I am, and always will be, a blues guitarist.
~Eric Clapton“I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.”
~Eric Clapton….Paul Simon writes great songs. George Harrison great songs, a lot of people, Eric Clapton produces wonderful music.
~Bob Dylan (Press Conference, July 1981)
Robbie Robertson inducts Eric Clapton Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000:
Check out:
–
Eric Clapton – Nothing But The Blues – Full Concert (1994) [HQ]
“PBS In the Spotlight” – Nothing But the Blues
Recorded at The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA
November 8-9, 1994
Directed By Martin Scorsese
Standin’ Round Crying 6:49
Fory Four 12:23
It Hurts Me Too 16:44
Early In The Morning 20:25
Five Long Years 26:39
Crossroads 31:47
—————————————
Malted Milk 38:56
Motherless Child 45:08
—————————————
Reconsider Baby 50:05
Everyday I have The Blues 55:18
Someday After A While 1:00:12
Have You Ever Loved A Woman 1:05:37
Groaning The Blues 1:14:22
—————————————-——-
Ain’t Nobody’s Business 1:21:37
The Band:
- Eric Clapton – Guitar, Vocals
- Andy Fairweather Low – Rhythm Guitar
- Jerry Portnoy – Harmonica
- Chris Stainton – Keyboards
- Dave Bronze – Bass
- Andy Newmark – Drums
- Roddy Lorimer – Trumpet
- Tim Sanders – Tenor Sax
- Simon Clarke – Baritone Sax
–
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers – All Your Love:
Album of the day
Slowhand (1977)
..Slowhand opens with the relaxed, bluesy shuffle of J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine” and sustains it throughout the course of the album. Alternating between straight blues (“Mean Old Frisco”), country (“Lay Down Sally”), mainstream rock (“Cocaine,” “The Core”), and pop (“Wonderful Tonight”), Slowhand doesn’t sound schizophrenic because of the band’s grasp of the material. This is laid-back virtuosity — although Clapton and his band are never flashy, their playing is masterful and assured. That assurance and the album’s eclectic material make Slowhand rank with 461 Ocean Boulevard as Eric Clapton’s best albums.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
Other March 30:
- Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. She is the daughter of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and Sue Jones. She is also Anoushka Shankar’s half-sister.
- John Lee Curtis “Sonny Boy” Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.
- Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her singles “Fast Car”, “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution”, “Baby Can I Hold You”, “Crossroads”, “Give Me One Reason” and “Telling Stories”. She is a multi-platinum and four-timeGrammy Award-winning artist.
-Egil & Hallgeir
Another good post. Eric got the name Slowhand during his Yardbirds days, or maybe even before that. He’s introduced as ‘Eric Slowhand Clapton’ on the Five Live Yardbirds album from 1964.
Thank you I will update the post, I needed to check this out. Here’s what I found (www.whereseric.com):
HOW DID ERIC CLAPTON GET HIS NICKNAME, SLOWHAND?
The Yardbirds’ manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, gave Eric Clapton the nickname “Slowhand” in early 1964.
The Yardbirds rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Eric Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, Eric would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing a “slow handclap”. [The British colloquialism is “to be given the slowhand”.]
Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, in the mid-80s that “My nickname of ‘Slowhand’ came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into ‘Slowhand’ as a play on words.”
In a June 1999 online chat, Clapton gave a slightly different version of how his nickname came about: “I think it might have been a play on words from the “Clap” part of my name. In England, in sport, if the crowd is getting anxious, we have a slow handclap, which indicates boredom or frustration. But it wasn’t my idea it was someone else’s comment.”
In Clapton – The Autobiography (2007), Eric had this to say, “On my guitar I used light-gauge guitar strings, with a very thin first string, which made it easier to bend the notes, and it was not uncommon during the most frenetic bits of playing for me to break at least one string. During the pause while I was changing my string, the frenzied audience would often break into a slow handclap, inspiring Giorgio to dream up the nickname of ‘Slowhand’ Clapton.”
– Hallgeir