Clapton: The Autobiography Eric Clapton Digital Life Books

Clapton: The Autobiography
by: Eric Clapton

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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 787.87166092
EAN: 9780767925365
ISBN: 076792536X
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Sales Rank: 3417
Studio: Broadway

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“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.

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- The best marketing man in Rock history
Eric Clapton, for sure, is entitled to be declared as the best marketing man in Rock history:- for 36 years (since Layla days) that he didn't deliver or contributed anything to the Rock world and especially in the guitar playing world and still, he sells everything and is still considered to be one of the best guitar players of all time. For a guy that plays the same guitar solo all this time, he should have something- and this something is his remarkable marketing skills.
Don't get me wrong, EC is a gifted song writer but, there are more than few song writers that can be compared and achieved much more then EC.
The book itself reminds me of EC show I saw a week ago in Zurich (August 20)- weak, dull, shallow repeats to death old material, puts other guitar players aside to, so called, "stronger" him and at the end of the day, a British snob who came to do the work in order to get your money, nothing else. ... Read More

Rating:

- An eye-opener for sure, but not arrogant at all.
I'm reading various negative reviews of this book, and I cannot believe that people are calling Eric Clapton arrogant in his writing. This book had its flaws, but Clapton's supposed "name dropping" and "arrogance" does not exist, at least not in this book.

I'll say first that I love Eric Clapton's music. He's the reason I'm playing my guitar, and he's taught me a lot about music. I'm only 24, though, and the only image I've ever had of Clapton is his current old man image. It's not much of an image, so I've always just focused on his guitar playing and music making. And because the guitar playing is one-of-a-kind amazing, I've managed to put Clapton up on this pedestal, and I didn't mind. To me, he deserved it.

The book erased that godly image of Clapton I had. As soon as he started getting into details about his life instead of his music, that image was erased from my mind. He did tons of drugs ... Read More

Rating:

- Moving and Memorable
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. Clapton gives a no holds barred account of his life, his failings and his successes. The portion about his son's death is very sad and disturbing. What's even sadder is how Clapton, a serious alcoholic at the time, admits he didn't devote the kind of attention to his young son that he should have.

I'm not sure what the negative reviews screaming "arrogance!" here are all about. The man in question is extremely talented as well as opinionated. He also repeatedly acknowledges he is a deeply flawed person. He comes across as confident in his undisputed musical ability, and humble about how lucky he is to have been given a second chance at happiness after a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse. I further admire the fact that Clapton even at a young age, and at a time when he had no fame or fortune, stuck to his guns and played music on his own terms when many ... Read More

Rating:

- Clapton's 150ft yacht - a touch of irony.
I bought a used copy of Clapton's biography because I was searching for information about Screaming Lord Sutch's band in the very early 60's and I knew it contained one or two comments on Sutch's musicians - they were best rock players in the UK in around 1960. I've only once seen Clapton perform - that would have been in Birmingham UK around 1965, when the Yardbirds were a supporting act for The Animals. As a reader of anything and everything, I went on to read through the book anyway.

Early in his career, he quit the Yardbirds, because he felt they had sold out - in producing records aimed at commercial success. But in the final chapters, he boasts of buying a 150 ft yacht and how its purchase would be financed by a forthcoming world tour - a slight touch of irony there. Someone mentioned that the name of the yacht is Va Bene.

Anyone who wants to see pictures of the boat can Google "va bene yacht". ... Read More

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