Slowhand comes to Bangkok
When front row tickets are 5,000 baht, you know there’s something special about to take place. January 15, 2007 will see 18-time Grammy Award Winner Eric Clapton grace Impact Arena with a lesson in the fundamentals of rock. Some of you out there may be wondering who this man is and why you should care about a 60-year-old guitarist; if you don’t care about Eric Clapton, you don’t care about music. He’s one of the most respected performers of true rock music, he almost became part of The Beatles, and he had a GBP1,000-a-week heroine habit in the seventies: Pete Doherty take note: This is real rock ‘n’ roll.
Clapton was given a guitar for his thirteenth birthday. By the time he was sixteen he had become so obsessed with the blues and playing his guitar that he was expelled from art college. It was at this point that he began to look deeper into American blues and at seventeen he joined his first band, The Roosters. He went on to join The Yardbirds in 1963 until in 1965 he split from the group due to differences in musical direction: He wanted to explore the blues.
Already Clapton was making a name for himself as a talented guitarist, and it was during his two years with the Yardbirds that the moniker Slowhand was coined. He was an established blues guitarist and had begun causing a stir in the world music scene.
The first defining moment to propel him onto the big-time stage came in 1966 when Clapton formed the band Cream, a now legendary trio that saw him join together with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Cream sold a total of 15 million copies of their three albums and they changed the face of music in the late sixties. The band was together just two years and yet Cream’s influence lives on today, not least of all due to Clapton’s unique approach to playing the guitar that incorporated unique emotion and passion that many deemed as superior to that of then rising star Jimi Hendrix.
Clapton wanted to change the world with Cream, and to a large extent he achieved his aim. It was only the ego of the three-headed beast that would get in the way of the band continuing. Seemingly resenting his stardom and after the demise of his super-group Blind Faith, Clapton toured as a sideman with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends in 1970.
In the same year he formed Derek and the Dominos. He wanted to counter-balance his status as a rock star and perform in a group where he would be on an equal level with his bandmates. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs was an album largely inspired by Clapton’s unrequited love for George Harrison’s wife Patti Boyd-Harrison. Although on its release it received only a lukewarm reception, the Layla album is now regarded as the finest work of Clapton’s career. At the time though, Clapton became disillusioned with music, love, and the death of Jimi Hendrix amongst other things. He soon descended into a downward spiral of self-destruction, fuelled by an overbearing heroine habit.
After a musical hiatus, Clapton eventually won the heart of Boyd-Pattison and left his drug problems behind. He has continued to release solo albums until the present day. In recent times, Clapton has collaborated with B. B. King and Carlos Santana, and he had a brief fling with Sheryl Crow. He is still performing and his trip to Bangkok will be a rare crowd for an Asian audience to witness this living legend in the flesh.
Eric Clapton’s legacy breaks into club culture
Clapton’s enchanting vocals have found themselves on many bootlegs, remixes, and dance music productions. ‘On My Knees’ received a funky house re-lick, while ‘Cocaine’ was given a trendy tech-house makeover. Even the masterpiece ‘Layla’ was given the remix treatment thanks to B-boy.
One of the most successful remixes came in the form of Michael Linde’s take on ‘Forever Man (How Many Times)’. The track would never have seen the light of day if by chance one of the workers at FFFR records in London hadn’t bumped into Clapton in the street. She asked him to come and listen to the track and he loved it so much that he gave it his full blessing and even offered to appear in the video. The track was a huge hit in Ibiza and peaked at number 26 in the UK sales chart.
Clapton’s accessible vocals have made him a firm favorite amongst producers across the world. ‘Tears in Heaven’ is another track to have had a thumping 4/4 beat thrust underneath Clapton’s unmistakable voice, while ‘I Get Lost’ was remixed by none other than David Morales.
Few artists have had such an impact on music in so many ways like Eric Clapton has.
The lowdown
“You were at school and you were pimply and no one wanted to know you. You get into a group and you’ve got thousands of chicks there.”
Clapton’s debut album was released in 1970 and entitled Eric Clapton.
During the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, Clapton passed out on stage and had to be revived. He regained his composure and continued the show.
Layla was written about Patti Boyd-Harrison, who he eventually married in 1979. The two divorced in 1988.
Clapton had been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame three times.
Clapton is married to Melia McEnery, with whom he has three children.
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