Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton

by Philip Norman

Overview

From the bestselling author of Shout!, comes the definitive biography of Eric Clapton, a Rock legend whose life story is as remarkable as his music, which transformed the sound of a generation.

For half a century Eric Clapton has been acknowledged to be one of music's greatest virtuosos, the unrivalled master of an indispensable tool, the solid-body electric guitar. His career has spanned the history of rock, and often shaped it via the seminal bands with whom he's played: the Yardbirds, John Mavall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes. Winner of 17 Grammys, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's only three-time inductee, he is an enduring influence on every other star soloist who ever wielded a pick.

Now, with Clapton's consent and access to family members and close friends, rock music's foremost biographer returns to the heroic age of British rock and follows Clapton through his distinctive and scandalous childhood, early life of reckless rock 'n' roll excess, and twisting & turning struggle with addiction in the 60s and 70s. Readers will learn about his relationship with Pattie Boyd — wife of Clapton's own best friend George Harrison — the tragic death of his son, which inspired one of his most famous songs, "Tears in Heaven," and even the backstories of his most famed, and named, guitars.

Packed with new information and critical insights, Slowhand finally reveals the complex character behind a living legend.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316560436
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/30/2018
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Philip Norman is the bestselling biographer of Buddy Holly, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Elton John, and Mick Jagger, and the author of the classic Beatles biography Shout! He is also a novelist and playwright. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Clockwork Strawberry 1

Introduction: The Supersurvivor 15

Chapter 1 Rick 25

Chapter 2 Pat 41

Chapter 3 Troubadour 53

Chapter 4 Rooster to Engineer 67

Chapter 5 Yardbird 78

Chapter 6 Journeyman 89

Chapter 7 Bluesbreaker 106

Chapter 8 Just Like Freddie 121

Chapter 9 Stiggy 133

Chapter 10 NSU 146

Chapter 11 The Pheasantry 163

Chapter 12 'Fuck! I'm Rich!' 177

Chapter 13 Into the Woods 192

Chapter 14 Million-Dollar Timebomb 213

Chapter 15 The Domino Effect 231

Chapter 16 Fanfare for Eric 247

Chapter 17 The Black Box 264

Chapter 18 E+P 280

Chapter 19 Wonderful Tonight? 298

Chapter 20 'God Bless Our Wedlock' 319

Chapter 21 Made in Montserrat 335

Chapter 22 Captain Smirnoff 352

Chapter 23 'Please, Just Don't Cry 368

Chapter 24 A Place to Stand 384

Chapter 25 'The Hem of God's Garment' 402

Acknowledgements 417

Index 421

Editorial Reviews

10/29/2018
Norman (Paul McCartney: The Life) reveals little that’s unknown about Eric Clapton’s life and music in this straightforward yet enjoyable biography, written with Clapton’s consent (though Clapton himself was not interviewed). Norman draws on conversations with the guitarist’s friends, music associates, and family to chronicle Clapton’s rise to fame, from his early years in art school through the formation of his various bands such as Derek and the Dominoes and Cream, as well as his love affair with and marriage to Pattie Boyd (once George Harrison’s wife). Norman also writes about Clapton’s heroin and alcohol addiction; the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, in 1991; and his development of the Crossroads guitar festivals, starting in 2004. Norman notes that, despite his superstardom, Clapton remains a sensitive, sometimes reclusive musician who seems never satisfied with either his own guitar playing or the bands he abruptly left: the Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Cream. Norman does unveil one feature of Clapton’s life that’s not widely known: the guitarist’s deep love of fine fashion (he bought 50% of shares in England’s famous J.C. Cording men’s store in 2004 and became its design director). In this thorough book, Norman hits all the important notes, and Clapton emerges as a person more comfortable with his fretboard than with other people. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-11-02

The renowned guitar superhero emerges as "supersurvivor" in this authoritative biography.

In the latest of his long list of accomplished rock biographies, novelist and playwright Norman (Paul McCartney: The Life, 2016, etc.) turns to Eric Clapton (b. 1945). The author concluded that Clapton's own autobiography was the only "formidable deterrent" to writing one, but he felt it withheld "as much as it revealed." Written with Clapton's approval and access to family members and close friends, Norman's fine biography, both objective and sympathetic, envisions Clapton as "one of the most thoroughly dissolute rockers of olden times" who became the "most thoroughly reformed." His unmarried mother asked her mother, Rose, to adopt baby Eric, and he grew up believing her to be his mother. The music of Buddy Holly impressed him mightily, and Clapton was much taken by Holly's Fender Stratocaster: "That's the future. That's what I want." His doting grandmother bought him a basic guitar, and he practiced by listening to records. At the heart of the book is Clapton's constant quest for the right band and the right guitars to get the right blues sound. After playing with fledging bands like the Roosters and Engineers, he got his big break with the Yardbirds, famous for their impromptu "rave-ups." During this "CLAPTON IS GOD" (as a London graffito read) period, he got his famous nickname, "Slow-handclapton." More bands followed, including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith. Clapton also changed girlfriends as often as he changed bands. Norman describes his subject as a notorious "womaniser on the scale of Mick Jagger, a sex addict before the term was invented." George Harrison was Clapton's best friend, but he seduced and later married Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd; Clapton wrote "Layla" for her. Norman discusses in detail Clapton's yearslong, devastating addictions to heroin and alcohol and provides countless fascinating stories about his fellow rockers.

Extremely knowledgeable about the rock music scene, Norman tells Clapton's story with verve and insight.

Kirkus Reviews

"Norman chronicles Clapton's life and music from the Yardbirds and Cream through his solo career."—No Depression

"The renowned guitar superhero emerges as 'supersurvivor' in this authoritative biography...Extremely knowledgeable about the rock music scene, Norman tells Clapton's story with verve and insight."—Kirkus

"Among music book scribes, Philip Norman stands near the top in terms of influence and skill. Now, he turns his attention to classic rock's most revered guitarist and often reluctant front man, Eric Clapton. Norman's stab... will likely go down as the definitive work of the man ... a comprehensive and deep dive into a singular pool of talent."—Houston Press

"Comprehensive and illuminating."—The Washington Post

"An intimate tour of his personal white room with black curtains."—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the Publisher