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Saw Eric Clapton in Lakeland, Florida in the late 1970's. Ditched my friends who were always late and got to the open seating venue in the 2nd row.

Eric Clapton Bell Bottom Blues, a classic.

LONDON/MOSCOW/BEIJING, May 23 (Yonhap) — Kim Jong-chol attended an Eric Clapton concert in London for the second time this week, but where the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un headed Saturday remained unknown. He had been scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Saturday from Moscow on his way to Pyongyang, a source with knowledge of the stopover said. However, the name of Jong-chol was not on the registry of the flight from London to Moscow, according to the source. He also wasn’t seen at the Beijing airport Saturday.

"I'm talkin' about The Hero, now..."From Eric Clapton's 'Crossroads 2010' last year- it don't get any better than this... After opening for such major bands as Humble Pie and Janis Joplin when they played Texas, ZZ Top were making themselves known. 1973's Tres Hombres completed the task when it went all the way to #8 on the Billboard Album chart. The record featured the single "La Grange", which of course went on to be a concert staple that has played on FM radio forever (although the first time I heard it was on AM radio when I was eleven!). In January 1973 ZZ Top was asked by Mick...

Eric Clapton with Pattie Boyd Derek and the Dominos were a blues-rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton along with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. The band released only one studio album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, featuring major contributions from guitarist Duane Allman working with the band as a session musician. The album went on to receive critical acclaim, but initially faltered in sales and in radio airplay. Although released in 1970 it was not until March 1972 that the album's single 'Layla' (a tale of then-unrequited love...

So according to WikiLeaks, Kim Jong-Il asked Clapton to perform in Pyongyang. Apparently, Kim’s younger son is a big fan. Reportedly, Slowhand was considering doing the show as a good-will gesture, but balked at some of the conditions the regime would impose, including those on this list, obtained exclusively by WikiLeaks: * Dissolute capitalist musician will make good talk of Kim’s wisdom and concern for people. * Dissolute capitalist musician will make good talk of tour of modern Pyongyang urban setting, happy citizens, yummy barbeque. * Dissolute capitalist musician will provide phone number of Cheryl Crowe.

Guitar legend Eric Clapton increased his fortune by hundreds of thousands of pounds when a Norfolk auctioneer put his collection of bespoke shotguns under the hammer. Clapton is an avid collector of ornately-crafted British weapons - and decades of rock royalties means he has been able to amass a sizeable collection of the finest available. But in an effort to make some space in his gun room, the man who - lyrically at least - “shot the sheriff” with his 1974 hit single, accepted bids for seven lots at the sale by specialist auctioneers Holt's. The lots sold included a...

"We found this fascinating series of photos from the archives of LIFE magazine, giving readers a peek inside the homes of the parents/grandparents of some of the most influential musical artists from the 1970's, including the likes of Frank Zappa [above], Grace Slick, The Jackson Five, Elton John, Eric Clapton and many more previewed below..."

On a warm Friday evening in the summer of 1965, I was dragged to a Guildford, Surrey dance club called the Ricky Tick by a reluctant cousin. He had come to meet his girlfriend, but I had come to see John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and their new guitarist, Eric Clapton. What I heard that evening was, for me, epiphanal. I recall later telling my father, who was dying at the time, that I’d heard a man bend guitar strings until they sounded like someone singing. I began to understand why fellow Mods wrote “Clapton is God” on the walls of the...

N. Korea invites Eric Clapton to play Pyongyang Feb. 26 2008 CTV.ca News Staff Musicians may be at the forefront in helping thaw diplomatic relations between North Korea and the international community. On the same day that the New York Philharmonic performed in the communist country, the North Korean embassy in London has confirmed reports that rock legend Eric Clapton has been officially invited to perform in the communist country. The North Korean president's son is apparently a big fan of Clapton's music. Clapton spokesperson Kristen Foster says the musician has not made any firm commitments. "Eric Clapton receives numerous...

N Korea strikes chord with Clapton invite By Anna Fifield in Pyongyang Published: February 25 2008 22:08 | Last updated: February 25 2008 22:08 North Korea has invited Eric Clapton to perform in Pyongyang in a highly unusual move that could see the English guitarist playing in the world’s most isolated state next year. The invitation will boost hopes that North Korea is growing more interested in building cultural bridges to the outside world, even as diplomatic negotiations over its nuclear programme stall. The New York Philharmonic will perform in Pyongyang tonight. The North Korean State Symphony Orchestra plans to...

Eric Clapton rethinks playing 'Cocaine' By The Associated Press Mon Oct 2, 2:20 PM ET ST. PAUL, Minn. - Eric Clapton is playing "Cocaine" in concert again. The recovering drug addict and alcoholic, who founded the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery center on the Caribbean island of Antigua, stopped performing the song written by J.J. Cale when he first got sober. "I thought that it might be giving the wrong message to people who were in the same boat as me," Clapton recently told The Associated Press. "But further investigation proved ... the song, if anything, if it's not even ambivalent,...

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Eric Clapton is playing "Cocaine" in concert again. The recovering drug addict and alcoholic, who founded the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery center on the Caribbean island of Antigua, stopped performing the song written by J.J. Cale when he first got sober. "I thought that it might be giving the wrong message to people who were in the same boat as me," Clapton recently told The Associated Press. "But further investigation proved ... the song, if anything, if it's not even ambivalent, it's an anti-drug song. And so I thought that might be a better way to...

Early Dylan poems sold at auction Poems written by Bob Dylan in his college days have fetched $78,000 (£45,000) in a New York auction. The 16 pages of poems are the first known time Robert Zimmerman used the Dylan name and come from his stint at the University of Minnesota in 1959-60. The selling price was the highest auction price to date for the acclaimed songwriter, according to Christie's. The European buyer was not identified. Eric Clapton's 1959 electric guitar sold for $36,000 (£20,970). The Fender composite Stratocaster was sold to an American buyer. Medallion The title page to Dylan's...

For those of you interested in late 60s-early 70s-era rock, I just watched the "Cream" Reunion Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Wow. Can those guys still play. Ginger Baker is 60 or older. Jack Bruce nearly died of, I think, a kidney disease. While some of the tunes may have lacked their electricity (no pun intended) of 30 years ago, it was a joy to hear "White Room," "Born Under a Bad Sign," "Badge," "Toad," and, of course, "Sunshine of Your Love." If you didn't already know it, Eric Clapton is simply one of the three or four greatest...

The DVD and CD of Cream's summer stand at the Royal Albert Hall has just been released I guess to coincide with their multiple night gig at Madison Square later this month. Check out the multiple songs available for video streaming from AOL Music. For those Freepers under 40, this is the best rock band for muscial virtuoso, writing talent, power, innovation, etc. to come out of the 60's. Beatles for me were rock/pop; Stones were good, but their music was basic blues rips, the talent wasn't as high. The Who were in a different realm, more operatic. Cream was...

CREDIT: Associated Press Rock legend Eric Clapton has had enough of other musicians and their political causes He's had rocky relationships with U2 frontman Bono and Live 8 organizer Sir Bob Geldof, but Prime Minister Paul Martin can at least claim Eric Clapton as a celebrity defender. In excerpts from an interview with the German magazine Stern, the legendary guitar rocker takes shots at both Bono and Geldof for acting more like politicians than musicians. He specifically criticizes Geldof's actions earlier this summer when he told Martin to increase Canada's budget for foreign aid or stay out of the Live...

Cream Rise in London Rock & Roll Hall of Famers rediscover blues ancient and modern at Royal Albert Hall On November 26, 1968, Cream walked off the stage at London's Royal Albert Hall for what they fully expected to be the last time. Exhausted by infighting and non-stop touring, their rare instrumental telepathy creeping into formula and all but obliterated by arena-PA volume, rock's first supergroup -- guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, already individual stars in Britain when they formed in 1966 -- held rock's first super-wake in this majestic Victorian concert hall, playing two...

Concert-goers span the generation gap and the Atlantic for sell-out reunion By Richard Alleyne and Helen Johnstone (Filed: 03/05/2005) They were one of the biggest groups in the Sixties. Now they are the biggest group in their sixties. Cream, the world's first "supergroup", who introduced the public to long guitar and drum solos, reformed last night after 36 years and showed, if anything, that they are more popular than ever. Cream: older, wiser and drink-and-drugs-free The band - guitarist Eric Clapton, drummer Ginger Baker and bass player Jack Bruce - sold out their four performances at the Royal Albert Hall...

Eric Clapton has astounded the music world by finally agreeing to reform Cream, rock's first supergroup, 36 years after they split up at the height of their worldwide fame. Back then Clapton was declared a "guitar God", Ginger Baker was the epitome of the wild-eyed rock drummer and Jack Bruce was the pioneer of a raw, biting tone for the electric bass. Over two years they sold more than 35 million records, producing a new form of "heavy" music that fused hard rock, blues and jazz. But they were unable to survive their ego-powered celebrity. There was such venom at...