Heralded as the prototype guitarist in the annals of music, Eric Clapton has touched all genres and somehow etched his name into the hallowed corridors of The Hall of Fame with The Yardbirds, Cream and as a solo artist. I suspect that Derek & The Dominos might have also been included had their existence been somewhat longer. Sixties graffiti 'Slowhand', or 'Clapton is God' seemed to signal his impact on music that would endure through personal tragedy, divorce and conquered demons from the excess of the entertainment world. A lifetime friendship with George Harrison would emerge and continue even after Patti Boyd left George to forge a relationship with Clapton,an event that culminated in marriage, 1979. Derek & The Dominos was a project that would allow Clapton to free himself from personal adulation and become a member of a band with equal celebratory parts. The band was not the blessed entity Clapton was in search of as Radle succumbed to kidney failure at age 37, a repercussion to excessive drugs and liquor, Whitlock and Clapton somehow alienated from each other for three decades, until lately, Jim Gordon is in a mental institution and of course, Duane Allan died after a fateful ride on his Harley in Macon, Georgia, 1971

Later years would see a hospital in Antigua built by Clapton and initially utilizing money from auctions of his most noted guitars. Tours have abounded annually implementing other famed players and inclusive of Stevie Ray Vaughan prior to his fateful ride in Wisconsin in 1990, Jimmy Vaughan, Mark Knopfler, BB King and Derek Trucks. At times the precision and dexterity of Clapton is taken for granted after 45 years as a gifted artist but sold-out venues across the land are evidence that he remains the King of ?rock royalty? and his influence on neoteric bands of the day is easily verified. The current tour deftly illustrates the magnitude of his career augmented by other great musicians, inclusive of Chris Stainton, a keyboard player of renown that Clapton claims is the best ever. To persevere can be difficult, to transcend with a level of grandeur would seem impossible but, greatest cannot be tempered by the passing of years, a trait that exudes from Clapton on a yearly basis. May he play for another 100 years, and we all live a day longer to witness the gifts of the world's greatest guitar player.

Cheers
Don Aters - 6/4/2008