“Miss You” falls into a long line of impassioned messages to Clapton’s wife and muse Pattie Boyd, from whom he’d soon be divorced.
“Tearing Us Apart” is a crispy slice of blues-funk featuring Tina Turner, who was experiencing a mid-career resurgence parallel to Clapton’s. The album spawned three huge and entirely different hits. Collins not only plays on the album but shares production credit with Tom Dowd, whose presence bridges Clapton’s MTV years with his golden tenure at Atlantic in the ’70s. “Eric Clapton continued his middle-age renaissance with 1986’s August, which applies the grit of a ’60s soul album to the crisp ’80s pop-rock sound favored by Phil Collins. As I said, it was an album that was out of time, but is not at all bad, taken in isolation.” “Tulsa Time” is back to blues-rock with a lively closer. “Promises” was a minor hit single and is very much in the laid-back, acoustic “Slowhand” mode. Killer guitar and harmonica and questionable lyrics about girls coming of age. “Early In The Morning” is a superb, eight-minute piece of Clapton blues. Personally, I much prefer it to “Slowhand”, and indeed to “461 Ocean Boulevard”, “There’s One In Every Crowd and “No Reason To Cry”. It is actually a lot bluesier and rockier than “Slowhand”. Although it was more of the same, it hasn’t had its predecessor’s long-lasting appeal and has become a somewhat forgotten piece of work. “After the incredibly successful “Slowhand” from 1977, Eric Clapton attempted to repeat the laid-back, slightly folky, slightly bluesy rock vibe on this album. Click below and enjoy sounds from the master “slowhands”! Here are all Eric Clapton albums ranked.ĭon’t miss out the soothing music of Eric Clapton. In his solo career, Clapton has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has received four Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. Clapton has been the recipient of 18 Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton’s grief was expressed in the song “Tears in Heaven”, which appeared on his Unplugged album. Two of his most popular recordings were “Layla”, recorded with Derek and the Dominos and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”, recorded with Cream.
He was also named number five in Time magazine’s list of “The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players” in 2009. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and fourth in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time”.
Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream. Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter.