By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of
his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of
the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations — The Yardbirds,
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith —
affiliations that had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist
of his generation. That it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however,
was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for one of his stature. And
his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typical
of his self-effacing approach: it was, in effect, an album by the group he
had lately been featured in, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.
Not surprisingly, before his solo debut had even been released, Clapton
had retreated from his solo stance, assembling from the D&B&F ranks
the personnel for a group, Derek and the Dominos, with which he played
for most of 1970. Clapton was largely inactive in 1971 and 1972, due to heroin
addiction, but he performed a comeback concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London
on January 13, 1973, resulting in the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert
(September 1973).
But Clapton did not launch a sustained solo career until July 1974, when
he released 461 Ocean Boulevard, which topped the charts and spawned the number
one single "I Shot the Sheriff."
The persona Clapton established over the next decade was less that of guitar
hero than arena rock star with a weakness for ballads. The follow-ups to 461
Ocean Boulevard, There's One in Every Crowd (March 1975), the
live E.C. Was Here (August 1975), and No Reason to Cry (August
1976), were less successful. But Slowhand (November 1977), which featured
both the powerful "Cocaine" (written by JJ Cale, who had also written "After
Midnight") and the hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight,"
was a million-seller. Its follow-ups, Backless (November 1978), featuring
the Top Ten hit "Promises," the live Just One Night (April 1980),
and Another Ticket (February 1981), featuring the Top Ten hit "I Can't
Stand It," were all big sellers.
Clapton's popularity waned somewhat in the first half of the '80s, as the
albums Money and Cigarettes (February 1983), Behind the Sun
(March 1985), and August (November 1986) indicated a certain career
stasis. But he was buoyed up by the release of the box set retrospective Crossroads
(April 1988), which seemed to remind his fans of how great he was.
Journeyman (November 1989) was a return to form.
It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years, though in the
interim he would suffer greatly and enjoy surprising triumph. On March 20,
1991, Clapton's four-year-old son was killed in a fall. While he mourned,
he released a live album, 24 Nights (October 1991), culled from his
annual concert series at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and prepared a movie
soundtrack, Rush (January 1992). The soundtrack featured a song written
for his son, "Tears in Heaven," that became a massive hit single.
In March 1992, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that, when released
on an album in August, became his biggest-selling record ever. Two years later,
Clapton returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became
one of his most successful albums, both commercially and critically. Crossroads
2: Live in the '70s, a box set chronicling his live work from the '70s,
was released to mixed reviews. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by
the pseudonym "x-sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer Simon Climie
as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail
Therapy to mixed reviews in early 1997.
Clapton retained Climie as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first
album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. Pilgrim was greeted
with decidedly mixed reviews upon its spring 1998 release, but the album
debuted at number four and stayed in the Top 10 for several weeks on the
success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with
old friend BB King on Riding With the King, a set of blues standards
and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing entitled
Reptile followed in early 2001.