Slowhand is a nickname given to one of today’s great guitarists, Eric Clapton, and slow he is not.

He was born on March 30, 1945 in a pleasant suburb in Surrey, England.

Eric, who is considered by many people to be one of the greats of the guitar world, has been involved musically in blues, rock, and psychedelic rock.

And his achievements have been recognised by the winning of Grammy Awards, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The first band that he joined, in 1963, was the Yardbirds, and he stayed with them until 1965 by which time he felt that they were moving into pop, and he wanted to stay with the blues.

And he did so by joining John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, who helped Eric establish himself as an all time great Blues guitarist.

But he did not stay with them for very long, breaking away and forming the all time great band Cream, where he developed not only as a guitarist, but as a singer and songwriter.

Cream would break up two years later however in 1968. Eric Clapton either played with and/or started a number of other successful groups before taking a career break because of personal issues in the 1970s and has sporadically released solo albums since then.

Some of his solo albums include: Theres One in Every Crowd, Another Ticket, Reptile, Sessions for Robert J, and Back Home.

This brief look at the life of that musical icon, Eric Clapton, is one of a series of articles that I am writing on great performers. If you would like to be kept posted as each article comes out then please go to my website (see below) where you will find my email address. Simply write to me and ask to be kept updated.