Product Description

“I found a pattern in my behavior that had been repeating itself for years, decades even. Bad choices were my specialty, and if something honest and decent came along, I would shun it or run the other way.”

With striking intimacy and candor, Eric Clapton tells the story of his eventful and inspiring life in this poignant and honest autobiography. More than a rock star, he is an icon, a living embodiment of the history of rock music. Well known for his reserve in a profession marked by self-promotion, flamboyance, and spin, he now chronicles, for the first time, his remarkable personal and professional journeys.

Born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents, Eric never knew his father and, until the age of nine, believed his actual mother to be his sister. In his early teens his solace was the guitar, and his incredible talent would make him a cult hero in the clubs of Britain and inspire devoted fans to scrawl “Clapton is God” on the walls of London’s Underground. With the formation of Cream, the world's first supergroup, he became a worldwide superstar, but conflicting personalities tore the band apart within two years. His stints in Blind Faith, in Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and in Derek and the Dominos were also short-lived but yielded some of the most enduring songs in history, including the classic “Layla.”

During the late sixties he played as a guest with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, as well as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and longtime friend George Harrison. It was while working with the latter that he fell for George’s wife, Pattie Boyd, a seemingly unrequited love that led him to the depths of despair, self-imposed seclusion, and drug addiction. By the early seventies he had overcome his addiction and released the bestselling album 461 Ocean Boulevard, with its massive hit “I Shot the Sheriff.” He followed that with the platinum album Slowhand, which included “Wonderful Tonight,” the touching love song to Pattie, whom he finally married at the end of 1979. A short time later, however, Eric had replaced heroin with alcohol as his preferred vice, following a pattern of behavior that not only was detrimental to his music but contributed to the eventual breakup of his marriage.
In the eighties he would battle and begin his recovery from alcoholism and become a father. But just as his life was coming together, he was struck by a terrible blow: His beloved four-year-old son, Conor, died in a freak accident. At an earlier time Eric might have coped with this tragedy by fleeing into a world of addiction. But now a much stronger man, he took refuge in music, responding with the achingly beautiful “Tears in Heaven.”

Clapton is the powerfully written story of a survivor, a man who has achieved the pinnacle of success despite extraordinary demons. It is one of the most compelling memoirs of our time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1523 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-09
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Readers hoping for sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll won't be disappointed by the legendary guitarist's autobiography. As he retraces every step of his career, from the early stints with the Yardbirds and Cream to his solo successes, Clapton also devotes copious detail to his drug and alcohol addictions, particularly how they intersected with his romantic obsession with Pattie Boyd. His relationship with the woman for whom he wrote Layla culminated in a turbulent marriage he describes as drunken forays into the unknown. But he genuinely warms to the subject of his recovery, stressing its spiritual elements and eagerly discussing the fund-raising efforts for his Crossroads clinic in Antigua. His self-reckoning is filled with modesty, especially in the form of dissatisfaction with his early successes. He professes ambivalence about the famous Clapton is God graffiti, although he admits he was grateful for the recognition from fans. At times, he sounds more like landed gentry than a rock star: bragging about his collection of contemporary art, vigorously defending his hunting and fishing as leisure activities, and extolling the virtues of his quiet country living. But both the youthful excesses and the current calm state are narrated with an engaging tone that nudges Clapton's story ahead of other rock 'n' roll memoirs. (Oct. 9)
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From AudioFile
Thats why they call it the blues. Guitar legend Eric Clapton looks back at his life in this self-inflicted account of painful memories. Clapton, a veteran of such legendary bands as the Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos, is ruthless with himself. He holds nothing back, nor does he ask forgiveness for a life of selfishness and excess. Bill Nighy becomes Clapton in this first-person narrative. With dignity and humility coming through in his performance, Nighy talks about Claptons decades of cheating, philandering, drug use, selfishness, and outright stupidity. But hes so brutally honest and guilty it feels like he is too hard on himself. We have to wonder if a more dispassionate chronicler might have wielded a kinder pen. M.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author

ERIC CLAPTON is married to Melia McEnery and is the father of four daughters. He lives outside London.

Customer Reviews

Essential listening, You can skip the book
I heard the fire when I was 16. Cream played exactly one gig at a high school, and there I was. The waves of huge sounds and the stunning roar of the blues. And then a few years later, Layla, which has to be the most intense blues-rock ever recorded. Searing suffering. Then a few years later the masterful 461 Ocean Blvd, so smooth,yet rocking. Years more of various blues, sometimes very worthy.And a few years ago, Robert Johnson gets revisited in later years, Eric is our guide to the long-gone maestro.

The autobiography? Mostly absorbing gossip. He shot up, he drinks way too much, he does another man's wife, he found god, he found lots of money, he treats a lot of women like .... But the printed word is just not his medium, his music is his medium. I am so glad I borrowed this book from a library, bacause after the initial titilation about all the famous folks he hung out with, you get the idea that this goes nowhere, that it is just sort of shallow. Though interesting at times, if only because you always wondered about the view from his vantage point. I'd feel pretty stupid if I had bought it.

But if you've never heard "Have you ever loved a woman" from Layla or "Crossroads" live at the Fillmore,or' Have You Heard" from the Bluesbreakers. you would never know of the rage, the passion, the fear, the fury, not from this book. Not a clue. In print, he seems devoid of passion, of feeling. But there is so much evidence to the contrary; he lacks writing skill, his best music does not lack anything.

Entertaining book
The book is actually quite dull for the few couple of dozen pages, but picks up when Clapton starts discussing his time with the Yardbirds. From there it's a roller coaster life of a rock star; the one thing you learn is that Clapton genuinely loves music. Not the business or the stardom, but genuinely loves music. I think readers of any type will come away with that same appreciation; it isn't just the lifestyle, it's the style of music.

Clapton book rocks too
This was a simple, but in depth autobiography. Realistic and to the point. Good reading from the music master!