7 Bob Marley 7

the best-selling reggae album ever, with international sales

of more than 12 million copies.

Eric Clapton

(b. March 30, 1945, Ripley, Surrey, Eng.)

B

ritish rock musician Eric Clapton (born Eric Patrick

Clapp) was a highly influential guitarist in the late

1960s and early 1970s and later became a major singer-

songwriter.

Clapton was raised by his grandparents after his mother

abandoned him at an early age. He began playing the guitar

in his teens and briefly studied at the Kingston College of

Art. After playing lead guitar with two minor bands, in

1963 he joined the Yardbirds, a rhythm-and-blues group in

which his blues-influenced playing and commanding

technique began to attract attention. Clapton left the

Yardbirds in 1965 when they pursued commercial success

with a pop-oriented style. That same year he joined John

Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and his guitar playing soon became

the group’s principal drawing card as it attracted a fanatic

following on the London club scene.

In 1966 Clapton left the Bluesbreakers to form a new

band with two other virtuoso rock musicians, bassist

Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker. This group,

Cream, achieved international popularity with its sophis-

ticated, high-volume fusion of rock and blues that

featured improvisatory solos. Clapton’s mastery of

blues form and phrasing, his rapid runs, and his plain-

tive vibrato were widely imitated by other rock

guitarists. The high energy and emotional intensity of

his playing on such songs as “Crossroads” and “White Room”

set the standard for the rock guitar solo. Cream dis-

banded in late 1968, however, after having recorded such