own up. Half your music is black. Who shot the Sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!", in reference to Clapton's first UK solo hit single, a cover of the
Bob Marley song.
In a 2004 interview with
Uncut magazine, Clapton called
Enoch Powell "outrageously brave". He also stated that "My feeling about this hasn't changed really. We have always been up to some funny business in this country, inviting people in as cheap labour and then putting them in ghettos."
Clapton has also stated that "There's no way I could be a racist. It would make no sense". In his autobiography, he called himself "deliberately oblivious to it all" and wrote, "I had never really understood or been directly affected by racial conflict... when I listened to music, I was disinterested in where the players came from or what colour their skin was."
In an interview with
Melvin Bragg on
The South Bank Show broadcast on
2 December 2007, Clapton reiterated his support for Enoch Powell and denied that Powell's views were racist.
Comeback
In 1981, Clapton was invited by producer
Martin Lewis to appear at the
Amnesty International benefit
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Clapton accepted the invitation and teamed up with
Jeff Beck to perform a series of duets - reportedly their first-ever billed stage collaboration. Three of the performances were released on the album of the show and one of the songs was featured in the film of the show. The performances heralded a return to form and prominence for Clapton in the new decade.
In 1984, he performed on
Pink Floyd member
Roger Waters's 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. In 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund. In 2006 they performed at the Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance, 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.
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.
Clapton also worked on the music for the
Lethal Weapon motion picture series alongside
Michael Kamen and
David Sanborn.
(External Link
)
Many factors influenced Clapton's comeback, including his "deepening commitment to Christianity", to which he'd converted prior to his heroin addiction.
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,
Chaka Khan,
Mick Jones,
David Sanborn and
Robert Cray.
Tragedy again
In 1984, while still married to
Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly; they'd a daughter, Ruth, born in January 1985. Clapton and Kelly didn't make any public announcement about the birth of their daughter, and she wasn't publicly revealed as his child until 1991, at the funeral of his son Conor. Boyd didn't know of the existence of Ruth until 1991: "What cut deepest was that Eric had known about the child all along. While declaring undying love to me and pleading with me to go back to him, he'd been paying Yvonne
maintenance for the past six years."
Hurricane Hugo hit
Montserrat in 1989 and this resulted in the closure of Sir
George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and the myth of Eric's secret daughter was born as a result of newspaper articles published at the time. Boyd herself was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at
in vitro fertilization.
In May 2005, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Concert recordings were released on CD and DVD. Later, Cream performed in New York at Madison Square Garden.
Back Home, Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, was released on
Reprise Records on
30 August.
In 2006 it was announced that
Derek Trucks and
Doyle Bramhall II would join Clapton's band for his 2006-2007 world tour. Trucks is the third member of
the Allman Brothers Band to support Clapton, the second being pianist/keyboardist
Chuck Leavell who appeared on the
MTV Unplugged album and the
24 Nights performances at the
Royal Albert Hall theater of London (RAH) in 1990 and 1991, as well as Clapton's 1992 US tour.
On
20 May 2006 he performed with
Queen drummer
Roger Taylor and former Pink Floyd bassist
Roger Waters, at the
Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance. On
13 August 2006, Clapton made a surprise guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio. Though he didn't take the stage with Dylan, he played guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act.
A collaboration with guitar legend
J. J. Cale, titled
The Road to Escondido, was released on
7 November 2006. The 14 track CD was produced and recorded by the duo in August 2005 in California.
The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, written by
Christopher Simon Sykes and published in 2007, were reportedly sold at the 2005
Frankfurt Book Fair for
USD $4 million.
According to
Rolling Stone magazine, Clapton is currently working on an album with
Robbie Robertson. Robertson performed with Clapton at the
Crossroads Guitar Festival. They played their version of the
Bo Diddley song "
Who Do You Love", which Robertson originally did with
Ronnie Hawkins, as a member of
The Hawks as a tribute to Bo Diddley who had recently suffered a
stroke. Clapton and Steve Winwood also reunited at the Festival, performing a set featuring numerous Blind Faith songs. The two decided to carry on the collaboration, and performed together at Madison Square Garden in New York City for three sold-out shows on
25 February,
26 February and
28 February 2008.
On
28 January 2008 Eric Clapton was announced as the headliner for the Saturday night of Hard Rock Calling 2008 in London's Hyde Park (previously
Hyde Park Calling) with support from
Sheryl Crow &
John Mayer.
North Korean invitation
On
February 26,
2008, it was reported that North Korean officials had invited Clapton to play a concert in the communist state. According to reports, Clapton's management received the invitation and passed it on to the singer, who has agreed in principle and suggested it take place sometime in 2009. Clapton's management, however, have so far refused to confirm if this is the case. If Clapton accepts the invitation, he'll be the first western rock star to play there.
Kim Jong Chol, the son of national leader
Kim Jong Il, is said to be a Clapton fan.
Influences
Clapton has performed songs by myriad artists, most notably
Robert Johnson and
J. J. Cale. Other artists Clapton has covered include
Bob Marley, Bo Diddley and
Bob Dylan. He cites
Freddie King,
B.B. King,
Albert King,
Buddy Guy,
Hubert Sumlin and primarily Robert Johnson as major influences on his guitar playing, stating in the liner notes of his Robert Johnson tribute album
Me and Mr. Johnson It is a remarkable thing to have been driven and influenced all of my life by the work of one man... I accept that it has always been the keystone of my musical foundation... I'm talking of course about Robert Johnson."
"Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I've gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I've never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really. ... it seemed to echo something I'd always felt." from
Discovering Robert Johnson by Eric Clapton.
Clapton says in his autobiography that he didn't "get"
Bob Dylan until he went electric and released
Blonde On Blonde and then it "all made sense".
In 1974, Clapton persuaded Freddie King to sign with
RSO, Clapton's record label at the time. He has recorded more than six of J.J. Cale's originals and has put out an album with the artist. Other artists Clapton has made collaborations with include
Frank Zappa,
B.B King,
George Harrison (with whom he worked on the songs
Badge, and "Let it Grow"),
Santana,
Ringo Starr,
Roger Waters,
Bob Marley,
John Lennon, and
The Plastic Ono Band.
Clapton also collaborated with singer/songwriter
John Mayer on his 2006 album release,
Continuum. Mayer cites Clapton in his liner notes
Eric Clapton knows I steal from him and is still cool with it. Clapton and Mayer wrote several songs together which have yet to be released. Clapton's influence inspired Mayer to write "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" which loosely holds characteristics of Clapton's style.
The search for his father
Although Clapton's grandparents had eventually told him the truth about his parentage — that he was the son of a Canadian serviceman — the precise identity of his father remained a mystery for many years. Clapton knew that his father's name was Edward Fryer, but few other details were known. This was a source of disquiet and speculation for Clapton, as witnessed by his 1998 song "
My Father's Eyes."
A
Montreal journalist named Michael Woloschuk set about solving the mystery. He researched Canadian Armed Forces service records and tracked down members of Fryer's family, finally piecing together the story that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born
21 March 1920, in
Montreal and died
15 May 1985 in
Newmarket, Ontario. Fryer was a musician (piano and saxophone) and a lifelong drifter, who was married several times, had several children and apparently never knew that he was the father of Eric Clapton. Clapton personally thanked Woloschuk in an encounter at Macdonald Cartier Airport, in Ottawa, Canada.
Clapton's guitars
Clapton's choice of electric guitars has been as notable as the man himself, and alongside
Hank Marvin,
The Beatles and
Jimi Hendrix, Clapton has exerted a crucial and widespread influence in popularising particular models of the
electric guitar.
With the Yardbirds, Clapton played a Fender Telecaster and a 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335. He became exclusively a Gibson player for a period beginning in mid-1965, when he purchased a used
Gibson Les Paul Sunburst Standard guitar from a local guitar store in London. Clapton commented on the slim profile of the neck, which would indicate it as a 1960 model.
Early during his stint in Cream, Clapton's first Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream (one bought from
Andy Summers was almost identical to the stolen guitar) until 1967 when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964
Gibson SG. In early 1967, just before their first US appearance, Clapton's SG, Bruce's
Fender VI and Baker's drum head were repainted in psychedelic designs created by the visual art collective known as
The Fool. In 1968 Clapton bought a
Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red
Gibson ES-335 again. Gibson produced a limited run of 250 "Crossroads 335" replicas. The 335 was only the second electric guitar Clapton bought.
Clapton played a refinished red Les Paul on the Beatles' studio recording of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", then gave the guitar to
George Harrison. His SG found its way into the hands of George Harrison's friend
Jackie Lomax, who subsequently sold it to musician
Todd Rundgren for US$500 in 1972. Rundgren restored the guitar and nicknamed it "Sunny", after "Sunshine of Your Love." He retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an
auction for US$150,000. First was "
Brownie" used during the recording of
Eric Clapton which in 1974 became the backup to the most famous of all Clapton's guitars, "
Blackie." In November 1970 Eric bought 6 Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while being on tour with the Dominos. He gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood and Pete Townshend. He used the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie" (while being "retired" in 1971 and 1972 ), which was Clapton's favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985. It was first played live
January 13,
1973 at the
Rainbow Concert. Clapton called the 1956/57 Strat a "mongrel". On
24 June 2004, Clapton sold "Blackie" at Christie's Auction House, New York for $959,500 to raise funds for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addictions. "Brownie" is now on display at the
Experience Music Project.
The
Fender Custom Shop has since produced a limited run of 275 'Blackie' replicas, correct in every detail right down to the 'Duck Brothers' flight case, and artificially aged using Fender's 'Relic' process to simulate thirty years of hard wear. One was presented to Eric upon the model's release.
Another moment involving Clapton's guitars and Pete Townshend resulted in
Hard Rock Café's unique and gigantic collection of memorabilia. In 1971, Clapton, a regular at the original Hard Rock Café in
Hyde Park, London, gave a signed guitar to the café to designate his favourite bar stool. Pete Townshend, in turn, donated one of his own guitars, with a note attached: "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete." From there, the collection of memorabilia grew, resulting in Hard Rock Café's atmosphere.
In 1988 Fender honoured Clapton with the introduction of his signature
Eric Clapton Stratocaster. These were the first two artist models in the Stratocaster range and since then the artist series has grown to include models inspired both by Clapton's contemporaries such as
Rory Gallagher,
Mark Knopfler,
Jeff Beck and the late
Stevie Ray Vaughan, and by those who have influenced him such as
Buddy Guy. Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings.
Clapton has also been honoured with signature-model 000-28EC and 000-42EC acoustic guitars made by the famous American firm of
C.F. Martin & Co.. The
Crossroads Centre is a treatment base for addictive disorders such as
drugs and
alcohol. In 2004, Clapton organised and participated in the
Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit the Centre. A second guitar auction, including the "Cream" of Clapton's collection - as well as guitars donated by famous friends - was also held on
24 June 2004. His
Lowden guitar sold for $41,825. The total revenue garnered by this auction at
Christie's was US $7,438,624. for
RealNetwork's Rhapsody (online music service).
In 1985, Clapton appeared on the charity concert
Live Aid in
Philadelphia with
Phil Collins,
Tim Renwick,
Chris Stainton, Jamie Oldaker,
Marcy Levy,
Shaun Murphy and
Donald 'Duck' Dunn.
In 1988 he played with
Dire Straits at the
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute.
On 12 September, 1996, Clapton played a party for
Armani at New York City's Lexington Armory. He played with a backing trio of
Greg Phillinganes,
Nathan East and
Steve Gadd.
Sheryl Crow appeared on one number. It was Clapton's sole US appearance that year.
Clapton played
Wish You Were Here (song) with
Roger Waters for a Tsunami Relief Concert.
In an article in the spoof newspaper
The Onion, Clapton is mentioned in passing, in which
"Weird Al" Yankovic plans to
parody "
Tears in Heaven" to honor his late parents.
Clapton was featured in the
rock opera film,
Tommy as the Preacher.
He also appeared in
Blues Brothers 2000 as one of the Louisiana Gator Boys. In addition to being in the band, he'd a small speaking role.
Clapton has also appeared in an advertisement for the
Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.
Eric Clapton was present at the PRIDE FC openweight tournament 2000 and during the hour and thirty match between
Kazushi Sakuraba and
Royce Gracie is pointed out by fellow musician and PRIDE announcer
Stephen Quadros.
Awards and honours
- In 1983, Clapton was presented the Silver Clef Award from Princess Michael of Kent for outstanding contribution to British music.
Clapton was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to music in 1994.
In 2000 Clapton was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, this time as a solo artist. He was earlier inducted as a member of the bands Cream and The Yardbirds.
Clapton was made a CBE in November 2004, receiving the award from the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace as part of the New Year's Honours list.
"Tears In Heaven" won three Grammy awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1993.
Clapton's music in film and TV
Back to the Future (1985) - Heaven Is One Step Away
The soundtrack of The Color of Money (1986 film) contains "It's In The Way That You Use It". This song was written by Clapton along with Robbie Robertson. It appeared on the movie's soundtrack before Clapton's album was released.
The soundtrack of Lethal Weapon 2 (1988) features Clapton's version of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".
The soundtrack of Goodfellas (1990) contains two of his songs: "Layla" (by Derek and the Dominos) and "Sunshine of Your Love" (by Cream). Curiously, the portion of "Layla" used isn't his guitar riff, but Jim Gordon's piano coda. Cream would also play on the soundtrack of another Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro/Joe Pesci Mob film, Casino (1995).
Clapton wrote the score to the film Rush (1991). That film featured Gregg Allman, whose brother Duane helped Clapton record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Clapton contributed to the score of Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and co-wrote and co-performed the song "It's Probably Me" with Sting and "Runaway Train" with Elton John.
Runaway Bride (1999) - Blue Eyes Blue
The soundtrack of Phenomenon (1996 film) contains "Change the World"
Lord of War - "Cocaine"
Starsky & Hutch - "Cocaine"
Patch Adams (film) - "Let It Rain"
Blow - "Strange Brew"
Lords of Dogtown - "Strange Brew"
True Lies - "Sunshine of Your Love"
Peter's Friends (1992) - "Give Me Strength"
School Of Rock (2003) - "Sunshine Of Your Love"
The Story of Us (1999) - In many parts of this movie, the song "(I) Get Lost" is played.
Friends (2000) - The One with the Proposal, Part 2, "Wonderful Tonight"
Friends (2002) - The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part Two, "River of Tears"
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) - "Pilgrim" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"
Bad News Bears - (2005) - "Cocaine"
Futurama - episode 30% Iron Chef - "Sunshine of your love"
The German car manufacturer Opel used and Vauxhall in the UK used the guitar riff of Clapton's Layla in its advertising campaign throughout in 1987-95.
Wayne's World (1992) - "Loving your Loving"
Mean Streets (1973) - "I Looked Away"
Discography
Eric Clapton discography
Band
2006 tour band
European Tour
Eric Clapton - guitar, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II - guitar, backing vocals
Derek Trucks - guitar
Chris Stainton - keyboards
Tim Carmon - keyboards
Willie Weeks - bass
Steve Jordan - drums
The Kick Horns (Simon Clarke, Roddy Lorimer, and Tim Sanders) - brass
Michelle John - backing vocals
Sharon White - backing vocals
US / Canada - Eastern Region, Japan, Australia and New Zealand
Eric Clapton - guitar, vocals
Doyle Bramhall II - guitar, backing vocals
Derek Trucks - guitar
Chris Stainton - keyboards
Tim Carmon - keyboards
Willie Weeks - bass
Steve Jordan - drums
Michelle John - backing vocals
Sharon White - backing vocals
Support act for European and US / Canada : The Robert Cray Band
Previous band members
Albert Lee - guitar, vocals, backing vocals
Mark Knopfler - guitar
Andy Fairweather-Low - guitar, backing vocals
Phil Palmer - guitar
George Terry - guitar, backing vocals
Alan Darby - guitar
Gary Brooker - keyboards, backing vocals
Chuck Leavell - piano, keyboards
Greg Phillinganes - keyboards, Hammond organ, backing vocals
Billy Preston - Hammond B3 Organ
David Sancious - keyboards, guitar, harmonica, backing vocals
Chris Stainton - piano, keyboards
Dave Bronze - bass guitar
Nathan East - bass guitar, vocals, backing vocals
Pino Palladino - bass guitar
Carl Radle - bass guitar
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Phil Collins - drums, vocals
Ray Cooper - percussion
Jim Gordon - drums
Steve Ferrone - drums
Steve Gadd - drums
Ricky Lawson - drums
Andy Newmark - drums
Jamie Oldaker - drums
Yvonne Elliman - vocals, backing vocals, guitar
Katie Kissoon - backing vocals
Marcy Levy - vocals, backing vocals, harmonica
Tessa Niles - backing vocals
Joe Sample - piano, Wurlitzer
Dick Sims - keyboards
Donald "Duck" Dunn - bass guitar
Tessa Niles - vocals
Filmography
Clapton plays the role of a guitar player in the band Louisiana Gator Boys in the 1998 musical/comedy film Blues Brothers 2000.
Clapton plays the role of the Priest in the film version of The Who's rock opera Tommy.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Eric Clapton'.
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