Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton

Accompanied by unpublished photographs and a discography, the first full-scale biography of the Grammy Award-winning blues guitarist covers his heroin addiction, his divorce, the accidental death of his four-year-old son, and his renewed fame.

Schumacher (Dharma Lion: The Biography of Allen Ginsberg) here chronicles the life and career of the reclusive British blues performer. Brought up by his grandparents after his unwed mother deserted him, Clapton taught himself to play the guitar and by age 25 had toured the world with the Yardbirds, the Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith?and become a star. Then he began to drift in and out of the spotlight, spending long periods in seclusion while his management and his record company struggled to keep him in the public eye. Schumacher covers a tale of unhappy personal relationships, a failed marriage, drug and alcohol addiction and the tragic death of the performer's infant son, while giving full account of Clapton's significant accomplishments as guitarist and vocalist, his forays into rock and his performances and recordings. Clapton, now 50, seems to be making a comeback despite his depressing story. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Guitar hero, junkie, Beatle-wife-stealer, aggrieved father, born-again bluesman--Eric Clapton's career has had enough twists and turns for several rock stars. Schumacher examines Clapton's travails and chronicles their effects. Like many of his peers, Clapton expresses personal ups and downs in his music. For instance, Patti Harrison was the inspiration for the shimmering hit, "Layla" ; Schumacher examines that connection as well as the relationship with fellow guitar hero Duane Allman that made the recording possible. Schumacher also recounts Clapton's interactions with Howlin' Wolf, Delaney Bramlett, and the 1960s psychedelic scene. He makes the point that Clapton followed rather than set fashions: Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan inspired his frizzy sixties hairdo; the Beatles inspired the psychedelic art with which his supergroup Cream surrounded itself; and Dylan and the Band inspired the laid-back sound he adopted after Cream broke up. Eventually, Schumacher brings us up to date: Clapton, once hailed as God by London subway graffiti, has come a long way. This is a necessary addition to the pop-music library. Mike Tribby