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Born March 30, 1945, in Surrey,
England. Clapton's reputation as a great guitarist and a towering figure
has overtaken reality to such a large extent that it is nearly impossible
to consider his music objectively which may help explain how Clapton has
remained so revered over the past 20 years as he has released one
middling album after another,
with occasional forays into outright wretchedness. |
Clapton's work with Cream &
Blind Faith is truly brilliant and ground- breaking, and his sole studio
album with Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,
is a certifiable masterpiece. And his first few solo albums range from
very good to pretty good, as he seemed to be settling into a laid-back
singer - songwriter groove, something which he did well, even if it displeased
old fans waiting to hear fiery, innovative guitar soloing. In retrospect,
these early and mid-70s albums, most of which were largely dismissed at
the time, sound like high points. Since then, he has made some truly despicable
albums. In 1989, Clapton seemed content with the comfortable plateau he
had reached, actually titling an album Journeyman. His next release, Unplugged
catapulted him to international stardom greater than any he had previously
known. Clapton can still play, and he continues to sparkle sporadically
--largely on guest appearances such as Chuck Berry's "Hail, Hail Rock and
Roll" and Jimmie Vaughan's Tribute to Stevie Ray VaughanMDBU--but he seems
to have long since stalled creatively. (Note: During 1996, PolyGram released
newly re-mastered versions of much of Clapton's solo work.)
Source: MusicHound Rock:
The Essential Album Guide |
Eric
Clapton's Rainbow
Concert
[Expanded]
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 Eric
Clapton - Music |
| Eric
Clapton - Books |
Crossroads
[BOX SET]
Eric
Clapton
Including both his band work (with
the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney
and Bonnie, and Derek and the Dominos) and his long, varied solo career,
this four-CD set does a spectacular job in gathering several decades' worth
of Clapton's best. There are the requisite classics --"Layla," "Blues Power,"
"After Midnight," "Further On Up the Road," "Crossroads," and "I Shot the
Sheriff," among many others --some of them in previously unreleased live
or alternate studio recordings. Released in 1988, when only superstars
were granted the box set, Crossroads became the blueprint for what
such a retrospective should be. For its scope, this box skims the cream
of Clapton's large output. D.Durchholz |
Crossroads
2: Live In The Seventies [LIVE] [BOX SET]
Eric
Clapton
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24
Nights: Live From Albert Hall - Eric Clapton
On this two-CD set, recorded over
a 24-night stand at London's Albert Hall, Clapton performs with a stripped-down
four-piece band; a more lushly arranged nonet, an all-star blues lineup
featuring stellar guitarists Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan
as well as legendary pianist Johnnie Johnson; and a full orchestra conducted
by Michael Kamen. --Daniel Durchholz |
E.C.
Was Here [ORIGINAL RECORD. REMASTERED] [LIVE]
A 1975 live album that found Clapton
at--if you'll pardon the expression--a crossroads, E.C. Was Here marks
the line of demarcation between the guitar hero of the past and more song-oriented
player he'd become for the second half of the '70s. --Daniel Durchholz |
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Eric
Clapton - One More Car One More Rider (2002) DVD
Wonderful! From Clapton's 2001
world tour, this DVD is taken exclusively from the Los Angeles show. |
Eric
Clapton - Live in Hyde
Park
(1997) DVD
Eric Clapton has achieved the seemingly
impossible, becoming more popular in his most recent 10 years onstage than
in his first decade in the spotlight. His 1997 Live In Hyde Park home video
documented a triumphant concert of the previous summer that followed his
massive "Tears In Heaven" hit a few years earlier. This is classic rockin'
and guitar-wailin' blues is king Clapton, from new versions of his Derek
and The Dominos' "Layla" and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" to Cream's "White
Room" and "Badge" to his solo hit of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff"
to B.B. King's "Every Day I Have the Blues." Added to the original home
video's lineup is Clapton's rendition of the Muddy Waters electric blues
"Hoochie Coochie Man" and the blues standard "It Hurts Me Too," which Clapton
reprised on From the Cradle. Other tracks include: Wonderful Tonight; Five
Long Years; Tearin' Us Apart; Old Love; I'm Torn Down; Holy Mother. 89
minutes. |
Blues
Power: Songs Of
Eric
Clapton Various Artists - Blues - Modern/Electric,
Eric
Clapton (Tribute)
A tribute album that's not a tribute
album--at least according to the text on the cover of this CD. In a way,
that's correct, since Blues Power includes not merely artists who've been
influenced by Clapton, but also artists who've influenced him. Many of
these musicians' careers were positively affected by the advent of British
blues and the blues revival of the 1960s--events in which Clapton played
no small part. --G. Williams |
August
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