Eric Clapton
L'autobiografia

LA RECENSIONE

In 2007, Eric Clapton wrote his first official autobiography, which would later be published in Italy in 2008 by Sperling & Kupfler.

In this superb work, Eric bares himself as never before, telling us all about his private life in the smallest details without holding back anything, with the intention of making anyone who feels like he did in the glorious '70s and '80s feel less alone or be of help. 

He narrates the sense of confusion that gripped him in those years. The same confusion that inevitably led him down the dead-end road of drugs and alcohol. A dead-end road for many, perhaps, but not for him, as he eventually managed to emerge from that tunnel with much tenacity, commitment, and strength of mind (despite various relapses), which for many years led him to marginalize himself from society and withdraw into himself.

Another fundamental factor that truly helped him say enough was the death of his son Conor (born with Lory Del Santo). The author also talks about his relationship with the young Lory, which was a shaky story from the beginning, and illustrates the dispute with "Beatle" George Harrison (one of his closest friends) over the beautiful model Pattie Boyd, who was first married to George.

Obviously, the book also talks about Eric's special relationship with music and particularly with the guitar. It is very fascinating the way we are presented with the evolution of his artistic career, from the purchase of his first guitar (described as a product of very poor quality) to the first time he was compared to God, from his first experience in a band (the Yardbirds) to becoming the most in-demand guitarist in England, from Cream to his solo career in our days.

In short, a book, first and foremost fluid and well-written, even if perhaps not translated in the best way, but which still manages to be exciting even for those who are not fans of Eric thanks to its typical ingredients of the lavish life of a rockstar, like sex, drugs, alcohol but also music, talent, love stories, betrayals, and tragedies. So, a lot of music but above all it is the story of a strong man, self-confident yet at the same time fragile, sincere, and philanthropic.

All this and more is what composed Eric's life, a simple man who became a LEGEND!

Countless musicians started playing at a young age with mediocre and sometimes handcrafted instruments, and many of them achieved unimaginable heights, becoming true idols of the masses, but only one saw his name placed alongside that of God on a wall of a station.

THAT MAN IS ERIC "SLOWHAND" CLAPTON.