Wonderful tonight with Eric Clapton

The people that I usually work with have got just as much talent, if not more, than I have. But that`s the way it goes. -Eric Clapton, BBC Radio (1980)

Vineet Sharma Eric Clapton has been showered with a plethora of nicknames throughout his musical career, ranging from a loving “Slowhand’ to a die hard fans’ ‘God’. This gifted guitarist was born in unusual circumstances for his times as a lovechild between his 16 year old mother, Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer. Brought up by his grandparents, Eric was greatly influenced by the Blues tunes of Freddy King and Muddy Waters among others of their ilk.It would not be the use of a hyperbole if one were to say that Clapton’s songs are an opium for romance…How can one forget the butterflies-in-your-stomach effect that is infused in a love-struck couple when they chance upon his songs like ‘Wonderful Tonight’, ‘Layla’ and ‘Old Love’. Decades have come and gone by… One thing that stays fresh passing through the annals of time is the rhythm and soul of his songs. He has been a part of numerous bands in his life that started with the Yardbirds. He went on to join the Bluebreakers before finally making his music a phenomenon with ‘Cream’. The scene of modern rock was truly sorted out with Cream churning out hits after hits in the two year’s time they spent together. It is said that creative people have big egos… this certainly was the case with Clapton’s Cream as hot tempers forced the most successful band of the times to call it quits just after two years of its formation. The break-up resulted in the formation of ‘Derek and the Dominoes’, a true godsend for Eric as he gave the world his legendary classic ‘Layla’ along with Jim Gordon. Clapton himself rued the breaking-up of his union with the Cream and he even admitted that it was the best time of his creative career to BBC Radio in 1980. Eric Clapton’s life has never been as rhythmic as his music, the most excruciating of which was his episode with mind-altering drugs, chiefly his heroin addiction. I remember watching telecast of his concerts during his ‘drug phase’ and indeed, his voice was giving up on him as he sang hits like ‘Cocaine’ in a tone that left many disappointed. Being the fighter that he is, he took stock of his deteriorating condition and rose from a possible collapse with his 1992 Grammy Award Winning ‘Tears in Heaven’. The explorer in him had resulted in the incorporation of the Blues style of music in the contemporary Rock scene, a blend that only Slowhand can manage with élan. Today, EC, as he is popularly known, has not just become one of those few artists who have performed in thousands of concerts the world over, winning as many fans every time he touches the guitar, but has also managed to spread the word against drug abuse to youngsters in his own style. After enthralling generations of rockers in the past decades, Clapton still rages on with the re-invention of his music from time to time. He once said that he wished to play like many other guitarists on the rock scene but didn’t think if he could….The reply of the man interviewing him can be summed up as the reply of anyone who has listened to his fingers playing magic on the guitar, “If you can’t Eric, nobody can.”