198 1 year, at the invitation of producer Martin Levis, participated in the charity performance of Amnesty International. These performances heralded the return of clapton.
From 65438 to 0984, he accompanied roger waters's solo album and toured with Watt after the album was released. They have always maintained a deep friendship. In 2005, they once again joined hands to participate in the benefit performance of the Tsunami Relief Fund. On May 20, 2006, the two performed together in Heikley Castle, supporting the rural alliance, and performed "I wish you were here" and "Comfortable numbness".
From 65438 to 0980, clapton continued to release new works, including two records by phill colins. One is Behind the Sun released from 65438 to 0985, and there are two popular songs, Forever Man and She's Waiting. Another record is August published by 1986.
August, a perfect interpretation of Collins' distinctive drums, is clapton's best-selling record in Britain so far, pushing his musical achievements to a new position. The first and third song "It's in the way you use it" is the soundtrack of the film "The Color of Money" co-produced by Tom Cruise and paul newman. Other popular songs are Run, Tear Us apart and Miss You. 1985, clapton and michael kamen collaborated to compose the music for the TV series The Edge of Darkness, and won the British Academy TV Award from BBC TV.
From 65438 to 0989, clapton released the album "The ascetic monk", which paid equal attention to art and commerce. Song styles range from blues to jazz and pop music. Partners include george harrison, phill colins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, mick jones, David sanborn and Robert Cray.
The repetition of tragedy
In 1984, clapton and Betty were still married. He began to associate with yvonne Kelly and gave birth to a daughter named Ruth in 1985. Clapton and yvonne kept the birth of their child a secret. 1989 Hurricane Hugo swept through Montserrat, and Yvonne's "Sir George R.R. Martin and John Burgess Studio" was closed. Yvonne and Ruth moved back to England, and the story of Eric's secret daughter was also disclosed in the newspaper. Ruth said a lyric from clapton 1998 album Pilgrims.
Connor, the son of clapton and Italian model Lory Del Santo, was born in August 1986 (the album August was named after his son's birthday).
Clapton and Betty formally divorced on 1989.
From 65438 to 0990, tragedy came to clapton's life twice. 1On August 27th, 990, the guitarist Jimmy Reeu Vaughan who worked with clapton and two other members died in a helicopter crash. Soon, in the early morning of March 20th 199 1, Connor, who was only four and a half years old, fell from the window of her mother's apartment on the 53rd floor of new york due to the carelessness of her nanny. Clapton wrote the pain of losing his son into his single Tears of Heaven. This song is also the theme song of the movie Rush, which was later included in the album Unplugged and won a Grammy Award. This song sings:
"If I meet you in heaven, do you remember my name?
If I meet you in heaven, will you and I be the same as before?
I will be strong, I know I don't belong in heaven ... "
If I see you in heaven, will you know my name?
If I see you in heaven, will it be the same?
I must be strong and stick to it, because I know I don't believe in heaven … 1996, clapton's film "Change the World" won the Grammy Award for Best Song of the Year. 65438-0997 recorded the electronic music album Retail Therapy. The following year, he released the album Pilgrims.
From 65438 to 0996, clapton was associated with Sheryl Crow, a singer and songwriter. Their relationship did not last long. It is said that Cher's My Favorite Mistake is about their love. So far, the two have maintained friendship.
From 65438 to 0999, 54-year-old clapton met 23-year-old painter Maria mcnary in Los Angeles. They got married in clapton's hometown of ripley in 2002. They have three daughters, Julie Ross (born in 200 1 year), Ella May (born in 2003) and Sophie (born in 2005). He wrote the song "Three Little Girls" for them.
In 200 1 year, clapton released the Reptiles album.
From June 5th to1October, 2002, clapton staged a George concert in Royal Albert Hall to commemorate the first anniversary of george harrison's death. The concert brought together paul mccartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynn, tom petty and other superstars.
Clapton held a concert tour in Japan in 2003. In the same year, Rolling Stone magazine selected 100 of the greatest artists, and clapton ranked 53rd. [16] In this list, he ranks second among the guitarists who are still alive, after B.B. Kim.
In 2004, clapton released two albums in memory of legendary blues musician robert johnson. The album Mr. Johnson and I includes Love in vain, The Last Fair Trade and They are Red. Another album, Sessions For Robert J, was released in February of the same year in 65438+, which included some tracks that Mr. Johnson and I did not use.
On June 7th, 2006, 165438+ He co-released the album The Road to Escondido with J.J. Carr. This CD contains 14 songs, which were recorded in California in August 2005, including blues, rock and country music. This album has been welcomed by fans all over the world.
Christopher Simon Sykes' official memoir of clapton will be published in 2007. It is reported that the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2005 sold 4 million dollars. Clapton has worked with many artists. He mentioned that Fred King, B.B. King, Albert King and Buddy Guy had a great influence on his guitar playing, especially robert johnson. On the cover of the album Mr. Johnson and I, I wrote:
"It is worth noting that there is a person who has greatly inspired and influenced me in my music career ... I always think this is the key to my music foundation ... I am talking about robert johnson."
It's a great thing to be driven and influenced by one person's works ... I admit that this has always been the cornerstone of my music foundation ... I'm talking about robert johnson, of course.
In the article "Approaching robert johnson" written by eric clapton, he mentioned again:
"I think robert johnson is the greatest blues musician. He is undoubtedly the person who has brought me into the music hall for thirty years. I have never met anyone with more passion than robert johnson. There is the most powerful cry in his music ... "
To me, robert johnson is the most important blues musician ever. He is absolutely faithful to his vision. Although I have been immersed in music for the past 30 years, I have never found anyone more affectionate than robert johnson. His music is still the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice. Although clapton's grandparents told him all the truth about his life, the exact identity of his father remained a mystery for many years. Clapton only knows that his father's name is Edward Flair, and there is no more information. This is the root of clapton's anxiety. In his work My Father's Eyes 1988, he wrote:
"How did I come into this world? When will all my wishes come true? ... when I saw my father's eyes. "
How did I get here? When will all my hopes come true? ... when I look into my father's eyes. )
Michael, a traveler from Toronto, set out to solve the mystery. He investigated the service files of the Canadian army, searched all the people named Edward Flair, and finally found the truth. His father's full name is Edward W. Flair. He was born in Montreal on February1,1920, and died in North York on May 1985. Flair is a musician (piano and saxophone). He has been wandering all his life, married several times and had several children. Obviously, he never knew he was eric clapton's father.
guitar
Clapton's story about electric guitar is as famous as his personal experience. Together with The Beatles and jimi hendrix, he played an important role in promoting the popularization of electric guitars.
Early in his acting career, he used Gibson guitar and Fanta guitar. 1965, he bought a "Gibson les paul" guitar produced by 1960, and became a Gibson player. He used this guitar during the "John Mayow and Bruce Destroyer Band".
While in cream, his precious Gibson Paul standard guitar was unfortunately stolen, and he continued to use other Gibson guitars, such as Gibson Firebird and Gibson ES-335. But his most famous guitar is Gibson SG (1964). That guitar is famous for its special psychedelic appearance. 1967 In the early days, before their first American concert, clapton's SG, Bruce's Fender VI and Baker's drums were all repainted with popular psychedelic colors.
Clapton used Gibson Paul guitar in The Beatles's album When My Guitar Crys Gently. He lent his SG guitar to singer Jackie Lomax, and soon Lomax sold it to musician Todd Derungren for $500. Landegren renovated the guitar and named it "Sunshine" after the song "Sunshine You Love". Landegren liked this guitar very much, and he used it in the mid-1970s until he retired in 1977. In 2000, he repaired the guitar again and sold it at an auction for $654.38+$500,000.
Clapton was addicted to heroin from 1969 to 1974, and he had to sell some guitars he collected to pay for drugs. Pete Townshend, a good friend, watched him sell his favorite collection and decided to help him quit drug addiction.
Another anecdote linking clapton's guitar with Townsend happened in Hyde Rock Cafe. 197 1 year, clapton was a frequent visitor to Hyde Rock Coffee Shop next to Hyde Park in London. He gave his signature guitar to the coffee shop, which proved that it was his favorite place. Townsend also signed one of his guitars. "Mine is as good as his, Pat." Mine is as good as his! Love, Pete. Since then, collecting precious souvenirs has become a special atmosphere of Hyde Rock Cafe.
After that, clapton began to use Fender strato Stratocaster under the influence of others. The first one is "Brownie". 197 1 year album Leila and other assorted love songs used this guitar. Later, he changed to "Xiaohei", one of the most famous guitars in clapton, which was used until the guitar was scrapped in 1985.
1988, Fanta Company launched the guitar named after clapton-"Eric Clapton Strato Strato Caster", and Yngwie Malmsteen also won this honor.
1999, clapton auctioned some guitars from his collection, totaling 5 million dollars, and donated them to the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which he founded in 1997 to treat drug addicts and alcoholics. In 2004, clapton participated in the Guitar Festival in the Crossroads Center to raise money for the charity performance of the Center. Another auction was held on June 24, 2004. These items include guitars collected by cream and guitars donated by other good friends, and the total amount raised is $7438624.