Book Review

Clapton - The Autobiography
Eric Clapton

I picked this book up at the library a number of weeks back. It sounded interesting. I really didn't know much about Eric Clapton's life, just that he was involved in lots of bands over the years, and the song Tears in Heaven was written when his boy died.

I had picked up the book in case I needed something to read during the election, but I didn't have any time that day to get any reading in. (I really didn't get any eating in either.) When I finally got started on the book, it was vaguely familiar of the old VH1 Behind the Music shows they used to do: "A great artist. Look back at his troubled past, all the way back to his childhood. A life of trouble, addictions, and more trouble..."

It didn't help that when he was in middle school, he learned his Mother was really his Grandmother, and his sister was really his Mom. (This is revealed very early on.) He was kicked out of school, and as he started his music career, got hooked on alcohol and drugs. (Does any of these things sound like Behind the Music to you?

The story of his musical career and songs was very interesting. He was friends with all kinds of rock and roll people from back in the days. (Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc, etc.) He was friends with George Harrison, and eventually marrying George Harrison's wife.

It turns out that he's an alcoholic, and the book finally takes a more positive spin after he finally gets sober. As all good VH1 Behind the Music episode goes, it sounds like he had a happy ending. He's continued sober for 20 years, he built a therapy center to help people, and now has a 'normal' family.

I always liked his music, or at least most of it, anyway. (He's got some songs out there that are not very thinly veiled drug songs.) Reading the book kind of kept a constant soundtrack running in my head. One other Clapton CD I kind of have a hard time with is the "Unplugged" one. I don't like the slow acoustic Layla, and on my mission, I had a missionary in my apartment when I was on crutches that was having problems, and played that CD very loud, over and over, until I couldn't take it anymore. I told him to stop playing the thing, "or else." His response was "Or else what?", and he turned the music up louder. I got up out of my bed, on the crutches, and went to his room, opened his CD player, took the disk out, and smashed it against his dresser. This made him pretty mad, he tried to shove me over, and said "I'm telling President!" I simply said "you're gonna tell President what, exactly?", and hobbled off. I owned the CD back home then, and still do, but really haven't listened to it too much since.

Anyhow, sorry for the aside there. The book is interesting, it sounds like he wrote it himself, and has a very honest feel to it. It makes me glad I don't have a VH1 Behind the Music type of life, that's for sure.