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Eric Clapton was born in Ripley England on March 30, 1945. Like many young English kids in the 1950's Clapton grew to appreciate what he knew of American blues music. After leaving school at 17, he played in numerous small blues bands. In 1965 he joined the seminal blues-rock band the Yardbirds. After a short time, Clapton left the Yardbirds to make room for Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, the other two British superstars that would rise out of the British blues scene. John Mayall's Bluesbreakers provided his next venue, as it did numerous other young players, including Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Peter Green who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac. Clapton left Mayall in 1966 to form Cream.
Cream was hugely influential both artistically and in the marketplace. They broke up after only three albums, with the fourth in the can yet in that time Cream carved out critical new territory fusing an Anglicized blues with over-the-top acid rock. Clapton was a member of the British rock elite, swapping guest solos with George Harrison on While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Badge respectively. Cream dissolved in 1968, reportedly caused by gnashing egos, after which Clapton joined forces with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker for a one-off Blind Faith, one of the first times the ubiquitous term "super-group" was warranted.
1970 saw the first wholesale solo project from Clapton and the first hit single After Midnight. The band on the record was essentially Delaney and Bonnie (and friends). Forming Derek and the Dominos in 1970, Clapton poured his heart and soul into the creation of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, based in greatest part on his tumultuous relationship with George Harrison's wife Patti. Layla, along with Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven, became so thoroughly overplayed, despite its length, that it damn near wore out FM radio in the 1970's.
The next two years found Clapton descending into heroin addiction and emerging intact, though some say less inspired to perform a live concert at Royal Albert Hall in early 1973. The following year Clapton released 461 Ocean Boulevard featuring his reworking of the Wailers' classic "I Shot the Sheriff". Subsequent years brought a mix of results most notably Slowhand in 1977 with Cocaine, Lay Down Sally and Wonderful Tonight; and Another Ticket, with I Can't Stand It. The release of the Crossroads box set in April of 1988 became a major commercial success as well as enlivening Clapton's stature in the public eye.
The 1990's brought even greater challenges for Clapton. The death of Stevie Ray Vaughn and two others, all close friends of Clapton's left him stunned. On March 20, 1991 Clapton's four-year-old son death forty stories to his death. The song "Tears In Heaven," recorded for the movie Rush later that year proved to be a massive hit single. A year after his son's death, Clapton recorded a live concert for MTV Unplugged that yielded his strongest selling album to date, based in large part on the live single of "Tears In Heaven."
Clapton continues to reinvent himself in the latter half of the decade. The release of a more traditional blues album From The Cradle in 1994, brought his musical pathway full-circle to return to his earliest roots. But like all survivors in the rock pantheon, Clapton keeps moving. In 1997 he performed as "x-sample" with Simon Climie as T.D.F. releasing the techno-ambient experiment Retail Therapy.
Eric Clapton has walked, and continues to walk a difficult, creative and hugely influential path down over 30 years of rock history.
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Albums
| Year | Label | Title | |
| 1970 | Polydor | Eric Clapton | |
| 1970 | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | Eric Clapton [Gold Disc] | |
| 1973 | Polydor | Rainbow Concert | |
| 1974 | Polydor | 461 Ocean Boulevard | |
| 1974 | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | 461 Ocean Boulevard [Gold Disc] | |
| 1975 | Polydor | There's One In Every Crowd | |
| 1975 | Polydor | E.C. Was Here | |
| 1976 | Polydor | No Reason To Cry | |
| 1977 | Polydor | Slowhand | |
| 1977 | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) | Slowhand [Gold Disc] | |
| 1978 | Polydor | Backless | |
| 1978 | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) | Backless [Gold Disc] | |
| 1980 | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) | Just One Night [Gold Disc] | |
| 1980 | Polydor | Just One Night | |
| 1981 | Polydor | Another Ticket | |
| 1982 | Polydor | Time Pieces Vol. I - Best Of Eric Clapton | |
| 1982 | Polydor | Time Pieces Vol. 2: Live In The 70s | |
| 1983 | Reprise | Money And Cigarettes | |
| 1985 | Warner Bros. Records | Behind The Sun | |
| 1986 | Reprise | August | |
| 1988 | Polydor | Crossroads [Box | |
| 1989 | Castle Communications | The Early Eric Clapton Collection | |
| 1989 | Reprise | Journeyman | |
| 1990 | Polydor | Through The Years [Box] | |
| 1990 | Griffin Music | Blue Eyed Blues | |
| 1991 | Reprise | 24 Nights: Live From Albert Hall | |
| 1992 | Reprise | Unplugged | |
| 1994 | Reprise | From The Cradle | |
| 1994 | Charly Blues Masters | Blue Eyed Blues | |
| 1995 | Polydor | The Cream Of Clapton | |
| 1995 | Griffin Music | Early Clapton Collection | |
| 1996 | Polydor | Crossroads 2: Live | |
| 1996 | Karussell--MRA | Stages | |
| 1997 | Beacon Records (Rock) | Birth Of A Blues Legend 1963-66 | |
| 1997 | Polydor | Backtrackin' | |
| 1998 | Boomerang Records | U.K. Blues | |
| 1998 | Laserlight | Rarities | |
| 1998 | Reprise | Pilgrim | |
| 1998 | Riviere International Records | Eric Clapton [Box] | |
| 1998 | Dressed To Kill | Clapton, Page, Beck | |
| 1999 | Warner Bros. Records | I Get Lost [Maxi Single] | |
| 1999 | Get Back Records | From Yardbirds To Bluesbreakers | |
| 1999 | Reprise | Clapton Chronicles: The Best Of Eric Clapton | |
| 1999 | Hallmark Recordings | Blues Power | |
| 1999 | Polydor | Blues | |
| 2000 | Legacy Entertainment | Eric Clapton & Friends Live | |
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