Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A musician and rock star who was a key figure in the 1960s bands the Yardbirds, Cream, and Blind Faith, and was nicknamed 'Slowhand' and 'God'.
On the island
Eight records
from Les Pêcheurs de perles
the deepest of all the blues records in my life that I've heard
the way I play guitar is completely derived from the way that this man plays
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:10Why were you known as 'Slowhand' Clapton?
I think it was um a pun on the name Clapton, slow hand clap, that's the only reason I can think of ever having it.
Presenter asks
1:53Having known fame and been idealised, if you had the choice again would you prefer anonymity?
I would prefer to be a acknowledged as a good musician, I I think, and then have the anonymity of a private life. But that's an impossible, it's a utopian dream. So … You can't have one without the other, unfortunately.
Presenter asks
5:37What do you remember about that moment [aged nine] when you discovered your parents were your grandparents?
Very, very confusing because I knew that I was different and I didn't know why. I mean, I knew that other kids at school regarded me as different or maybe inferior. And I did have a massive inferiority complex as an adolescent. … I chose … to conquer that by playing the guitar. It was my haven.
The keepsakes
Presenter asks
How did you graduate from cocaine into heroin?
I think the dealer that I was buying these things from said that I could … he would say, 'Well, I'll sell you some of this, but you've got to buy some of this as well.' So I would buy this little file of heroin and put it in a drawer. And I found that, you know, after a while, I had a drawer full of this stuff. And I thought, well, one day … give it a try, and I did, and I was hooked. … All through it you can go into denial. … Suddenly you find that if you try and stop you can't.
Presenter asks
30:47Having kicked drugs and drink, what do you do for fun these days?
I play cricket, I go fishing, I I love driving my car. … I love Ferraris … If I had more space and if I'd if I'd been more wise over the years I would have a huge collection by now.
“It was only later when I examined the libretto that it was … a very, very parallel story. I kind of listen to it and I feel what my mother must have felt and the agony of kind of growing, you know, watching me grow from a distance and not being able to take part in that.”
“The strongest thing really was that George and I remained friends.”
“I came to a point where I realized that it was me surviving or it was the drug surviving.”
“I was left with a massive vacuum … a spiritual and emotional vacuum which I chose to fill with alcohol.”
“For me the great thing about music is that it's such a great sustenance. I mean, I can get nutrition almost from music in itself. If I had nothing else.”