THE SLOW, SOULFUL ROOTS

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Photo: Raph_PH, 2020 (Wikimedia Commons / Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

British

Eric Clapton

Born: March 30, 1945, Ripley, Surrey, England• United Kingdom

British Blues BoomBlues Rock

Slowhand is still on the road — released the album Meanwhile in 2024, put out an expanded reissue of Journeyman in 2025, and heads out on a new European and US tour in 2026.

Instruments

Electric guitar, Voice

Labels

Decca, Polydor, RSO, Reprise

from

England — British blues boom

Born

March 30, 1945, Ripley, Surrey, England

Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds on the very day they scored their first major hit. "For Your Love" broke big in March 1965 and pushed the band firmly toward pop — and Clapton, only nineteen, walked out that same day rather than keep playing music he no longer considered the blues. It is the single clearest data point for understanding everything he did for the next six decades. He was born Eric Patrick Clapton on March 30, 1945, in Ripley, Surrey, England. His mother, Patricia, was sixteen when she had him with a Canadian soldier, Edward Walter Fryer, who never raised him; she left for Germany with another soldier shortly after, and Clapton was raised by his grandparents, Rose and Jack Clapp, believing for years that they were his parents (Kilde: Wikipedia). At thirteen he received an acoustic Hoyer guitar but initially gave up on it, finding it too difficult; two years later he returned to it in earnest, absorbing blues records obsessively and using a portable tape recorder to work out solos note by note. By sixteen he was busking around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End (Kilde: Wikipedia). He joined the Yardbirds in October 1963, bringing a deep immersion in Chicago blues — Buddy Guy, Freddie King, B.B. King — into the band's sound. It was here that he picked up the nickname "Slowhand," coined by promoter Giorgio Gomelsky as a pun on the slow handclap audiences gave while Clapton, mid-song, restrung a broken guitar string rather than stop playing (Kilde: Wikipedia). After walking out on the Yardbirds in 1965, he joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, where he quickly earned a reputation as the best blues guitarist on London's club circuit. The album "Blues Breakers – John Mayall – With Eric Clapton" (1966), nicknamed "The Beano Album" by fans after the comic Clapton is seen reading on its cover, wasn't released until after he had already left the band — but it became one of the most influential blues-guitar records ever made in Britain (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 1966, drummer Ginger Baker invited him to form Cream with bassist Jack Bruce — a power trio that turned blues structures into extended, virtuosic improvisation, its most enduring blues statement being a live cover of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads." Cream dissolved after 28 months under the weight of internal tension and drug use. A brief detour through the supergroup Blind Faith in 1969 (with Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech) produced "Presence of the Lord" before dissolving within seven months (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 1970 he formed Derek and the Dominos specifically to escape the "star cult" that had built up around his name, recording under a semi-anonymous band name with Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. Their one album, "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs," featured twin lead guitars with Duane Allman — whom Clapton later called "the musical brother I'd never had but wished I did" — and its title track, inspired by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi's tale of unrequited love, became his signature composition (Kilde: Wikipedia). Through the 1970s he moved between blues and mainstream rock, scoring an unexpected solo hit with the J.J. Cale cover "After Midnight" and his first number-one single with a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" in 1974 — helping carry reggae into the mainstream in the process. Heroin addiction sidelined him for much of the early 1970s; severe alcoholism followed, until he entered the Hazelden Treatment Center in January 1982 and achieved sobriety, crediting in part a deepening religious faith (Kilde: Wikipedia). He returned decisively to the blues later in his career. "From the Cradle" (1994) was, in his own description, a love letter to the genre — full electric-guitar treatments of blues standards, his most fiery playing since Derek and the Dominos. A decade later he devoted two full albums to a single figure: "Me and Mr. Johnson" and "Sessions for Robert J" (both 2004), covering the recorded works of Robert Johnson, the Delta bluesman whose 29 surviving songs Clapton had studied since his teens. He also recorded "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" with Howlin' Wolf himself, and B.B. King — who called Clapton "No. 1 in rock and roll as a guitarist" — became both a close friend and recording partner (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 1991 his four-year-old son Conor died after falling from a 53rd-floor window in New York. Clapton channeled the grief into "Tears in Heaven," which won six Grammy Awards, and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in earnest. Since 1999 he has hosted the periodic Crossroads Guitar Festival — named for the Robert Johnson song via Cream's cover — raising money for the addiction-treatment center he founded in Antigua and showcasing blues and rock guitarists across generations (Kilde: Wikipedia). He holds 18 Grammy Awards, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times (as a solo artist, with the Yardbirds, and with Cream), and was appointed CBE in 2004.

Musical Influence

Eric Clapton's career is a decades-long argument that blues is the foundation everything else in rock stands on — a conviction so strong it made him walk out of a hit band in 1965 and, thirty years later, devote two entire albums to a single Delta bluesman, Robert Johnson. His Crossroads Guitar Festival, running since 1999, has become one of the primary institutions connecting blues tradition to new generations of guitarists, and B.B. King himself called him "No. 1 in rock and roll as a guitarist" (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Robert JohnsonFreddie KingB.B. KingBuddy Guy

Family and personal life

Mother

Patricia Clapton

Sixteen when he was born; left for Germany with another soldier shortly after his birth.

Biological father

Edward Walter Fryer

Canadian soldier who never raised him.

Grandparents (raised him)

Rose and Jack Clapp

He believed for years they were his parents.

Son

Died in 1991, age four, after falling from a New York apartment window; inspired "Tears in Heaven."

Formative experiences

•1963: Joins the Yardbirds, bringing Chicago blues influences into their sound. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1965: Walks out of the Yardbirds the day of their first major hit, rejecting the band's pop turn. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1966: "Blues Breakers – John Mayall – With Eric Clapton" ("The Beano Album") released after he'd already left the band. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1970: Forms Derek and the Dominos to escape his own star status; records "Layla." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1982: Enters the Hazelden Treatment Center and achieves sobriety. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•2004: Releases "Me and Mr. Johnson" and "Sessions for Robert J," devoted entirely to Robert Johnson's songbook. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Electric guitar

Nicknamed "Slowhand" during his Yardbirds years for restringing broken strings mid-song rather than stopping.

Acoustic Hoyer guitar

His first guitar, received at age 13.

1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard ("Beano" era)

Switched from a Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 to this Les Paul through a Marshall amplifier while in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers; the resulting thick, overdriven "Beano tone" (named for the 1966 album "Blues Breakers" with Clapton reading The Beano comic on its cover) inspired the "Clapton is God" graffiti and became the founding vocabulary of British blues-rock guitar. Stolen in 1966 and never recovered.

Marshall amplifier

Paired with the 1960 Les Paul on the Beano album, cranked far louder than a typical session called for; the combination defined the "Beano tone."

"The Fool" (1964 Gibson SG)

Hand-painted in psychedelic art by the Dutch design collective The Fool; his main guitar on most of Cream's recordings after "Fresh Cream," especially "Disraeli Gears."

"Blackie" (Fender Stratocaster)

Assembled by Nashville luthier Ted Newman Jones from the best parts of three late-1950s Stratocasters Clapton bought in Nashville in 1970. First played live at the Rainbow Concert, 13 January 1973; his main guitar through the 1970s and early 1980s, retired in 1985. Auctioned by Christie's in 2004 for $959,500 for his Crossroads Centre addiction-treatment charity.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Left the Yardbirds the same day they scored their first major hit, "For Your Love," rejecting the band's turn toward pop. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Got the nickname "Slowhand" from promoter Giorgio Gomelsky, a pun on the slow handclap audiences gave while he restrung broken guitar strings mid-song. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Formed Derek and the Dominos specifically to escape the celebrity built up around his own name. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Devoted two entire 2004 albums — "Me and Mr. Johnson" and "Sessions for Robert J" — to the songbook of Robert Johnson, whom he had studied obsessively since his teens. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Turned the grief of his young son Conor's death in 1991 into "Tears in Heaven," which won six Grammy Awards. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Has hosted the Crossroads Guitar Festival since 1999, named for the Robert Johnson song he first popularized with Cream, funding an addiction-treatment center he founded in Antigua. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Clapton announced the return of his Crossroads Guitar Festival for its 2026 edition, held 26-27 September at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, with a lineup including Pete Townshend, Trey Anastasio, John Mayer, Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons and Joe Bonamassa; he also announced a short run of solo tour dates from 6-17 September 2026 to lead into the festival. (Source: Ultimate Classic Rock; Crossroads Guitar Festival)"

Collaborators

Bandleader of the Bluesbreakers; his 1966 album with Clapton became a landmark British blues record.

Twin lead guitarist on "Layla"; Clapton called him "the musical brother I'd never had."

Close friend and recording partner; called Clapton "No. 1 in rock and roll as a guitarist."

Recorded "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" together.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Cream - Crossroads [Live at Winterland 1968] HQ

His breakthrough blues statement with Cream, covering Robert Johnson.

Billy Shears

Derek And the Dominos - Layla (2024 Remaster)

Derek And the Dominos - Layla (2024 Remaster)

Eric Clapton - Crossroads (Live at The Royal Albert Hall 1991) [Official Video]

Eric Clapton - Crossroads (Live at The Royal Albert Hall 1991) [Official Video]

Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven [Unplugged...Over 30 Years Later] (Official Live Video)

Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven [Unplugged...Over 30 Years Later] (Official Live Video)

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Label	Chart	Sales	Musicians	YouTube	Notes
1966	Blues Breakers – John Mayall – With Eric Clapton ("The Beano Album")	Mike Vernon	—	Decca Records	—	—	John Mayall (Vocals, keyboards)		Landmark British blues-guitar album; released after Clapton had already left the Bluesbreakers.
1968	Wheels of Fire (Cream)	Felix Pappalardi	—	Polydor/Atco	—	—	Jack Bruce (Bass, vocals), Ginger Baker (Drums)		Includes the live blues staple "Crossroads," a Robert Johnson cover.
1970	Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Derek and the Dominos)	Tom Dowd	—	Atco Records	—	—	Duane Allman (Slide guitar), Bobby Whitlock (Keyboards, vocals)		Twin lead guitars with Duane Allman; title track is his signature composition.
1974	461 Ocean Boulevard	Tom Dowd	—	RSO Records	—	—	Carl Radle (Bass), George Terry (Guitar), Dick Sims (Keyboards), Jamie Oldaker (Drums), Yvonne Elliman (Vocals), Marcy Levy (Vocals)		Includes his first #1 single, a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." Recorded with the low-key touring band he assembled for his post-recovery comeback.
1994	From the Cradle	Eric Clapton, Russ Titelman	—	Reprise Records	—	—	—		Full electric-guitar treatment of blues standards; his own description: a love letter to the blues.
2000	Riding with the King (with B.B. King)	Simon Climie	—	Reprise/Duck Records	—	—	B.B. King (Guitar, vocals)		Collaborative blues album with B.B. King.
2004	Me and Mr. Johnson	Eric Clapton, Simon Climie	—	Reprise/Duck Records	—	—	—		Entirely covers of Robert Johnson's recorded songbook.
2004	Sessions for Robert J	Eric Clapton, Simon Climie	—	Duck/Reprise Records	—	—	—		Companion film/audio project to "Me and Mr. Johnson."

Famous songs

01Crossroads (Cream)

02Layla (Derek & the Dominos)

03Have You Ever Loved a Woman

04Five Long Years

05I Shot the Sheriff

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Booking / Contact

Booking agency

Not publicly available

Agent/management

Not publicly available

Booking email

Not publicly available

Booking phone

Not publicly available

Booking URL

https://crossroadsguitarfestival.com/

Actively touring; official Crossroads Guitar Festival site is the best current source for confirmed 2026 dates. No direct public personal booking contact found (represented through major agencies for large-scale touring).

Are you the artist, or do you represent the band or booking agency? We want the booking information here to always be accurate and current. Please send us the correct details via our contact form, and we'll update the profile as soon as possible. Go to the contact form

Sources

Keep SlowBlues independent. Official merch — wear the blues.