Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton

Norman (Paul McCartney: The Life) reveals little that’s unknown about Eric Clapton’s life and music in this straightforward yet enjoyable biography, written with Clapton’s consent (though Clapton himself was not interviewed). Norman draws on conversations with the guitarist’s friends, music associates, and family to chronicle Clapton’s rise to fame, from his early years in art school through the formation of his various bands such as Derek and the Dominoes and Cream, as well as his love affair with and marriage to Pattie Boyd (once George Harrison’s wife). Norman also writes about Clapton’s heroin and alcohol addiction; the death of his four-year-old son, Conor, in 1991; and his development of the Crossroads guitar festivals, starting in 2004. Norman notes that, despite his superstardom, Clapton remains a sensitive, sometimes reclusive musician who seems never satisfied with either his own guitar playing or the bands he abruptly left: the Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and Cream. Norman does unveil one feature of Clapton’s life that’s not widely known: the guitarist’s deep love of fine fashion (he bought 50% of shares in England’s famous J.C. Cording men’s store in 2004 and became its design director). In this thorough book, Norman hits all the important notes, and Clapton emerges as a person more comfortable with his fretboard than with other people. (Oct.)