Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. 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 left the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  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 JJ 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 while he was a member of band Derek And The Dominos; and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by band 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 has been the recipient of 17 Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004, he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

Links To Peel
Peel was a fan of the Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluebreakers, Cream and Derek And The Dominos which Eric Clapton was a former member of. When Clapton went solo, Peel was initially enthusiastic about his material, with the man describing Eric Clapton's double LP as nearly indispensible on his show on 12 December 1970. On his 16 August 1976 show, which was a record retrospective on Cream, he stated:


 * Obviously, doing a programme on Cream, there are dozens of records which we'd like to play which we can't but we thought we'd play something from Eric's period when he was trying to lose himself in a travelling circus of American groovers, and this is just about the best from that period, a song he co-wrote with Leon Russell.

After punk came in the scene, Peel became very dismissive of Clapton's work and on many occasions would criticise the man's musical talents. On 05 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles), while counting down the Album Chart on Jakki Brambles show, Eric Clapton's Unplugged album was at number 5, which Peel said in an amusement way:


 * At number 5, "Unplugged" - Eric Clapton - if only...

Also on 04 October 1993 (Ö3), he criticised Clapton's predictable music:


 * I mean, who wants to listen to Eric Clapton? He can really play, but that's boring beyond measure.

On 24 June 1995 (BFBS), he stated that Eric Clapton was no way music in his sense:


 * Call that music?" is the kind of thing people say to me from time to time. I mean I do, because music is something which ought to take you to places you've not been before, so things like Eric Clapton are not music really in a sense, because what makes his stuff so attractive to people, or Cliff Richard, is the fact that they take you where you've been before, and it's kind of reassuring, and you feel quite safe there, I suppose, but it's not for me.

Shows Played
(The list is incomplete. Please add further information if known)

1969 1970 1972 1976 1977
 * 15 November 1969: Crossroads (LP – What’s Shakin’) Elektra
 * 06 June 1970: Teasin' (7") Atlantic (with King Curtis)
 * 25 July 1970: Let It Rain / Lovin' You Lovin'Me / Slunky (LP - Eric Clapton) Polydor
 * 01 August 1970: Blues Power (LP - Eric Clapton) Polydor
 * 23 June 1972: Tell The Truth (LP – The History Of Eric Clapton) Polydor
 * 15 August 1972: Crossroads (LP - The History Of Eric Clapton) Polydor
 * 29 September 1972: Teasin’ (LP - The History Of Eric Clapton) Polydor
 * 16 August 1976: 'Steppin' Out (LP-Blues Breakers)' (Decca) (with John Mayall)
 * 16 August 1976: 'Blues Power (LP-Eric Clapton)' (Polydor)
 * 19 August 1976: Choker (LP – Blues Anytime Vol. 2, An Anthology Of British Blues) Immediate (with Jimmy Page)
 * 04 October 1977:  Let It Rain (12", Album: Eric Clapton) RSO