Line #29 Music/EricClapton


1	[[quoteright:339:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Eric_Clapton.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:339:[[Music/FiveLiveYardbirds Lead guitar: Eric "Slowhand" Clapton!]]]]
3
4	->''Would you know my name if I saw you in Heaven?''\
5	''Would it be the same if I saw you in Heaven?''\
6	''I must be strong, and carry on''\
7	'''Cause I know I don't belong here in Heaven''
8	-->-- "Tears in Heaven"
9
10	->'''CLAPTON IS GOD'''
11	-->-- TheSixties urban graffiti
12
13	Eric Patrick Clapton [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CBE]] (born in Ripley, England on 30 March 1945) is one of those artists who can find great success in his solo efforts or as part of a band. He ranked second in ''Rolling Stone's'' list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.[[note]]Music/JimiHendrix was #1.[[/note]] He's played a variety of genres, from blues to psychedelic to pop and even reggae numbers. His influence is felt across pop, blues, and rock, with multiple chart and critical successes.
14
15	Clapton has been part of numerous bands throughout his career. His first major band was Music/TheYardbirds. He replaced founding lead guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham and he was with them for 2 years - 1963 to 1965. It was during this time in his career he gained the nickname "Slowhand", coming from his habit of changing the strings on his guitar on-stage in concert whenever they happened to break. While waiting for him finish the process, the audience would engage in a "slow clap," and thus his nickname was born (although other sources suggest a more complimentary story; he got the nickname for his trademark wide, slow vibrato). Clapton quit The Yardbirds because at the time he was a blues purist and he felt that with ''Music/ForYourLove'', the band was selling out. Clapton was replaced by Music/JeffBeck.
16
17	After his time with The Yardbirds, he briefly joined John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers but left after a few months. He only recorded one album with them: ''Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton'', [[FanNickname also nicknamed Beano]], but it was a legendary one. The whole ''Clapton Is God'' thing started with the release of this album. How important was it? Judge for yourself, but Music/JimiHendrix said it was his biggest inspiration.
18
19	It was in 1966 that Clapton formed his first supergroup: Powerhouse. With the likes of Jack Bruce and Music/SteveWinwood, their discography consists of just three officially released songs on an artist compilation called ''What's Shakin'''. This was immediately followed by Music/{{Cream}}, with Bruce and Ginger Baker. Cream brought Clapton his first success in America with the songs "Sunshine of Your Love", "White Room" and "Crossroads". They were also legendary for [[EpicRocking their long jams]] and high musical capability. Back when they existed, they were the top-selling live act, beating out Hendrix.
20
21	Clapton then formed Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech. A short-lived but critically acclaimed band, they released one album before breaking up, and Clapton joined Delaney and Bonnie and Friends for a short time. Finally, Clapton teamed up with Duane Allman for his next ensemble, Music/DerekAndTheDominos. There he had his next big hit, "Layla". After the band's disintegration, Clapton finally went solo. Two of the main hits on his own, "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Cocaine", were both covers.
22
23	Massive success, as it often does, took its toll. Clapton fell into substance abuse in the '70s, abusing heroin in particular. He managed to free himself from that particular issue after going into rehab but relapsed into alcohol several times. After this dark episode, he managed to remain in public consciousness with ''461 Ocean Boulevard'', a laid down, reggae-inspired album including "I Shot the Sheriff" which quickly sold like crazy. His alcohol problems continued at the time to haunt him, and his still-often-brought-up racist rant in Birmingham, 1976 was one of many events that eventually caused him to go into rehab again.
24
25	It was thanks to the support of other massive '80s artists -- notably Music/PhilCollins but also Music/TinaTurner -- that he managed to climb back up the slope. Beginning with ''Behind the Sun'' and ''August'', he managed to recapture part of his early meteoric stardom. He continued then to tour and record through to 2000 with few issues. His most notable performances came in the early 90s on Creator/{{MTV}}'s ''Unplugged'' series. There he performed [[UnpluggedVersion acoustic versions]] of "Layla" and "Tears in Heaven", the latter of which was written in grief after the death of his 4-year-old son in 1991.
26
27	Although most people remember the Clapton of the '60s and '70s, he has been lauded for many efforts between 1990 and 2010. Two electric blues essentials, ''From the Cradle'' (1994) and ''Me and Mr. Johnson'' (2004, a tribute to blues pioneer Robert Johnson). Two hugely successful collaborations, ''Riding With the King'' (2000, with BBKing) and ''The Road to Escondido'' (2006, with Music/JJCale). As well as the critically acclaimed ''CLAPTON'' (2010). He announced his retirement around the middle of the new ten's and his probable last tour (although that was also said of the 2001 tour) will be held in 2015.
28
29	Clapton has the distinct accomplishment of having made guest appearances on solo albums released by all four ex-[[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] over the years; Music/JohnLennon's ''Live Peace in Toronto'' and ''Sometime in New York City''; Music/PaulMcCartney's ''Kisses on the Bottom''; Music/RingoStarr's ''Ringo Rama'', and numerous Music/GeorgeHarrison albums, as well as a Beatles group album (Music/TheWhiteAlbum, contributing the solo to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps").
30	----
31	!!Studio Discography:
32
33	* 1970 - ''Eric Clapton''
34	* 1974 - ''461 Ocean Boulevard''
35	* 1975 - ''There's One in Every Crowd''
36	* 1976 - ''No Reason to Cry''
37	* 1977 - ''Slowhand''
38	* 1978 - ''Backless''
39	* 1981 - ''Another Ticket''
40	* 1983 - ''Money and Cigarettes''
41	* 1985 - ''Behind the Sun''
42	* 1985 - ''Edge of Darkness''
43	* 1986 - ''August''
44	* 1989 - ''Journeyman''
45	* 1992 - ''Rush''
46	* 1994 - ''Music/FromTheCradle''
47	* 1998 - ''Pilgrim''
48	* 2000 - ''Riding With the King'' [[note]]A collaboration with BB King[[/note]]
49	* 2001 - ''Reptile''
50	* 2004 - ''Me and Mr. Johnson''
51	* 2004 - ''Sessions for Robert J''
52	* 2005 - ''Back Home''
53	* 2006 - ''The Road to Escondido'' [[note]]A collaboration with JJ Cale[[/note]]
54	* 2010 - ''Clapton''
55	* 2013 - ''Old Sock''
56	* 2014 - ''The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale''
57
58	----
59	!!Live Discography:
60
61	* 1973 - ''Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert''
62	* 1975 - ''E.C. Was Here''
63	* 1980 - ''Just One Night''
64	* 1983 - ''Time Pieces Vol. II: Live in the Seventies''
65	* 1991 - ''24 Nights''
66	* 1992 - ''Unplugged''
67	* 1996 - ''Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies''
68	* 2002 - ''One More Car, One More Rider''
69	* 2009 - ''Live From Madison Square Garden'' [[note]]A collaboration with Music/SteveWinwood[[/note]]
70	* 2011 - ''Play the Blues Live From Jazz at Lincoln Center'' [[note]]A collaboration with Wynton Marsalis[[/note]]
71	* 2013 - ''Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013'' [[note]]A various artists album[[/note]]
72
73	----
74	!! Eric Clapton and his work provide examples of:
75
76	* TheAlcoholic: He was a huge drinker from the 1970s until he got clean in 1987. Clapton related in his autobiography how he once played an entire concert on his back with the microphone lying next to him because he was too drunk to stand.
77	** The amazing thing is, [[{{Website/Cracked}} he probably just]] [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18586_the-7-most-impossible-rock-stars-to-deal-with_p2.html killed that set, too.]]
78	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: In London during the late '60s, a young man fresh off the boat from America made the audacious request to jam with Cream... and ended up upstaging Clapton. The young man's name? Music/JimiHendrix. (Oh, and you know how the intro mentioned Clapton being the second greatest guitarist of all time? Guess who's number one?)
79	* BigRockEnding: You know the famous ending of "Layla"? [[AvertedTrope It's not in the version]] on Clapton's ''Unplugged'' album. In fact, the whole song on ''Unplugged'' has a completely different feel to it, though that doesn't mean it's not as good as the original.
80	* BlasphemousPraise: Clapton was a subject of this, with some graffiti in London saying "Clapton is God."
81	* TheCasanova: He ''is'' a rock star, after all. In addition to romancing the wives of other rock stars, some of his more notable relationships include Music/JanisJoplin and supermodel (and former French First Lady) Carla Bruni. Music/SherylCrow's "My Favourite Mistake" is allegedly about him.
82	* CoolCar: Owns a [[https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/entertainment/a21876/eric-clapton-ferrari-sp12-ec-tribute-to-the-berlinetta-boxer/ custom]] one-off Ferrari.
83	* TheCoverChangesTheGender: Some King and Queen-swapping goes on in "Change the World", originally sung by Music/{{Wynonna\|Judd}}.
84	* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Blind Faith spent its entire tour under-performing expectations, blown away at every stop by opening act Delaney and Bonnie. Clapton responded by disbanding the group and joining the undercard as a backing guitarist for their subsequent tour, even recruiting Music/GeorgeHarrison into the fold. The ensuing LiveAlbum, ''Music/OnTourWithEricClapton'', [[BreakthroughHit effectively broke the latter into the mainstream.]]
85	** Clapton became very close friends with Music/JimiHendrix after he found out about Hendrix's outstanding talent. He reportedly about said Hendrix, "Nobody told me he was ''that'' damn good!" and a FriendlyRivalry began between the two. When Hendrix died in 1970, Clapton was devastated and took a brief hiatus from his career.
86	* DisappearedDad: Clapton never met his father, a Canadian serviceman who was stationed in England during World War II, and who died in 1985 without ever knowing that he had a son. Clapton would write the song "My Father's Eyes" about the fact that he had never known his father.
87	* TheDissTrack: ''Promises'' charts the end of a marriage where the two people involved have not only fallen out of love, they cannot stand each other any more.
88	-->I got a problem, can you relate?
89	-->I got a woman, call it love-hate;
90	-->We made a vow we'd always be friends,
91	-->How could we know that promises end!
92	* DrugsAreBad: "Cocaine"
93	-->If your day is gone and you want to ride on, cocaine\
94	Don't forget this fact, you can't get it back, cocaine
95	* EpicRocking: "Layla" and Cream as a whole.
96	* EvolvingMusic: "Layla." First, he performed it with Music/DerekAndTheDominos. Then, when he did a solo unplugged performance for MTV, he did a much slower and soulful rendition of it. Later, he and Wynton Marsalis performed it in a New Orleans-styled jazz-blues style.
97	** "After Midnight" went through the same evolution: uptempo original, then a slower re-recording that became popular in its own right. Clapton may have taken a cue from the song's composer, J. J. Cale, who did a bluesier re-recording of it after Clapton's first version became a hit.
98	* FakeBand: The Louisiana Gator Boys, which Eric Clapton was a part of in ''Blues Brothers 2000''.
99	* FakeOutFadeOut: "I Can't Stand It".
100	* FriendlyRival: To Jimi Hendrix.
101	* GriefSong: Try listening to "Tears In Heaven" [[TearJerker without crying]].
102	** It ''is'' about [[OutlivingOnesOffspring the death of his four-year-old son,]] after all.
103	* GunNut: Downplayed. He enjoys shooting for recreation and being a rich rock star he can afford to indulge it as a hobby, but his interest in guns is secondary to his passion for music.
104	* ICallItVera: He tends to name his guitars, and has both a "Blackie" and a "Brownie." Guess what colour they are.
105	* IronicNickname: While he likely gained it for a different reason, his nickname "Slowhand" is this in contrast to how blazingly fast-paced his lead guitar work, especially in the 60s, is.
106	* LeadSingerPlaysLeadGuitar: Clapton [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig Zags]] the lead singer part while keeping the role of lead guitarist constant. In Music/{{Cream}} he occasionally sang but mostly let LeadBassist Jack Bruce handle lead vocals. In Derek and the Dominos and his solo career, however, he plays both roles.
107	* LoveTriangle: He was in love with Music/GeorgeHarrison's wife Pattie Boyd, and eventually ran off with her, though the relationship didn't last. Surprisingly, the two men's friendship survived the drama.
108	* ObsessionSong: A whole slew of 'em, and they're all about Pattie Boyd. "Layla" is the most famous example.
109	* OlderThanTheyLook: He was until around his 70th birthday. Nowadays, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eric_Clapton_-_Royal_Albert_Hall_-_Wednesday_24th_May_2017_EricClaptonRAH240517-30_(34987232355)_(cropped).jpg he definitely looks his age.]]
110	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: "Tears In Heaven" is about Connor Clapton, his son, who died at the age of four after falling to his death from an apartment building.
111	* RaisedByGrandparents: Clapton was born to a teenage mother and a Canadian soldier who shipped off to war before Eric's birth, and returned to Canada afterward. He was raised by his grandmother and her second husband, and grew up believing they were his parents and that his mother was his sister.
112	* RearrangeTheSong: On his ''Unplugged'' album, he did a soulful rendition of his hit with Music/DerekAndTheDominos, "Layla". His version of "Crossroads" has been covered many times.
113	* RepurposedPopSong: His second version of "After Midnight" was used in a late '80s commercial for Michelob beer.
114	** "Wonderful Tonight" has been used in a Super Bowl advertisement.
115	* SelfDeprecation: He does this a lot in his autobiography, e.g. recalling how reluctant he was to sing "Rambling On My Mind" on the ''Blues Breakers'' album because he disliked his "thin, high" voice so much, compared to the voices of his favourite blues singers. He's also pretty unsparing about his younger self's attitude towards women.
116	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Clapton struggled for years with heroin addiction and alcoholism. His drying out was so prolonged and painful he had to learn how to play the guitar all over again.
117	* SignatureInstrument: Clapton has had several, from the red Gibson Les Paul he played on the "Beano" album through the psychedelic Gibson SG he used in Cream, but two of the most famous are two Fender Stratocasters, the "Brownie" guitar that he used on ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' and the "Blackie" guitar that he assembled out of the best bits of three other ones, and used throughout the 70s and 80s. He now uses his actual signature instrument, the Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
118	* SomethingBlues: "Bell Bottom Blues", with Music/DerekAndTheDominos.
119	* SpiritualSuccessor[=/=]SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Clapton at least considers [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Derek Trucks]] as one for the late Duane Allman, to the point where touring with Trucks as a sideman drove him to play the entire ''Layla And Other Love Songs'' album most nights.
120	* TruckDriversGearChange: Toward the end of "It's In The Way That You Use It".
121	* UnpluggedVersion: As mentioned in the description, one of Clapton's best-known performances was for ''MTV Unplugged'', where he recorded acoustic versions of "Layla" and "Tears in Heaven," both of which ended up almost as well-known as the originals. See AdaptationDisplacement for more on "Layla."
122	* UnrequitedLove: The theme of the entire ''Music/LaylaAndOtherAssortedLoveSongs'' album. Patti Boyd did not return his feelings for four years. This contributed to his heroin addiction and career hiatus during the same period.
123	** There's also "Next Time You See Her" from ''Slowhand''.
124	* WaitForYourDate: The first verse "Wonderful Tonight" is about this, with the subtext of "Yes, baby, you look wonderful. Now can we PLEASE get going?":
125	-->It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear\
126	She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blonde hair\
127	And then she asks me, Do I look all right?\
128	And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight."
129	* WhatTheHellHero: "Layla" is a love song to Patti Boyd...while she was still married to George Harrison.

Context Music / EricClapton