Finished Fr 8/22/14
A comprehensive look at this amazing guitarist.
Born in 1945 and grew up thinking that his grandmother and grandfather were his mother and father. Actually his sister, Pat had an affair with a Canadian soldier stationed in England during the war, and this man was his father. He never met this man.
When Eric was nine, his mother re-entered his life, and when he asked if he could call her 'mom', she said no and he should continue to act as if his grandparents were his parents. EC claims that this had a devastating effect on his emotional development. He has a step-brother and sister by Pat.
I was surprised had how much of a beatnik he was in his early years. Very close to bluesman John Mayall- he lived at his house with John's family for a time
The love of his life, Patti Boyd, seems more like a liability
Alice Ormsby-Gore was also one of his primary love partners. She was part of England's upper class, and it's kind of strange that this poor boy from Ripley could fit in so easily.
Lory del Santo gave him his son, Connor. The boy fell out the window while the condo superintendent was telling Lory how dangerous the windows were. The windows were like the windows in my condo, and I hate the way that they open vertically.
He married Melia on New Year's Day 2000. It was a surprise wedding as it was presented after the baptism of his two daughters, Julie and Ruth (six months and 16 years old). His new wife is from Columbus, Ohio, and that's where it took place. He's 25 years older than Melia.
A strange interlude that I wasn't aware of....when Clapton left the Yardbirds and John Mayall, he was part of a band called The Glands. They played at a mafia owned bar in Greece and he had to leave the country and was afraid that there would be dangerous repercussions with the mob. He actually toured to quite a few cities in Europe with this lineup.
His lost years are very revealing.
First went to Hazelton during the Christmas season of 1982, but it took another five years before he finally stopped.
Xmas 1982 he wanted green thermals that he would wear while fishing. He was out of his mind on Xmas Eve and after everyone had gone to bed, he continued to drink and opened all of his gifts, finding the green thermals. He put them on and went out to the local rive to fish. While fishing he fell against one of the fishing poles, and snapped it. Other fishermen were watching, and he was so embarrassed he decided that he had reached the limit with his drinking (he hadn't).
'Crossroads' is a recovery center that he setup at the Caribbean island of Antigua. It was paid for by the auction of many of Clapton's vintage guitars. Some of them went for almost a million a pop.
The book ends with the collaboration of Clapton with J. J. Cale, THE ROAD TO ESCONDIDO.
He certainly doesn't present himself as a wonderful individual, and I was left with the feeling that he's a kind of upper-class British twit. His relationships with women are atrocious.
Link to customer reviews at Amazon-
http://www.amazon.com/Clapton-The-Autobiography-Eric/product-reviews/076792536X/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm/187-9082735-0296867?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Link to his wikipedia page-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_clapton
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