Eric Clapton's Autobiography
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 07:49PM 
Eric Clapton's long-awaited autobiography, Clapton, will be interesting reading for those who grew up on Hendrix, Cream and Led Zeppelin. To this day, I can't listen to a Cream song without thinking of old friends, good times and my 1965 El Camino complete with an eight-track tape player in the glove-box. I spent many an hour with my Luxman amp and massive JBL speakers cranked up loud in my bedroom listening to Cream while I did homework. My poor mother . . .
Clapton's life story is pretty much what you'd expect--drugs, girls and music. The book is basically the story of Clapton's struggle with various addictions (primarily heroin, alcohol, and Pattie Boyd Harrison) and his never-ending quest to create the ultimate blues album. Clapton is pretty straight-forward throughout. No boasting about his conquests. No repentance either. He is remarkably humble about his talent and accomplishments and has played with about every rock and blues musician you can name.
While my interest in Clapton stems from his Cream days, Clapton looks upon that phase of his music as frustrating, drug-fueled and ego-driven. The famous Cream jams (from their various "live" albums) were indeed chemically sustained. This is an era which Clapton does not recall with fondness. I guess it was better to listen to Clapton, than it was to be Clapton.
The turning point in Clapton's life came when he finally achieved sobriety about twenty-years ago. Ironically, Clapton claims to have found no real happiness in life until some years later when he met and married his current wife who gave him three daughters. Here's a guy who had everything the world tells us we need to have (more money than you can count, fame which secures whatever you want), and yet, who is not at all happy until he stops drinking, finds the love of his life and then settles down to raise his family. Funny how that works.
There's no conversion story or happy ending. Clapton was married and had his children baptized in the Church of England. His "god" is the unknown higher-power of the twelve-step program. But in light of the questions he raises, you certainly get the sense that if someone in his circle could only explain law-gospel to him, as well as explain to him that the power of music comes from the fact that we are divine-image bearers who will sing God's praises for all eternity, he just might listen. Maybe the grace of God will reach him yet.
There are some minor surprises. Clapton doesn't say as much about the tragic death of his son, Conor, as you might expect. This tragedy occurred when Clapton was just finding himself after giving up alcohol. He describes being completely numb to pretty much everything after so many years of heavy drinking.
Clapton also speaks about hanging out with his good friend Jimi Hendrix back in the day. The two of them would go from club to club throughout London and then jam with whatever band happened to be playing. Imagine a local garage band plugging away, only to be joined on stage by Clapton and Hendrix! Now that would have been a blast for the band as well as for those lucky enough to have been in the audience.
All in all, a good read. But know what you are getting in advance.
Reader Comments (9)
(If you ever want a good show, get a third row seat at a Steve Winwood concert; "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" alone is worth it. A friend of mine said he'd pay $500 to see McCartney just play "Black Bird." How ridiculous, more like $675.)
Wasn't the line of Cain (see Genesis 4) the line with the great musicians, artists, and architects? Why would that be emphasized by Moses?
This is a compelling biography of one of the greatest guitarists of all time. It really gives a fascinating picture of Clapton's life. For a pop musician biography, it could be classified as slightly less "action packed" than what one might expect, but that doesn't decimate at all the quality of this work.
The book isn't necessarily a flattering self-portrayal. A significant amount of insensitivity and womanizing is shown, and when Clapton reflects on it, he doesn't seem to be repentant. To me, it is rather sad that Clapton shows such a dismissive attitude toward the damage his previous behaviors have caused. Don't come to this book looking for a role model, because if you do you will be quite disappointed. However, I do think it is an honest portrayal of Eric Clapton as a person. In that sense, I can recommend it to people who like his music.