![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Eric-Clapton-Guitarist-1996-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Showtime Documentary Films)<\/p>\n
Thu 1 January 2026 14:00, UK <\/p>\n
It\u2019s nearly impossible to imagine any other guitarist having the same run that Eric Clapton<\/a> did in his prime.<\/p>\n He was already respected as one of the finest guitarists of his generation, and yet even when standing next to the likes of Jimi Hendrix, his track record for making one classic after another is almost unmatched by all of his peers. But that kind of magic can only come when surrounding yourself with the right people, and \u2018Slowhand\u2019 had more than a few famous friends to depend on.<\/p>\n Because if you look at the number of people that Clapton has collaborated with, it\u2019s practically a laundry list of classic rock veterans. Not many could claim to turn in time with everyone from Roger Waters to Phil Collins to the goddamn Beatles on their resume, but by that point, Clapton was already a legend, ever since he found his way out of The Yardbirds. He was officially a free agent before the \u2018Summer of Love\u2019 started, but his stint with Cream was only the beginning of his reign.<\/p>\n He had already gone through an extensive blues sabbatical with John Mayall, and while he admitted to having trouble keeping up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, he would have gladly stayed in the band had the bickering not become so toxic. He didn\u2019t want to be the frontman by any stretch of the imagination, and no matter which band he decided to join, people were still going to consider him \u2018God\u2019 every single time he took a solo.<\/p>\n If there was one band that managed to fit exactly what he was looking for, it was Derek and the Dominos. Every single member of the band had the kind of experience that Clapton had always dreamt of, and while Layla<\/a> made for some of the greatest guitar playing he ever laid down, there were more than a few hangups going on in the background that were becoming impossible to ignore.<\/p>\n Aside from the fact that the whole album was a love letter to George Harrison\u2019s wife, Clapton and the rest of the band were already going through their own struggles. \u2018Slowhand\u2019 had already started flirting with hard drugs, and with the rest of the band members starting to get more toxic by the day, it was only a matter of time before that musical time bomb went off. And when Jim Gordon lit the match, Clapton knew that there was no way for the band to continue on.<\/p>\n