Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton
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Book Reviews of Clapton: The Autobiography
Book Review: Clapton: The Autobiography
Summary: 5 Stars
CLAPTON: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY ERIC CLAPTON: Now out in paperback, the story of Eric Clapton's life as written and told by himself is not necessarily a happy one, but it is one that is true to his life, as he recounts the moments when he wrote and recorded some of the world's favorite songs. He tells of the times he wrote and recorded the great songs like "Layla," "Wonderful Tonight," "Bell Bottom Blues," and many more, as well as discussing his obsession with Pattie Boyd and the effect it had on his friendship with George Harrison.
Eric Clapton, like many British musicians, began life in a poor family with very little, the son of a builder. Discovering the great music of the 1950s, he made it his goal at a young age to become a great guitarist. Clapton's career began slow, with his lack of money, his first guitars just weren't that good and hindered his creativity, as well as his ability to teach himself to play. Nevertheless, he began his playing in a time that was bursting with creative music talent, giving him many avenues to practice and improve. From the beginning, Clapton was both a perfectionist with his music, and somewhat stuck up and arrogant about the sound he wanted. He saw the Beatles as too commercial, looking for a purer and more complex sound. This is why he spent little time with bands, going from one to the next like The Yardbirds, Cream, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Blind Faith. And yet with each band he improved and became more popular in the eyes of the fans, developing the nickname "Slowhand" as well as the chant "Clapton is God!"
At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 70's, Clapton was at a highpoint in his career, wealthy for the first time, and because of the time, took very heavily to drugs, alcohol, and smoking, and was soon a heroin addict. While Clapton never really openly discusses why he became an addict for so many vices, he is upfront in revealing the disappointment his father always had for him in pursuing a career in music, as well as an awkward first sexual experience that led to many problems in his life. In 1970, Jimmy Hendrix, a good friend and revered as a hero by Clapton, died from unexplained circumstances, but was known to be a very heavy drug and alcohol user. The parallels were obvious to Clapton, but instead of swearing off everything, he went the other way and spent years depressed, constantly drinking and taking heroin.
Through the 1970s and early 80's this addiction sadly continued with Clapton, even though some of his best music was written and recorded during this period. Clapton is honest in saying that he cannot remember as much as he would've liked to of his life. Going through serious rehab, he eventually stopped the drug abuse, but simply switched to alcohol and smoking. The 1980s were a time in which Clapton spent most of the day drunk, and yet still managed to transcend the world of music in his guitar playing and writing. It was not until the 1990s that he finally stopped drinking completely, as well as eventually ending his smoking habit.
It was not until the late 90's that Clapton found his current wife and admits that it has only been in the last ten or so years of his life that he has been truly happy. This is visible in his music, with the album Pilgrim on through to the present; it is a more mature and happier sound, with less anguish, as if Clapton really is enjoying what he is doing in his life for the first time.
Clapton: the Autobiography is the life of Eric Clapton through his memories and thoughts. It is a life of sadness, depression, heartache, alcohol and drug abuse. In some ways it tarnishes the joy and happiness fans find in his music, when he cannot even recall recording a favorite song. Nevertheless there is a silver lining and a happy ending that makes the reader realize that in the later years of his life, Eric Clapton is finally at peace with his past and enjoying the great music he continues to make.
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Book Review: Never Too Late...
Summary: 5 Stars
Never too late... to heal. Never too late... to have a happy childhood.
Music star Eric Clapton has penned a first-class read about healing one's life, setting one's demons to rest, and creating happiness and serenity from harrowing beginnings.
Clapton's early life was traumatic: the illegitimate son of a teenage mother, he was raised by his grandparents and told that his grandparents were his mother and father. The only difficulty with the myth was that Clapton's parentage was common knowledge in his small, English village and that Clapton discovered the truth by the age of nine. That his mother continued to repudiate Clapton until he reached adulthood only exacerbated his wounds.
Clapton's early and gargantuan success in rock music allowed him to fuel his insecurity with drugs and drink. The first half of his life, by his own account, was a train wreck, characterized by his fathering two children out of wedlock and his disastrous marriage to model Pattie Boyd, the wife of Beatle George Harrison. But Clapton, unlike so many others, finds the fortitude to beat his demons and addictions in his 40s, his desire to do so fueled by the death of his young son, Conor, and his love for creating music. The last 20 years of Clapton's life are times of sobriety and happiness, capped by a late marriage, fatherhood to three small girls, and reconciliation with his eldest daughter.
Clapton's autobiography is an unsparing tour de force. Clapton's prose is lean and understated, but he depicts his demons fully and does nothing to excuse or sugarcoat his behavior. His account of surrendering to a higher power and attaining sobriety and more lasting happiness than can be found in a bottle or a powder is moving, as is his account of mastering his emotions and working with others in recovery. Music fans will justly admire Clapton for his dedication to his art, his desire to perfect his musicianship, and his dedication to sharing the purity of the blues greats he admires.
In short, Eric Clapton has written an excellent autobiography that can be appreciated not only by fans of his music, but by anyone who admires a hard-won struggle to survive and transcend. Kudos to Eric Clapton for sharing his riveting story. Although I know little about his music, I have become a fan of Clapton, the man.
Book Review: Down to the Crossroads
Summary: 5 Stars
The first thing to note about this book is that it is written by Clapton himself, without the aid of a ghost writer, as so many rock bios are these days. This provides a far more personal and thoughtful illumination to his writing.. certainly in comparison to the drug and decadence pulp exposes of the genre.
Clapton was a dedicated diarist, which gives this book precision with respect to the events and the moods of the day. He is frankly honest about his frailties and mistakes, and gracious to people who have aided his career or passed through his life, in some cases to both of their detriments.
Clapton was the illegitimate son of a WW2 Canadian soldier, growing up in working class, post war Britain, starting his musical vocation in the British rock explosion of the mid 60's, in some of its most influential bands.
His roots are in the working man's tool and medium of electric guitar and blues. This book could well have been called Crossroads, his theme song written by Delta Blues original, Robert Johnson. It's tale of ambition and temptation, integrity and dissolution.. of a poor working man who goes to a crossroads to barter with the devil for fame and fortune. All the elements of grace, fall from grace and redemption are here.
Everyone who has lived through the last 40 years will have been touched, however tangentially, by the music that formed the score for these turbulent decades, and of which Clapton and his collaborators formed a significant part.
In many ways his life reflected that turbulence, from addictions to alcohol and heroin, love affairs infused with co-dependence and infidelity, the death his young son, and, finally, as a sober and committed family man.
He is now lives the life of a country squire, in a Tudor Manor. His hobbies are angling and shooting, and boating on his Trawler Yacht, The Blue Guitar.
It is fascinating journey of a guitar virtuoso ( he disdained the moniker of 'guitar god'), through the highs and lows. His latest tour, reprising his Blind Faith partnership with Steve Winwood attests to the resiliency of his appeal. It's been 40 years and running of primal blues driven rock, filtered through his sophisticated technique and interpretation, punctuated by a few soulful ballads. It is an absorbing read.
Book Review: Fascinating Story
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading some of the negative reviews written on this site, I delved into EC's autobiography with some skepticism. What I found was a most fascinating story covering 40 years of one of the greatest icons in the history of music. Expecting to find an egotistical tale of success(from someone actually dubbed "God"), I instead found Clapton to be an extremely humble, insecure and naive man, despite all his fame and fortune. He candidly tells his most inward thoughts and reveals many mistakes along the way.
The book begins in his early childhood when he learns his parents and brother are really his grandparents and uncle, and that his young mom wants little to do with him. This would leave any child feeling vulnerable and insecure, and Clapton is no exception. He believes this to be the cause of much of his erratic behavior and to his many poor choices of failed relationships throughout his life.
We follow him through swinging London in the '60s as he joins, and leaves, several legendary bands. Clapton explains how Cream was doomed before they even began; how he just wasn't into Blind Faith as much as he should have been; his lack of confidence was what kept him from going solo for so many years.
Clapton is painfully honest about his severe heroin and alcohol addictions, his botched suicide attempt and his obsession with Pattie Boyd. He describes how awkward it was to be good friends with George Harrison, all the while trying to steal his wife.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the humor as Clapton laughs at himself in retrospect at his naivete regarding his bizarre behavior. He discusses how he frequently brought derelicts home to his estate because he thought they might be more "real" than anyone else, but instead found them to be "barking mad and talking gibberish", with poor Pattie having to cook dinner for them all. There's the hilarious story of his being conned by a crazy woman from New York into performing spells and incantations in an attempt to win back Pattie's affections.
With this honest autobiography, Clapton has dared to lower himself from the pedestal and join the ranks of the "everyday" man who struggles to get by each day. This may be the best autobiography I have ever read.
Book Review: A revealing look at a life mostly mis-spent.
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed the book, which he apparently wrote without a ghost writer. He is quite a character. I love the fact that he loves to shop, so unstereotypically male. The story of his struggle with various addictions was heart rending, and his success was well earned.
The part about his son was beyong heartbreaking. When he was talking about his Unplugged CD, which has the song Tears In Heaven, about his son, on it, done just about a year after Conor's death, he talked about how the CD cost so little to produce, and said that if anyone wanted to know what it cost him to make the CD, they should go to Ripley and visit his son's grave. I broke down in tears at that point and am tearing up now typing this. But I loved him for his refusal to allow this tragedy to send him back to drinking. Although he doesn't state this explicitly, it seems to me that for him to have done that would have dishonored his son's memory.
The other thing that struck me was at the end of book, where he mentions that he is virtually deaf, but refuses to wear a hearing aid, because he wants to hear everything naturally, even if he can barely hear it. I can imagine that this is frustrating for his family, having to shout at him all the time. My father was hard of hearing to a degree not as severe as EC's, but it was awful trying to communicate with him, repeating stuff and having to yell to be heard. I feel for his family, and hope he changes his mind about the hearing aid....
I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't just a puff piece, but after reading it, I think I know why. Part of the AA ethos involves telling your story to other people, in order to help them not get in the same fix. I am sure that this biography is an attempt to do that, as well as the face to face "witnessing" he has no doubt done. I am also sure that profits from the book go to his Crossroads foundation, which is a place for people to get help with addictions. For that reason alone, I think people should buy the book.
I also think that a lot of people really trash him, his music and so forth, for reasons I don't understand. People seem to love him or hate him, which says more about them than about him, personally or musically, imo.