Eric Clapton
One of Rock's premier guitarists - July, 1990
by Jon Wedemeyer
After 26 years at the forefront of modern music, Eric Clapton is unquestionably one of, if not the best, Rock & Roll and blues guitarists in the world.
It was 1963 when Eric Clapton joined his first band. It was just a simple band he helped put together with a few of his friends - they decided to call it "The Yardbirds". They had an amazing sound and with Clapton's guitarwork breaking new ground on almost every song "The Yardbirds" quickly became one of the most prominent bands of the 60's and a guitar legend was born.
After leaving "The Yardbirds", Clapton joined up with a British blues band led by John Mayall. It was while playing the London club scene with this band that he met drummer Ginger Baker and bass player Jack Bruce. In 1966 they changed Rock & Roll forever when they formed the legendary and untouchable Rock power-trio "Cream".
"Cream" was together for two incredible years and aside from "Jimi Hendrix and the Experience" no other power trio has done so much to change the course of Rock and Roll.
"Cream" was followed by "Blind Faith" with Steve Winwood and after that Clapton worked closely with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their "Plastic Ono Band" and on their album.
During the late sixties and early seventies Clapton played with "Delaney, Bonnie and Friends", and hooked up with another legendary rock and blues guitarist, Duane Allman, with a virtual who's who of musicians to form one of the first, and arguably the best 'Supergroups' in rock history - "Derek and the Dominos".
In August of 1971 Clapton joined his friend George Harrison, along with Bob Dylan and a cast of thousands at Madison Square Garden to perform the "Concert for Bangladesh".
1974 saw the release of his block-busting solo album "461 Ocean Boulevard" which established his career as a solo artist. The album set forth not only his guitar sound but also his powerful vocal style which is unmistakable and a Clapton trademark.
More recently, 1983 saw a switch to the Warner Bros. label and Clapton's first album was "Money and Cigarettes". That was followed by "Behind the Sun" in 1985, which was produced by Phil Collins, Ted Templeman and Lenny Waronker.
1986 saw the release of "August", again produced by Phil Collins, this time along with Tom Dowd. This LP spun off the hit 'It's In The Way That You Use It', which was the soundtrack for the movie 'Colour of Money'. Other hits included 'Holy
Mother' and 'Behind the Mask'.
Clapton has now released his eagarly awaited new album "Journeyman". This LP was produced by Russ Titelman, Rickie Lee Jones and Randy Newman.
"Journeyman" consists of twelve new tracks includung the current hit 'Pretending' and is backed up by an incredible array of musicians including George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Robert Cray, Jim Keltner and Chaka Khan among others.
Eric Clapton looks to the beginning of the nineties with a flourish. He opened the year premiering the album with an incredible 18 night stand at the Albert Hall, and is now promoting the album with an extensive world tour including the USA, Europe and South America. Clapton will be at the Miami Arena Monday, July 23, the Orlando Arena Wednesday, July 25 and the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg, Friday, July 27.
Flourishing is not the proper word here to describe Eric Clapton's current talent level, his status and his popularity. Dominant certainly comes close.
has a hot new album and a new tour
you won't want to miss