Eric Clapton’s life path was established when, as a young boy, he accidentally learned that he was literally a bastard – a revelation that played a part in his becoming a figurative one.
“Clapton: The Autobiography” is a confessional, an addiction memoir, and a glorious rock history rolled into one, with a smidgen of guilt and, ultimately, redemption thrown in for good measure.
Clapton was born in 1945 in his grandparents home in Surrey, England. Raised believing his grandparents were his parents, his discovery of the truth caused him to withdraw, and when his real mother rejected him at nine years old, it marked the beginning of a lifelong propensity toward rejecting the affections of others.
As such, music – specifically, the blues – provided a safe and powerful mode of expression. Finding poppy Beatlemania “despicable” for the way people elevated musicians to gods, he delved into rhythm and blues, often jamming with up-and-coming acts like The Rolling Stones, for whom he would sit in on vocals when Mick Jagger’s throat was sore.
Finding popularity in The Yardbirds, the hot young guitarist had an early flirtation with Ronnie Spector, who told Clapton that he reminded her of her husband Phil. (Clapton later worked with Phil Spector, describing him as sweet, funny, and eccentric, but remaining wary because he heard that Spector carried a gun.)
Clapton also met The Beatles, and was horrified when he introduced an elderly fan to John Lennon, only to have the sardonic mop top make a motion of pleasuring himself toward the woman under his coat.
The phrase “Clapton is God” quickly became a British mantra, but it bothered the blues purist, who believed that many young guitarists of the day, from James Burton to Albert Lee, eclipsed him.
Throughout his career, Clapton’s perceived limitations were foremost in his mind. He feared that he couldn’t match up to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, and was always cowed by those he saw as brighter lights, becoming disillusioned with Cream after hearing The Band; souring on Blind Faith because of their opener, Delaney & Bonnie; and even fearing he couldn’t match the excitement of the Four Tops during Live Aid.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the book for classic rock fans is the dispelling of certain myths.
While rock lore has declared Clapton and George Harrison the best of friends, we see a darker side of that friendship, with Clapton recalling one Harrison tantrum by saying, “I was always a little wary of letting my guard down around him.”
And Clapton’s account of the triangle between the two men and mutual wife Pattie Boyd makes the real story seem smaller, though stranger, than the legend.
While Harrison and Boyd were still married, the Beatle actually suggested that Clapton sleep with her so that he could take a shot at Boyd’s sister (whom Clapton slept with instead).
Of his eventual pursuit of Boyd, Clapton declares it as much envy as lust, and refers to his efforts to win her over as “blatant emotional blackmail.”
Even the Boyd-inspired love song “Wonderful Tonight” was crafted in a state of “anger and frustration.” And as for Clapton’s heroin addiction deriving from his then-unrequited love, while Clapton did threaten Boyd that he’d become an addict if she didn’t leave Harrison for him, the drug was already part of his regular routine.
His eventual success in procuring her might have been attributable not to threats, drugs, or love, but to voodoo, as Clapton asked pianist and long-rumored voodoo practitioner Dr. John for a love potion, and was given “a little box made out of woven straw” to keep in his pocket several weeks before finally winning Boyd over.
Once he did, the relationship was “not the incredibly romantic affair it has been portrayed as,” Clapton says, as he was “picking up girls for sex as soon as I got on the road.”
Considering his history of emotional detachment, Clapton placed tremendous significance on the birth of his son Conor, anticipating it as “the first real thing that ever happened to me.”
But when Conor died at the age of 4 1/2, Clapton depicts his response as detached, saying that at the funeral, the open wailing of Conor’s mother’s Italian relatives shocked him.
The other tragedies Clapton recounts in the book deal with the two addictions that drove his life – heroin and alcohol.
Of the first, Clapton once told Harrison that he was on a “journey into the darkness” and that he “had to see it through.”
When Clapton traveled to New York to play Harrison’s benefit for Bangladesh, the city’s weak, street-cut heroin -one-tenth the strength he was used to – had him “shaking and mumbling like a madman” as if he had quit cold turkey.
Eventually, Clapton hid away. He would watch visitors approach his door and just wait for them to leave, such as with former Cream bandmate Ginger Baker, who had come to literally kidnap him in order to clean him up.
But after finally kicking heroin thanks to a bizarre acupuncture apparatus, he switched dependancies, becoming a raging alcoholic. His drinking became so dire that at its nadir he would bring home derelicts he found on the road – some so insane they could barely speak – and have Boyd make them dinner.
“The only reason I didn’t commit suicide,” says Clapton, “was that I knew I wouldn’t be able to drink anymore if I was dead.”
He eventually got sober thanks to a 12-step program, and the latter part of the book reads like a traditional addiction/recovery memoir, with Clapton eventually cleaning up and founding the Crossroads treatment center in Antigua.
Through it all, he says, he only made it out of the abyss thanks to his music. As he noted after hearing of the overdose death of an ex-girlfriend, “that only emphasized to me how fortunate I was in that I still had the music. It had always been my salvation. It made me want to live.”
Clapton: The Autobiography
by Eric Clapton
Broadway Books
Cream of “Clapton”
Best wedding band ever
A party for Eric and Pattie Boyd’s 1979 wedding provided the lost musical opportunity of the century – a possible Beatle reunion. The party featured a massive jam session that included Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce, Jeff Beck, and Beatles George, Paul and Ringo. The only reason John Lennon wasn’t there is that, for reasons no one can explain, he didn’t get an invitation – but he later told Eric that had he been invited, he would have come.
Foreign relations
Eric once played at an event at the Clinton White House. At one point he really needed to pee, but didn’t want to go through security, so he decided to “water the lawn.” While he was taking care of business, he heard “don’t move!” It was a SWAT officer dressed in camouflage, his M-16 drawn.
High anxiety
Clapton was quite the prankster. Once, his drummer had a girl in his hotel room and Clapton dressed as a samurai with a fake sword and climbed in through their window to give them a scare – from the 30th floor ledge. The real scare came several minutes later when there was a knock at the door, and two cops were kneeling in crouch position, guns drawn, thinking Eric was an assassin.
Ah, romance
Clapton only married Boyd because he bet his manager that the man couldn’t get the guitarist’s name in the newspaper. The next day, Clapton saw this announcement in the paper – “Rock Star Eric Clapton will marry Pattie Boyd.” Clapton had to rush to propose before Pattie saw it.
Garden party
When Clapton recorded his “No Reason to Cry” album, Bob Dylan was living in a tent in the garden of the studios, and would appear for a drink whenever the mood hit him. This led to their recording Dylan’s song “Sign Language” for the album.
And the ’60s begin
Clapton heard “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” for the first time and took acid for the first time on the same night. The music was provided by George Harrison – the acid, by one of The Monkees.