Born: March 30, 1945 in Ripley, England
One of rock's most revered legends, Eric Clapton has accomplished everything that a musician could possibly dream of achieving, from widespread critical-acclaim to multi-Platinum sales, and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Born in 1945 in Ripley, England Clapton's first notable band was the Yardbirds, the guitarist - nicknamed "Slowhand" - joining at the age of 18 while in college.
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds replaced the Rolling Stones as the house band at the Crawdaddy Club and made their first appearance on record as back-up band for blues harp legend Sonny Boy Williamson. By the time that the Yardbirds recorded their 1964 live album Five Live Yardbirds, the buzz over Clapton's growing six-string prowess had won the band a substantial following. A year later, the Yardbirds scored a hit on both sides of the Atlantic with "For Your Love," an ahead-of-its-time pop-rock romp that created creative differences that caused Clapton, who wanted to play pure blues, to leave the band.
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Clapton hooked up with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, recruited by the bandleader to play alongside future Fleetwood Mac founders John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. This line-up recorded a single, spectacular album, 1966's Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton, which kick-started the British blues revival and cemented Clapton's reputation as a superstar guitarist.
Clapton parted ways with Mayall in 1966 to form the influential and commercial-blockbuster blues-rock power trio Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Fusing electric-blues with hard-rock, Cream's success led to an explosion of British blues-rock bands like Free and Fleetwood Mac.
Blind Faith & Others...
Displaying a restless nature and a desire for pursuing differing musical directions, Clapton and Cream broke up after only two years. Clapton went on to record a single album with the rock "supergroup" Blind Faith, which proved to be one of the most stressful events of the artist's life. Clapton subsequently found peace as a sideman, touring and recording with the soul-influenced rock duo Delaney & Bonnie. He later performed as part of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and worked in the studio with his close friend George Harrison.
Clapton's Solo Career
Clapton launched his "hall of fame" solo career with a self-titled album in 1970, the surprisingly pop-rock oriented collection of songs providing the artist with a Top Twenty hit in "After Midnight." The guitarist quickly retreated to the comforts of a full band environment, recruiting guitarist Duane Allman and various members of Delaney & Bonnie's band for Derek and the Dominos. The band's lone 1971 studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, would become a classic of both the blues-rock and classic rock genres.
After spending the better part of two years kicking an addiction to heroin, Clapton returned to his solo career with the 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard, a spirited collection of pop-rock, R&B and blues with a dash of reggae thrown in for good measure. In the past 34 years since, Clapton has recorded better than a dozen studio albums and half-a-dozen live albums, venturing back and forth between languid, soulful pop-rock and traditional blues.
Along the way, Clapton has become one of rock's elder statesmen and a spokesman for the blues, recording albums with blues guitarists like B.B. King and Robert Cray as well as a critically-acclaimed collection of Robert Johnson covers titled Me and Mr. Johnson.
Recommended Albums: There are too many worthy albums in the Clapton catalog to easily narrow it down to a handful, but if you're going to start somewhere, the Derek and the Dominoes album is probably the best place. Riding With The King, Clapton's 2000 collaboration with B.B. King, is among his best blues work while Cream's 1967 album Disraeli Gears is the stuff that brings blues-rock legends alive.
