The Very Best
of Cream
(Audio CD)
Cream

Buy it today!
UK / US

In the Yardbirds, Cream, Derek and the Dominos, and his own bands, guitarist Eric Clapton has continually redefined his own version of the blues. Raised by his grandparents after his mother abandoned him at an early age, Clapton grew up a self-confessed "nasty kid." He studied stained-glass design at Kingston Art School and started playing guitar at 15 and joining groups two years later. He stayed with his first band, the early British R&B outfit the Roasters, from January to August 1963 and frequently jammed in London clubs with, among others, future members of the Rolling Stones. He joined the Yardbirds in late 1963 and stayed with them until March 1965, when they began to leave behind power blues for psychedelic pop.

Upon leaving the Yardbirds, Clapton did construction work until John Mayall asked him to join his Blues-breakers in spring 1965. With Mayall, he contributed to several LPs while perfecting the blues runs that drew a cult of worshipers. Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in July 1966 and cut a few tracks with Jimmy Page, then with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker he formed Cream.

Clapton perfected his virtuoso style, and Cream’s concerts featured lengthy solo excursions, which Clapton often performed with his back to the crowd. During his tenure with Cream, Clapton contributed lead fills to the Beatles’ "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and appeared on Frank Zappa’s We’re Only in It for the Money

When Cream broke up in November 1968, Clapton formed the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Rick Grech. During their only U.S. tour, Clapton embraced Christianity, which he has given up and reaffirmed periodically ever since. He also jammed and finally joined with tour openers Delaney and Bonnie.

He moved to New York in late 1969 and continued to work with Delaney and Bonnie through early 1970. With several members of the Bramletts’ band, and friends like Leon Russell and Stephen Stills, whose solo albums Clapton played on, he recorded his first solo album, Eric Clapton.

The album saw Clapton’s first role as a lead vocalist which he continued to fill after forming Derek and the Dominos. There only studio album, the two-record Layla. The title track was a tale of unrequited love inspired by Pattie Boyd Harrison (wife of ex-Beatle George), whom Clapton eventually married in 1979; they divorced in 1989. Clapton toured on and off with the Dominos through late 1971, but the group collapsed due to personal conflicts, most, Clapton later claimed, drug- or alcohol-induced.

Clapton sat in on albums by Dr. John and Harrison, who enticed Clapton to play at the benefit concert for Bangladesh in August 1971. Depressed and burdened by a heroin habit, Clapton retreated to the isolation of his Surrey, England, home for most of 1971 and 1972.

With the aid of Pete Townshend, he began his comeback with a concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre in January 1973. Supported by Townshend, Winwood, Ron Wand, Jim Capaldi, and others, Clapton released tapes from the ragged concert in a September 1973 LP. By the time 461 Ocean Boulevard was released, he had kicked heroin for good.

In the Seventies Clapton has a series of hits in a more commercial style with shorter guitar solos. Amongst others he had hits with 'I Shot the Sheriff', 'Lay Down Sally' and 'Promises'. and his albums Slowhand and Backless were certified platinum.

He had a Top Ten hit in 1981 with 'I Can’t Stand It' from Another Ticket (#7), and later that year formed his own label, Duck Records. During the early Eighties he made frequent appearances at major benefit concerts. In the Eightees Clapton’s singles became more ballad-like than blues, producing a string of hits, including 'I’ve Got a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart' and 'Forever Man'.

In 1985 Clapton separated from his wife Pattie and went into rehabilitation to overcame the alcoholism that had replaced his heroin addiction. The next year Italian actress Lori Del Santo gave birth to Clapton’s only child, Conor.

Clapton continued to tour and record. 24 Nights captured Clapton’s 1990-91 concert series at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which since 1987 has become an annual event. On March 20, 1991, his four-and-a-half-year-old son, Conor, died after falling aver 50 stories through a window in his mother’s Manhattan apartment.

After a period of seclusion, Clapton began work again. In March 1992, almost a year after Conor’s death, Clapton taped a segment for MTV’s Unplugged series. That year he was nominated for nine Grammy awards and won six, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for 'Tears in Heaven', which was written for his son. In early 1993 Clapton and his former cohorts in Cream, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, reunited to perform three songs at the group’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. In 1994 Clapton released an album of remakes of acoustic and electric blues, From the Cradle, which topped the charts and won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. The double-platinum album became the best-selling traditional blues recording in history. In early 1995 Clapton was honored with an M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire).