Another biography down, this one called Slowhand by Phillip Norman. Back to popular musicians of my generation. Some commonalities emerge amongst many entertainment/sports celebrities. Many had difficult childhoods. In Clapton’s case, he was born to a young single mother in England. His father was a Canadian military person who left without ever really acknowledging Clapton. His mother followed suit, abandoning Eric to her mother at a very early age. Eric was raised initially thinking his grandmother was his mother and later learning the truth. Emotional difficulties ensued, which dogged him for decades.
Like many of the rich and famous, he seemed to believe the normal rules of behavior didn’t apply to him, that he could do as he pleased without regard to the effects on others, even those as important as a wife, a musical associate, or a relative. He appeared drunk quite frequently, in wanton disregard to giving fans and audiences a performance justifying the high prices they paid for tickets to see and hear him. And, part of that misbehavior included serious addiction issues, to both heroin and alcohol. But at least in Clapton’s case, he managed to eventually right and even redeem himself. He shed his heroin addiction and after a longer period, his alcoholism. He became a leader in helping others with these addiction issues. He became more cognizant that there were other people in the world and that it might be best to consider the effects of his actions on those others, especially those to whom he was close.
He faced more than his share of tragedy–losing a very young son, losing many musical friends who died early and/or tragically. All these events led him to be a better person, which shows some depth of character not present in so many of these entertainment celebrities. And then there is the music, if you like the guitar, he really was a maestro, and his song-writing occasionally soared, with Layla, You Look Wonderful Tonight and Tears in Heaven.
I have always admired Clapton as a musician, but came to have a more nuanced perception of him as a person. Initially you are struck by what a jackass he was for so long, but as I said, his eventual redemption and reformation is unusual and praiseworthy.
Clapton is of the pantheon to those of us who were weened on the sound of his Gibson guitar. What do you think of his experience with the AZ shot? He said “I thought I would never play again”. Has your view of injury and adverse effects of these genetic experiments changed over time?
Any issues Clapton had were as likely due to his conditios caused by over 30 years of severe drug and alcohol abuse and smoking. You can’t do that without serious lasting consequences to your health. And I don’t engage in speculating about evidence-free conspiracy theories, like “genetic experiments”.
He and Van Morrison publicly stood up against a Covid authoritarian state. I respect both of them for their courage.