Eric Clapton - An Illegitimate Son of A Soldier

On this thirteenth birthday, an English boy - an illegitimate son of a soldier - picked up his first acoustic guitar from his grandparents.

Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so difficult he almost gave up. He practiced for many long hours, persevering to learn chords and trying to mimic the sounds of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape recorder.

Finding that the study of stained glass design at England's Kingston College of Art wasn't right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London's West End before joining his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. From there, Eric Clapton went on to a stunning musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.

His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues ('Me & Mr Johnson'), pop ('Change the world') and reggae ('I shot the sheriff'). Nicknamed 'Slowhand' for his string-bending blues riffs, Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was 'christened' Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage ...and let everone wait...including the audience.

With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his amazing collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?

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