Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Biographical Sketch

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born Ripley, England, March 30, 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and fourth in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time”.

In the mid-1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname “Slowhand.” Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton joined Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and “arty, blues-based psychedelic pop.” For most of the 1970s, Clapton’s output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were Layla, recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed, and Robert Johnson’s Crossroads, recorded by Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton’s grief was expressed in the song Tears in Heaven, which featured in his Unplugged album.

Clapton cites Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Hubert Sumlin as guitar playing influences but, overall, has named blues musician Robert Johnson as his single most important influence. In 2004 Clapton released CDs and DVDs entitled Sessions for Robert Johnson, featuring Clapton covering Robert Johnson songs using electric and acoustic guitars. Clapton also co-authored the book Discovering Robert Johnson, and in his liner notes to the 1990 release Robert Johnson, The Complete Collection he characterized Johnson as “… the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have 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 had always felt.”

Guitarists influenced by Clapton in turn include Slash, Allen Collins, Richie Sambora, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Lenny Kravitz, Ted Nugent, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, and Mark Knopfler. Clapton has received 18 Grammy Awards as well as the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He has received four Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In his solo career, Clapton has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

Major Awards and Honors

Hall of Fame Inductions

Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame

1992: The Yardbirds (Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jimmy Page, Keith Relf, and Paul Samwell-Smith)
1993: Cream (Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton)
2000: Individual Artist

Blues Hall of Fame

2015: Eric Clapton (individually)

Songwriters Hall of Fame

2001: Eric Clapton (individually)

Grammy Hall of Fame

1998: Rock Single – Derek & the Dominos: “Layla”
1999: Rock Album – Cream: “Disraeli Gears”
2000: Rock Album – Derek & the Dominos: “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”
2003: Rock Single – Eric Clapton: “I Shot the Sheriff”

Other

Order of the British Empire

1994: Officer of the British Empire
2004: Commander of the British Empire

Grammies

1972: Album Of The Year – “The Concert For Bangla Desh”
Grammy awarded to: Billy Preston, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar & Ringo Starr, artists; George Harrison & Phil Spector, producers.
1988: Best Historical Album – “Crossroads”
Grammy awarded to: Bill Levenson, producer.
1988: Best Album Notes – “Crossroads”
Grammy awarded to: Anthony DeCurtis, album notes writer.
1990: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male – “Bad Love”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1992: Record Of The Year – “Tears In Heaven”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist; Russ Titelman, producer.
1992: Album Of The Year – “Unplugged”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist; Russ Titelman, producer.
1992: Song Of The Year – “Tears In Heaven”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton & Will Jennings, songwriters.
1992: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male – “Tears In Heaven”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1992: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male – “Unplugged”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1992: Best Rock Song – “Layla”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton & Jim Gordon, songwriters.
1994: Best Traditional Blues Album – “From The Cradle”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1996: Record Of The Year – “Change The World”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist; Babyface, producer.
1996: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “Change The World”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1996: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “SRV Shuffle”
Grammy awarded to: Art Neville, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, Jimmie Vaughan & Robert Cray, artists.
1998: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “My Father’s Eyes”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
1999: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “The Calling”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton & Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson), artists.
2000: Best Traditional Blues Album – “Riding With The King”
Grammy awarded to: B.B. King & Eric Clapton, artists; Alan Douglas, engineer; Simon Climie, producer.
2001: Best Pop Instrumental Performance – “Reptile”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton, artist.
2006: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award – Cream
2006: Best Engineered Album – “Back Home”
Grammy awarded to: Alan Douglas and Mick Guzauski, sound engineers.
2007: Best Contemporary Blues Album – “The Road To Escondido”
Grammy awarded to: Eric Clapton & JJ Cale, artists; Alan Douglas & Mick Guzauski, engineers; Eric Clapton, JJ Cale & Simon Climie, producers.

MTV Video Music Awards

1992: Best Male Video – “Tears in Heaven” (Performance)

American Music Awards

1994: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist
1997: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist
1999: Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist

Blues Foundation Handy Blues Awards

1995: Crossover Artist of the Year

Primetime Emmy Awards (USA)

2005: Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special – “Crossroads Guitar Festival 2004”
Award to Gary Bradley, editor.
2008: Outstanding Special Class, Variety, Music, Comedy Program – “Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007”
Award to John Beug, executive producer; Eric Clapton, Peter Jackson, James S. Pluta and Stephen ‘Scooter’ Weintraub, producers; and David Horn, series producer.

BRIT Awards

1987: Outstanding contribution to Music

BAFTAs (Great Britain)

1985: Best Original Television Music – “Edge of Darkness”

Silver Clef Awards (Great Britain)

1983
1993

Ivor Novello Music Writing Awards (Great Britain)

1985: “Edge of Darkness” (soundtrack)

International Film Music Critics Award

2013: “Lethal Weapon Soundtrack Collection”

Echo Music Prize (Germany)

2012: Bestseller of the Year, Echo Jazz – “Live from Jaz at Lincoln Center”

Rolling Stone Magazine

100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: #2
100 Greatest Artists of All Time:
- #55 – Eric Clapton
- #67 – Cream
- #89 – The Yardbirds
500 Greatest Albums of All Time:
- #102 – Cream: “Fresh Cream”
- #114 – Cream: “Disraeli Gears”
- #117 – Derek and the Dominos: “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”
- #195 – John Mayall’s Blues Breakers: “Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton”
- #205 – Cream: “Wheels of Fire”
- #325 – “Slowhand”
- #355 – The Yardbirds: “Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds”
- #411 – “461 Ocean Boulevard”
500 Greatest Songs of All Time:
- #376 – Cream: “White Room”
  (Album: “Wheels of Fire”)
- #362 – “Tears in Heaven”
  (Album: “Rush” Soundtrack)
- #65 – Cream: “Sunshine of Your Love”
  (Album: “Disraeli Gears”)
- #27 – Derek and the Dominos: “Layla”
  (Album: “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs”)

VH1

100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll:
- #15 – Eric Clapton
- #52 – Cream

Guitar Center Hollywood RockWalk

1998: Inductee – The Yardbirds
2004: Inductee – Eric Clapton
2004: Inductee – Cream

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)

2017: Commandeur de l’Ordre

Discography

The Yardbirds

Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
I’m A Man
Five Live Yardbirds (1964)
For Your Love (1965)
Having a Rave Up (1965)
Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds (1965)
London 1963: The First Recordings! (1981)
Clapton’s Cradle: The Early Yardbirds Recordings (1995)
Eric Clapton & The Yardbirds: Rarities (1998)
From Yardbirds to Bluesbreakers (1999)
BBC Sessions (1999)
Honey in Your Hips (1999)
Smokestack Lightning (2000)
The Very Best of The Yardbirds (2000)
Best of the Yardbird Years (2000)
The Yardbird Years (2001)
Yardbirds Story: 1963-66 (2002)
Masterworks 1963 – 1965 (2003)
Blueswailing July ’64 (2003)
Our Own Sound (2003)
Stroll with the Yardbirds (2004)

Jimmy Page and the Immediate All-Stars

Blues Anytime Vol. 1 (1968)
– Compilation.
Blues Anytime Vol. 2 (1968)
– Compilation.
Blues Anytime Vol. 3 (1968)
– Compilation.
Guitar Boogie (1971)
– Compilation.
Hip Young Guitar Slinger (2000)
– Compilation.
Blues Anytime I: An Anthology of British Blues (2006)
– Compilation.
Blues Anytime II: An Anthology of British Blues (2006)
– Compilation.

John Mayall’s Blues Breakers

Blues Breakers (1966)

Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse

What’s Shakin’ (1966)
– Compilation.

Cream

Fresh Cream (1966)
Disraeli Gears (1967)
Wheels Of Fire (1968)
Goodbye (1969)
Best of Cream (1969)
Live Cream, Volume I (1970)
Live Cream, Volume II (1972)
Heavy Cream (1972)
Strange Brew (1983)
The Very Best of Cream (1995)
Those Were The Days (1997)
20th Century Masters (2000)
BBC Sessions (2003)
Cream Gold (2005)
I Feel Free: Ultimate Cream (2005)
Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 (2005)

Blind Faith

Blind Faith (1969)

Derek and the Dominos

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
In Concert (1973)
– Recorded live at the Fillmore.
The Layla Sessions – 20th Anniversary Edition (1990)
Live at the Fillmore (1994)

Solo Releases

Eric Clapton (1970)
The History of Eric Clapton (1972)
Eric Clapton at His Best (1972)
Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert (1973)
461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)
There’s One In Every Crowd (1975)
E.C. Was Here (1975)
No Reason to Cry (1976)
Slowhand (1977)
Backless (1978)
Just One Night (1980)
Another Ticket (1981)
Steppin’ Out (1981)
Time Pieces: The Best of Eric Clapton (1982)
Money And Cigarettes (1983)
Time Pieces Volume 2 – Live In The Seventies (1983)
Backtrackin’ (1984)
Behind the Sun (1985)
Edge of Darkness (1985)
August (1986)
Crossroads (1988)
Journeyman (1989)
Eric Clapton Story (1991)
24 Nights (1991)
Unplugged (1992)
The First Time I Met the Blues (1992)
Stages (1993)
The Cream of Clapton (1994)
From The Cradle (1994)
Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies (1996)
Retail Therapy (1997) (as TDF)
Star Profile (1998)
Unleaded (1998)
Pilgrim (1998)
Blues (1999)
Blues Power (1999)
Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton (1999)
Reptile (2001)
One More Car, One More Rider (2002)
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Eric Clapton (2003)
Me and Mr. Johnson (2004)
Sessions for Robert J. (2004)
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Eric Clapton (2004)
Back Home (2005)
Complete Clapton (2007)
Live from Madison Square Garden (2009)
– With Steve Winwood.
Clapton (2010)
Icon (2011)
Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center (2011)
– With Wynton Marsalis.
Old Sock (2013)
Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 (2013)
Slowhand at 70: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2015)
Forever Man (2015)
I Still Do (2016)
Crossroads Revisited (2016)
Happy Xmas (2018)
Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019 (2020)

Collaborations

Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (1969)
– With John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.
On Tour With Eric Clapton and Friends (1970)
– With Delaney and Bonnie.
The Concert for Bangla Desh (1971)
– With George Harrison et al.
The History of the Bonzos (1974)
– With Vivian Stanshall and the Sean Head Showband (recorded 1970).
Cornology (1992)
– With Vivian Stanshall and the Sean Head Showband (recorded 1970).
Bob Dylan – The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993)
– With Bob Dylan et al.
Pavarotti and Friends for War Child (1996)
– With Luciano Pavarotti et al.
Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan (1996)
– With Jimmie Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Dr. John, and Art Neville.
Clapton – Page – Beck (1998)
– With Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.
New Tricks (2000)
– With Vivian Stanshall and the Sean Head Showband (recorded 1970).
Eric Clapton & Friends Live (2000)
Riding With The King (2000)
– With B.B. King.
Concert for George (2003)
– Tribute to George Harrison; various artists playing Harrison’s songs.
The Road to Escondido (2006)
– With J.J. Cale.
Live from Madison Square Garden (2009)
– With Steve Winwood.
Play the Blues Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center (2011)
– With Wynton Marsalis.
The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale (2014)
– Eric Clapton and Friends: Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, Albert Lee, John Meyer, Don White, and Christine Lakeland.

Soundtracks/ Soundtrack Contributions

Wonderwall Music (1968)
– With George Harrison.
Back to the Future (1985)
– Song: Heaven Is One Step Away.
The Color of Money (1986)
Song: It’s in the Way That You Use It
Lethal Weapon (1987)
– Not credited.
Homeboy (1988)
– Not credited.
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
– Not credited.
Molten Metal (1990)
– Song: Behind the Mask.
Rush (1991)
– Songs: Tears in Heaven, Help Me Up and Don’t Know Which Way To Go.
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
– Songs: It’s Probably Me (with Sting) and Runaway Train (with Elton John).
Wayne’s World (1992)
– Song: Loving Your Lovin’.
Phenomenon (1996)
– Song: Change the World.
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
– Song: Pilgrim.
The Story of Us (1999)
– Songs: I Get Lost and Wonderful Tonight.
Runaway Bride (1999)
– Song: Blue Eyes Blue
Life in 12 Bars (2018)

Compilations

Blues Anytime Vol. 1 (1968)
– Songs: Snake Drive, Tribute to Elmore and West Coast Idea (all with Jimmy Page)
Blues Anytime Vol. 2 (1968)
– Songs: Draggin’ My Tail, Freight Loader and Choker (all with Jimmy Page)
Blues Anytime Vol. 3 (1968)
– Song: Miles Road (with Jimmy Page)
Nobody’s Child: Romanian angel Appeal (1990)
– Song: That Kind dof Woman
Twoo Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Eltn John & Bernie Taupin (1991)
– Song: Border Song
Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (1993)
– Song: Stone Free
A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (1994)
– Song: You Must Believe Me
The Unplugged Collection, Volume One (1994)
– Song: Before You Accuse Me
Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (2004)
– Song: Burning of the Midnight Lamp