Happy Birthday Slowhand - E.C. 75 Today
In a year with several milestone birthdays, one of the most significant today, and this year, is that of Slow hand aka Eric Clapton. Born in the Ripley area of Surry England seventy-five years ago today, Clapton has grown to become one of the most popular and signficant musicians in the history of popular music.
A man of many bands
Clapton has been a member of many prominent bands such as John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, Cream, and Derek & the Dominos. Clapton launched to superstardom in Cream, which he formed in 1965. Creams four albums Fresh Cream (1966), Disreali Gears (1967), Wheels on Fire (1968), and Goodbye (1969) were massive hits featuring songs such as I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Crossroads, and Badge, which also features George Harrison playing rhythm guitar.
Clapton, as well as Baker of Cream fame, has also been a member of Blind Faith with Steve Winwood - making the hit Presence of the Lord.
Going solo for a moment
Clapton's self-titled 1970 debut solo album featured the hit After Midnight as well as Let it Rain.
Derek and the Dominos
Although short-lived, Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos in 1971. They released one album in 1972, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1972) featuring the hit Bell Bottom Blues, and Clapton's signature song Layla. For those that haven't read my post back in September, the song is not about George Harrison's then-wife, Patie Boyd, so much as it is about an ancient story from 12th century Arabia, Layla & Majnum, about a guy who loves a girl so much but cannot marry her.
Herion, and back to work
E.C. struggled with a massive heroin addiction for about three years. After cleaning himself up, he came back in 1974 with 461 Ocen Boulevard, whose title, by the way, refers to the address of Clapton's residence while making the album in the Miami suburb of Golden Beach. Hits from the LP were Let it Grow and a cover of Bob Marley's mega hit, I Shot the Sheriff.
His next two records, 1975's There's One in Every Crowd and 1976's No Reason to Cry featured several blues classics such as The Sky is Crying, and County Jail Blues. No Reason to Cry also featured Hello Old Friend. This was followed by his 1970s pinnacle album, 1977's Slow Hand featuring hits such as Cocaine, Lay Down Sally, another hit about Patie Boyd, Wonderful Tonight.
Into the 80s...
Though Clapton's popularity took a slight dip in the 1980s, he still made several hits most noteably I Can't Stand It, Pretending, and It's in The Way That You Use It. The decade saw Clapton become close friends with Genesis' Phil Collins, and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler. Both musicians played on Clapton's records at one point or another at that time.
As the 80s turned into the 90s, however, tragedy struck. In March of 1991, Clapton's four year old son, Conor, fell from the 53rd story of his aunt's friend's apartment onto a five-story building. This prompted E.C. to write the hit Tears in Heaven, which was also used for the movie Rush that same year.
In January of 1992, Clapton played at Bray Studios in Berkshire for his Umplugged album. This record also features a reword, stripped-back version of Layla.
Still touring
Clapton has been touring since and in 2015, held a massive concert to celebrate his 70th birthday at the Royal Albert Hall in London where, ten years before, he reunited with Cream for a four-night residence.
Why the name Slow Hand?
To close things out, I thought I'd explain his nickname. A "slow-hand" clap is a clap, British terms, when the audience is bored. Usually it's during a slow soccer (football for Brits) game, but in Clapton's case, it was due to the fact that he would go off stage to tune the guitar or fix a string, and the crowd would go in a slow-hand clap until he returned.
A man of many bands
Clapton has been a member of many prominent bands such as John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, Cream, and Derek & the Dominos. Clapton launched to superstardom in Cream, which he formed in 1965. Creams four albums Fresh Cream (1966), Disreali Gears (1967), Wheels on Fire (1968), and Goodbye (1969) were massive hits featuring songs such as I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, Crossroads, and Badge, which also features George Harrison playing rhythm guitar.
Clapton, as well as Baker of Cream fame, has also been a member of Blind Faith with Steve Winwood - making the hit Presence of the Lord.
Going solo for a moment
Clapton's self-titled 1970 debut solo album featured the hit After Midnight as well as Let it Rain.
Derek and the Dominos
Although short-lived, Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos in 1971. They released one album in 1972, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1972) featuring the hit Bell Bottom Blues, and Clapton's signature song Layla. For those that haven't read my post back in September, the song is not about George Harrison's then-wife, Patie Boyd, so much as it is about an ancient story from 12th century Arabia, Layla & Majnum, about a guy who loves a girl so much but cannot marry her.
Herion, and back to work
E.C. struggled with a massive heroin addiction for about three years. After cleaning himself up, he came back in 1974 with 461 Ocen Boulevard, whose title, by the way, refers to the address of Clapton's residence while making the album in the Miami suburb of Golden Beach. Hits from the LP were Let it Grow and a cover of Bob Marley's mega hit, I Shot the Sheriff.
His next two records, 1975's There's One in Every Crowd and 1976's No Reason to Cry featured several blues classics such as The Sky is Crying, and County Jail Blues. No Reason to Cry also featured Hello Old Friend. This was followed by his 1970s pinnacle album, 1977's Slow Hand featuring hits such as Cocaine, Lay Down Sally, another hit about Patie Boyd, Wonderful Tonight.
Into the 80s...
Though Clapton's popularity took a slight dip in the 1980s, he still made several hits most noteably I Can't Stand It, Pretending, and It's in The Way That You Use It. The decade saw Clapton become close friends with Genesis' Phil Collins, and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler. Both musicians played on Clapton's records at one point or another at that time.
As the 80s turned into the 90s, however, tragedy struck. In March of 1991, Clapton's four year old son, Conor, fell from the 53rd story of his aunt's friend's apartment onto a five-story building. This prompted E.C. to write the hit Tears in Heaven, which was also used for the movie Rush that same year.
In January of 1992, Clapton played at Bray Studios in Berkshire for his Umplugged album. This record also features a reword, stripped-back version of Layla.
Still touring
Clapton has been touring since and in 2015, held a massive concert to celebrate his 70th birthday at the Royal Albert Hall in London where, ten years before, he reunited with Cream for a four-night residence.
Why the name Slow Hand?
To close things out, I thought I'd explain his nickname. A "slow-hand" clap is a clap, British terms, when the audience is bored. Usually it's during a slow soccer (football for Brits) game, but in Clapton's case, it was due to the fact that he would go off stage to tune the guitar or fix a string, and the crowd would go in a slow-hand clap until he returned.
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