Eric Clapton… The early years

Eric Patrick Clapton was an outcast from the beginning. He was born in 1945 and his father was a Canadian Soldier who went back home after the war and left his son without a father. What is even more unusual is that he was raised by his grandparents and they led him to believe that his mother was actually his older sister. You can go to wikipedia if you want but I will spare you the details. The important part is that he got his first guitar at the age of 13 and by 16-17 he was well known locally.

His first big band was The Yardbirds. They were what would develop into Led Zeppelin. They switched guitarists around which included Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. When the band pretty much broke up they still had shows booked in the US. So Jimmy Page found a few band mates and decided to do those shows in the US, to which Keith Moon of The Who said “That will go over like a Led Balloon” Although some accounts claim he said that to a supergroup that recorded “Beck’s Bolero”.

But before Led Zeppelin, Clapton left because The Yardbirds were turning into a pop band and not the blues which Eric was completely in love with. He then left and joined a bad called the John Mayalls Blues Breakers. This is the time period in which someone spray painted “Clapton is God” in the underground train station and some people actually copy catted it around the city. For good reason too.

Required Listening: All your Love- John Mayall’s Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

At this period of time he was mostly playing a Gibson les Paul and a Marshall JTM45. Also of note this recording included bassist John McVie, one of the founders of Fleetwood Mac