Catch up TV

Episode 16 July 2021

A journey through Eric Clapton's performing life at the BBC and elsewhere, from his 60s blues days to his noughties blues days. Clapton has been described as the best guitarist in the world and has a life story and career that would make anyone's hair curl.\n\nBy way of extensive BBC archive footage, the programme charts his varied and ever-changing career - from the beginnings with The Yardbirds until he left to join the purist blues of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, to the dynamism and musical synchronisation with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, which produced the turbulent Cream, to Clapton's collaboration with Stevie Winwood that would spawn Blind Faith, to his brief sojourn in the Plastic Ono Band and his unforgettable contribution to Lennon's heroin hell tribute Cold Turkey, to his low-profile spell with rootsy US act Delaney and Bonnie, to the band he formed with Bobby Whitlock, Derek and the Dominoes, that produced one of the most famous unrequited love songs in Layla, and on to his successful solo career since then.\n\nAlong the way Clapton has successfully survived heroin and alcohol abuse, been accused of being a racist, stolen his best friend's wife, changed bands as often as his shirt, and lost a son in the most tragic of accidents. Through it all, he has produced some of the best music of the 20th century.

Source: BBC 4