Wonderful Tonight

Wonderful Tonight

Eric Clapton

It was Eric Clapton’s 80th birthday last week, which is a great reason to bring him to our Music of the Week.

Mr. Clapton is in a league of his own when it comes to guitar playing, but he is also a rather fascinating man who incidentally shares many of the “right opinions” that Solari readers would recognize.

Clapton had to go through many ups and downs of character and a number of tragic experiences in his life, and maybe it was those, in particular, that shaped his style and human authenticity. He grew up as the child of a very young, 16-year-old mother; he grew up believing her to be his older sister, assuming that his grandmother and grandfather were his parents. When, years later, he learned the true situation and wanted to address his biological mother as mom, she rejected that.

During his early career, heroin and alcohol addiction, as well as unrequited love, led him down a sorry path for a while. It speaks to the inner fabric of his character and soul that he was able to come out of it. He learned to play the guitar as an autodidact and has never been able to read music.

In 1991, Clapton’s four-year-old son Conor died tragically, falling from a New York City skyscraper apartment building. One of Clapton’s most famous compositions, “Tears in Heaven”, came as a result of this calamity.

During the Covid-19 era, Clapton strongly voiced his opinion against the mask mandates and lockdown policies, as well as the push for vaccination after he had a severe reaction to the AstraZeneca shot. He also remains unafraid to point out the atrocities in Gaza and particularly the plight of the children there.

For Music of the Week, we have chosen “Wonderful Tonight,” a song he wrote for Pattie Boyd.

With our best birthday wishes!