By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith -- affiliations that had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation. That it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however, was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for one of his stature. And his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typical of his self-effacing approach: it was, in effect, an album by the group he had lately been featured in, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.
　　Not surprisingly, before his solo debut had even been released, Clapton had retreated from his solo stance, assembling from the D&B&F ranks the personnel for a group, Derek and the Dominos, with which he played for most of 1970. Clapton was largely inactive in 1971 and 1972, due to heroin addiction, but he performed a comeback concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on January 13, 1973, resulting in the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (September 1973).
　　But Clapton did not launch a sustained solo career until July 1974, when he released 461 Ocean Boulevard, which topped the charts and spawned the number one single "I Shot the Sheriff."
　　The persona Clapton established over the next decade was less that of guitar hero than arena rock star with a weakness for ballads. The follow-ups to 461 Ocean Boulevard, There's One in Every Crowd (March 1975), the live E.C. Was Here (August 1975), and No Reason to Cry (August 1976), were less successful. But Slowhand (November 1977), which featured both the powerful "Cocaine" (written by JJ Cale, who had also written "After Midnight") and the hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight," was a million-seller. Its follow-ups, Backless (November 1978), featuring the Top Ten hit "Promises," the live Just One Night (April 1980), and Another Ticket (February 1981), featuring the Top Ten hit "I Can't Stand It," were all big sellers.
　　Clapton's popularity waned somewhat in the first half of the '80s, as the albums Money and Cigarettes (February 1983), Behind the Sun (March 1985), and August (November 1986) indicated a certain career stasis. But he was buoyed up by the release of the box set retrospective Crossroads (April 1988), which seemed to remind his fans of how great he was. Journeyman (November 1989) was a return to form.
　　It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years, though in the interim he would suffer greatly and enjoy surprising triumph. On March 20, 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son was killed in a fall. While he mourned, he released a live album, 24 Nights (October 1991), culled from his annual concert series at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and prepared a movie soundtrack, Rush (January 1992). The soundtrack featured a song written for his son, "Tears in Heaven," that became a massive hit single.
　　In March 1992, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that, when released on an album in August, became his biggest-selling record ever. Two years later, Clapton returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became one of his most successful albums, both commercially and critically. Crossroads 2: Live in the '70s, a box set chronicling his live work from the '70s, was released to mixed reviews. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by the pseudonym "x-sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer Simon Climie as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail Therapy to mixed reviews in early 1997.
　　Clapton retained Climie as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. Pilgrim was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its spring 1998 release, but the album debuted at number four and stayed in the Top 10 for several weeks on the success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with old friend BB King on Riding With the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing entitled Reptile followed in early 2001. Three years later, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson.
英國藍調歌手Eric Clapton的一生 　　Eric Clapton 1945年3月30日出生于英國小鎮Ripley，從小對藍調與美國節奏藍調就有濃厚的興趣，于是他開始學習吉他。他回憶道：“當時只要能看到Bo Diddley與Chuck Berry一眼，我就高興的昏了頭。所以當我發現Muddy Walters與Robert Johnson時，他們對我的影響都很大。”
　　60年代早期，參與過幾個英國藍調樂隊后，Eric Clapton成為The Yardbirds的一員，樂隊中的三個成員Eric Clapton、Jeff Beck、Jimmy Page，后來都成為英國這十年來，三位最頂尖的吉他手。他在1966年離開The Yardbirds加入John Mayall的Bluesbreakers，之后，他與貝斯手Jack Bruce與鼓手Ginger Baker成立了Cream，很快便成為60年代晚期最杰出的搖滾三人組。
　　Eric Clapton到底是哪里與眾不同？他并不只是簡單的重復他在唱片中聽到的藍調音樂，他將原作中的情感，注入具有自己特色的演奏中，拓展了藍調吉他的語匯。Cream的成功，將Eric Clapton成功的推向國際樂壇，而重新詮釋藍調經典作品“Spoonful”、“Crossroads”、與“Born Under A Bad Sign”，更鞏固了他的地位。
　　離開Cream后，Eric Clapton的成就也相當驚人，他與Steve Winwood、Rick Grech、Ginger Baker在1969年一起成立了Blind Faith，以同名冠軍專輯紅透半邊天。同年不久后，Eric Clapton與“Delaney與Bonnie”一同合作，開始試驗自己的聲音技巧。1970年他發行了第一張同名個人專輯，隨后又與Derek And The Dominos一同發行了《Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs》，當時還默默無聞的吉他手Duane Allman曾參與此輯。
　　1971年，Eric Clapton陷入了情緒低潮，Derek And The Dominos的解散對他影響很大，除了客串演出、或是一些特殊的場合，例如George Harrison為孟加拉國舉行的演唱會、以及1973年Pete Townshend所舉辦的Rainbow Concert，他從樂壇消失了將近三年的時間。
　　1974，年Eric Clapton以專輯《461 Ocean Boulevard》與單曲“I Shot the Sheriff”重返樂壇，兩者都登上排行榜冠軍。接下來在70年代中晚期，他的專輯“There's One In Every Crowd”、“E.C. Was Here”、“No Reason To Cry”等都有Top 20的成績。1977年開始，Eric Clapton成就了一張三白金的專輯《Slowhand》與暢銷單曲“Lay Down Sally”，從此他的演藝事業不斷創造金唱片或白金唱片的佳績，一直持續到今日還是如此。
　　在80與90年代間，Eric Clapton對電影原聲帶的貢獻也不容忽視，例如 《Rush》、《回到未來》、《金錢本色》、《致命武器3》等等，不過最成功的應該算是《第三類奇跡》電影原聲帶中的單曲“Change The World”。

來源: 譯友-翻譯人才網