Eric Clapton - An Illegitimate Son of A Soldier

On this thirteenth birthday, an English boy - an illegitimate son of a soldier - picked up his first acoustic guitar from his grandparents.

Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so challenging he almost gave up. He practised for many long hours, hanging on to learn chords and trying to imitate and mimic the sounds and tone of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape machine.

Soon after finding that the study of stained glass design at England's Kingston College of Art wasn't right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End before bringing together his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. Fromthat point onwards, Eric Clapton went on to a sensational musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.

His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues ('Me & Mr Johnson'), pop ('Change the world') and reggae ('I shot the sheriff'). Nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his string-bending blues riffs, Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was 'christened' Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage ...and let everone wait...including the audience.

With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?

Article Source: ArticlesMaker.com

About the Author: Are you a blues musician? Get over 50 blues backing tracks for guitar, harmonica or harp at 50 Blues Studios. Listen free samples of guitar backing tracks and start jamming right now. Visit 50 Blues today - Your #1 Blues Guitarist Resource. 

Next and Previous Articles

Next Article - Blues Guitar Lessons - The Best Way To Learn
Previous Article - Playing Live with Guitar Backing Tracks

Article Statistics

ArticlesMaker.com » Arts-and-entertainment » Music » Eric Clapton - An Illegitimate Son of A Soldier

Author: ZackR.  |  Total views: 39  |  Word Count: 260