![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Eric-Clapton-Guitarist-1978-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Chris Hakkens)<\/p>\n
Sat 29 November 2025 15:04, UK <\/p>\n
The steely Eric Clapton<\/a>, also known as Slowhand, or God to a clutch of folks in late-1960s London, is a rock and roll pioneer whose legacy is etched into the annals of history.\u00a0<\/p>\n An instrumental figure in the world of music, the guitarist has been involved in some of the most influential bands of all time, from the Yardbirds to Cream, before pursuing a lucrative solo career<\/a> of his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n While his standing in contemporary culture has threatened to undo some of his musical work, the guitarist is a British institution in his own right. With that in mind, Clapton took part in another British institution when he appeared on a 1989 episode of Desert Island Discs<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of the BBC show, Slowhand picked eight pieces of music he simply couldn\u2019t live without. It\u2019s a collection of songs that not only shows us a great deal about Clapton\u2019s love of music \u2013 and the song which shocked him into believing rock \u2018n\u2019 roll was still kicking \u2013 but also into the life that was lived alongside the tunes.<\/p>\n Clapton\u2019s influence on music can be dated way back to the \u201960s, placing the guitarist at the epicentre of the swinging London scene, and walls with \u2018Clapton is God\u2019 spraypainted upon them. It was during this time that he would rub shoulders with Jimi Hendrix and, with his band Cream, shared the stage with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker as they became one of the single most inspirational groups of rock and roll. Fitting, then, that he should appear on BBC\u2019s Desert Island Discs and be suitably dwarfed by a show with an even longer running legacy.<\/p>\n The programme has been woven into the dense tapestry of British pop culture for years. It\u2019s a time-honoured tradition that has seen prime ministers and rock stars alike walk through its studio doors. Created by Roy Plomley back in 1942, the format is always the same; each week, a guest is invited by the host to choose the eight records they would take with them to an inescapable desert island.<\/p>\n As well as their eight discs, a complimentary collection of the complete works of Shakespeare and a bible, the star in question also gets to choose one luxury item and one book. It offers a crisp insight into the life and times of our most notable figures in Clapton through some of his often personal choices. The guitarist was invited to the studio for his own interview on September 10th, 1989, to speak with host Sue Lawley<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy castaway this week is a musician and a rock star. At the age of nine, he discovered that his parents were, in fact, his grandparents, the guitar he was bought as compensation for this revelation turned out to be one of the most significant events in his life,\u201d begins Lawley, succinctly summarising what must be one of the pivotal moments in Clapton\u2019s life as she was so capable of doing within the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n The conversation between Lawley and Clapton that follows is both warm and honest, not frightened to step into murky waters, using the music to guide them out. It puts Clapton as a refined, perhaps even reformed, rock and roller with the cultured mind of a true musical impresario. Or, as Lawley again neatly summarises in the introduction: \u201cHe\u2019s now 44, drugs and drink are behind him, and his career is once more successful and lucrative. He is Eric Clapton.\u201d<\/p>\n As Lawley talks about Clapton\u2019s huge talent with a guitar, how it earned him the nickname \u2018God\u2019 and the curious set of situations which meant he was given one in the first place, the guitarist naturally chooses his instrument and arguably business partner as his luxury item. However, Clapton makes sure not to fall into guitarist stereotypes when selecting his first pieces of music. First up, Slowhand picks two pieces of classical music.<\/p>\n The guitarist, after a spell away from the limelight, had again begun to tour in the mid-to-late 1980s, and it influenced his choices. He claims in the clip that \u201cwhen I\u2019m working, regularly and hard, as I have been for the last few years, I tend to listen to music which is completely divorced from what I do,\u201d he said, before continuing: \u201cFor the last year that\u2019s been opera.\u201d It\u2019s no surprise, then, that his picks are Giacomo Puccini\u2019s \u2018Senza Mamma (from Suor Angelica)\u2019, with soloist Renata Scotto and the New Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor Lorin Maazel; Georges Bizet\u2019s \u2018Au fond du temple saint\u2019 (The Pearl Fishers). Both are an indication of the complexity with which he appreciates music.<\/p>\n However, if you\u2019re a Clapton fan, then chances are you will have an inkling of what he\u2019d select. His taste is as clearly defined as his own dry playing style. So, Slowhand picks a variety of artists that show off his varied taste in music but his one musical ethos too. No matter the tone of the genre, every artist Clapton picked was a genius with their instrument. It\u2019s a sign of what mattered to the guitarist; it wasn\u2019t what you played but how you played it that mattered to him.<\/p>\n As the rocker puts it himself when it comes to the blues, \u201cAt first the music almost repelled me, it was so intense, and this man made no attempt to sugarcoat what he was trying to say, or play. It was hardcore, more than anything I had ever heard. After a few listenings, I realised that, on some level, I had found the master, and that following this man\u2019s example would be my life\u2019s work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The man he\u2019s talking about is Robert Johnson,<\/a> so it\u2019s perhaps no surprise that Clapton couldn\u2019t live without his now-iconic \u2018Cross Road Blues\u2019, as well as Muddy Waters track \u2018Feel Like Going Home\u2019 and Freddie King\u2019s \u2018I Love The Woman\u2019. Moving his focus towards soul, the guitarist then selected two piano-powerhouses in Ray Charles and his song \u2018Hard Times\u2019 plus Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u2018I Was Made To Love Her\u2019. All the songs show Clapton\u2019s deep appreciation for R&B, the forefather to rock \u2018n\u2019 roll itself.<\/p>\n The interview has been made available by the BBC via their BBC Sounds channel and is now also available on Spotify. Find all the information here and the episode on Spotify below. But his favourite song, and essentially the song Clapton couldn\u2019t live without, would be Prince\u2019s hit number \u2018Purple Rain\u2019, which he describes as a \u201clifesaver\u201d. The song has since become one of the most beloved tracks of Prince\u2019s career, and it certainly hit a note for Clapton.<\/p>\n Clapton says he saw Purple Rain, Prince\u2019s epic mauve movie, explaining: \u201cAt a time when I thought rock and roll was dead,\u201d he said, before adding: \u201cThis is someone who is a reincarnation of Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown in one. I thought that\u2019s exactly what the world needed.\u201d We\u2019d struggle to argue with Clapton, especially about a guitarist and even more so a guitarist as gifted as Prince.<\/a> <\/p>\n So instead, we\u2019ll sit back and listen to an engaging conversation between two British institutions as Eric Clapton appears on Desert Island Discs to share the eight pieces of music he couldn\u2019t live without.<\/p>\n Eric Clapton\u2019s eight favourite songs:Giacomo Puccini \u2013 \u2018Senza mamma (from Suor Angelica)\u2019Georges Bizet \u2013 \u2018Au fond du temple saint (from The Pearl Fishers)\u2019Robert Johnson \u2013 \u2018Cross Road Blues\u2019Muddy Waters \u2013 \u2018Feel Like Going Home\u2019Freddie King \u2013 I Love The Woman\u2019Ray Charles \u2013 \u2018Hard Times\u2019Stevie Wonder \u2013 \u2018I Was Made To Love Her\u2019Prince \u2013 \u2018Purple Rain\u2019<\/p>\n![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Eric-Clapton-Guitarist-1996-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Eric Clapton in a beret. (Credits: Far Out \/ Showtime Documentary Films)<\/p>\n