Eric Clapton tour and biographical info

Eric Clapton is known as one of the best blues guitarists if not the best rock guitarist of all time by many. He got his first real musical break with The Yardbirds in 1963 and would stay with the band until 1965. The Yardbirds were made up of Keith Relf (vocals, harmonica), Chris Dreja (rhythm guitar), Jim McCarty (drums), Paul Samwell-Smith (bass), Anthony "Top" Topham (lead guitar). Topham was replaced by Eric Clapton in late 1963. Clapton was replaced by another great guitarist, Jeff Beck in early 1965. And believe it or not one of the other great rock guitarists, Jimmy Page was also a member of the band in mid-1966. After leaving the Yardbirds, Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April 1965. In that year he released an album called Blues Breakers which established him as a great blues guitarist. Clapton had a signature sound  with his 1960 Les Paul guitar, and even had guitar aficionados saying or writing "Clapton is God" on city walls. in 1965, Clapton left the Bluesbreakers forming the band Cream. Cream was made up of Clapton, Jack Bruce (also of Manfred Mann and the Graham Bond Organization) and Ginger Baker. Clapton began to develop his singing ability and song writing with the band. Jack Bruce sang a good amount of the songs which was combined beautifully with Clapton's unbelievable guitar play and instrumental force. This forceful combination helped Cream sell over 15 million records producing hits like "White Room", "Sunshine of your Love", "Crossroads", "Strange Brew", "I Feel Free", and "Badge" just to name a few. The song Badge apparently also influenced Harrison in his writing of Here Comes the Sun. Harrison and Clapton were such good friends that Clapton also played on the Beatles song, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", adding a great guitar solo to the song. Cream eventually disbanded in 1968 and in 69' Clapton produced a short album with Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker under the moniker "Blind Faith".

In 1970 Clapton finally went solo and produced a great record appropriately titled "Eric Clapton". On the record Clapton produced the hits "Let It Rain" and a up beat cover still popular to this day of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight". In the spring of 1970, Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos with Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon, who had all played with him in Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band joined the group early in the recording of their first album including what most consider to be one of Eric's best songs, "Layla". The song was influenced by Clapton's infatuation with George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd. Clapton was seeing Pattie secretly at the time, and later in 1974 Clapton and her married. After battles with drugs including heroin, Clapton wouldn't release another album until 1974's "461 Ocean Boulevard" which contained the hit cover "I Shot The Sheriff". His new band released a 1975 live LP, E.C. Was Here after a successful concert tour with the band. In 1975, Clapton released the album There's One In Every Crowd which contained records very similar to 461. Some of Clapton's new material was critically acclaimed but not accepted by wide audiences. One notable album was Slowhand which featured "Wonderful Tonight", a second cover by J.J. Cale, "Cocaine", which is still a huge classic rock hit, and the musically charged, "The Core".  During this period Eric Clapton concert tickets were as popular as ever, as his tours sold out standing room only arenas nationwide.

In the 1980's Clapton came out with 2 albums produced with Phil Collins. 1985's Behind the Sun with the hit songs "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting" and 1986's August. One hit from the album August was, "It's In The Way That You Use It", which was very popular in the U.S. and UK and was used in the movie, The Color of Money. In the early 1990s tragedy would strike to the heart of Clapton. His son Conor, who was only four and a half years old died when he fell from a 53rd-story window while jumping on his bed in his parents' New York City apartment. Clapton's sorrow was evident in one of his most beautiful ballads, "Tears in Heaven" written shortly after for the soundtrack to the 1991 movie Rush. In 1992, Clapton would also release one of his most famous albums to date, Eric Clapton Unplugged. The album consisted of live tracks from his acoustic performance at Bray Studios in London and was shown on MTV. The album consisted of a reworked acoustic/slow version of Layla that is almost a totally different song than the original. The acoustic version prompted a renewed interest in many for Clapton's material and the album won 2 Grammy Awards (Rock Male vocal and album of the year). In 1994 Clapton released "From The Cradle" which contained new versions of old blues standards. Clapton also would release the hit pop song "Change the World" in 96 which was on the soundtrack to the movie Phenomenon. The song won a Grammy award for song of the year in 1997. In 97, he recorded Retail Therapy, a little known album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the moniker TDF. In 1999 Clapton would marry again to a 25 year-old graphic artist named Melia McEnery in Los Angeles. As of today, they have three daughters, Julia Rose (2001), Ella May (2003), and Sophie (2005). In 2005, Clapton initiated the revival of Cream, playing concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall in May and New York's Madison Square Garden in October 2005. In 2006 it was announced that Derek Trucks would join Clapton's band for his 2006 and 2007 tour. The 2006/07 tour is sure to be a great Eric Clapton tour featuring classic hits as well as signature blues jams and new material. Eric Clapton concert tickets are sure to be some of the hardest tickets to obtain online anywhere and if you want to sit in premium seats you want to use ABCtickets.com today!