Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History [Hardcover]

Library Journal   
"Welch, a reporter/editor for the British music paper Melody Maker during the 1960s and 1970s, delivers an oversized, lavishly illustrated biography of guitar icon Eric Clapton. He devotes much of the text to and shares the most insights on Clapton's career pre-1974: his humble beginnings and stints with John Mayall, the Yardbirds, Cream, and Blind Faith. Welch rushes through the remainder of the guitarist's more pop-oriented career up to the present. Throughout, he collects 400 color photos of posters, album covers, and concert scenes of Clapton and his bands. Verdict: A good companion to Clapton's best-selling 2007 autobiography (Clapton: The Autobiography), this book taps Welch's firsthand knowledge of his subject and adds new material via interviews with Clapton's early bandmates. Appealing for music fans, but not essential."

Internet Review of Books
"Chris Welch’s book does Clapton justice. The book includes 400 photographs and eleven chapters that follow Clapton from his youth through the present day, including his work with the groups Cream, Yardbirds, and Derek and the Dominoes. For those youngsters who only recognize Clapton from his bearded, eye-glass-wearing “Tears of Heaven” days, the pictures of young Eric will be evidence of his decades of influence."

Welch, a reporter/editor for the British music paper Melody Maker during the 1960s and 1970s, delivers an oversized, lavishly illustrated biography of guitar icon Eric Clapton. He devotes much of the text to and shares the most insights on Clapton's career pre-1974: his humble beginnings and stints with John Mayall, the Yardbirds, Cream, and Blind Faith. Welch rushes through the remainder of the guitarist's more pop-oriented career up to the present. Throughout, he collects 400 color photos of posters, album covers, and concert scenes of Clapton and his bands. 

Verdict: A good companion to Clapton's best-selling 2007 autobiography (Clapton: The Autobiography), this book taps Welch's firsthand knowledge of his subject and adds new material via interviews with Clapton's early bandmates. Appealing for music fans, but not essential. — Library Journal Xpress Review

Library Journal Xpress Review
Welch, a reporter/editor for the British music paper Melody Maker during the 1960s and 1970s, delivers an oversized, lavishly illustrated biography of guitar icon Eric Clapton. He devotes much of the text to and shares the most insights on Clapton's career pre-1974: his humble beginnings and stints with John Mayall, the Yardbirds, Cream, and Blind Faith. Welch rushes through the remainder of the guitarist's more pop-oriented career up to the present. Throughout, he collects 400 color photos of posters, album covers, and concert scenes of Clapton and his bands. Verdict: A good companion to Clapton's best-selling 2007 autobiography (Clapton: The Autobiography), this book taps Welch's firsthand knowledge of his subject and adds new material via interviews with Clapton's early bandmates. Appealing for music fans, but not essential.—Dave Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle

“Sometimes you actually can tell a book by its cover, contrary to the old saying that says you can’t. Between the covers the book proves to be as classy and well done as its first impression” - GuitarInternational.com

One of Guitar World magazine’s Top 15 rock books of 2011.

He was born Eric Patrick Clapton, but you can just call him “Slowhand.”

Over the years, fans of Eric Clapton have debated the high points of an epic career in blues and rock ‘n’ roll spanning nearly fifty years. Which song best epitomizes Clapton’s skills as a songwriter? Which era—the Yardbirds, Cream or his solo work—stands about above the rest? Where does Clapton rank on the list of all-time guitar greats?

Whatever your opinions may be, one this is for sure: few artists have contributed as much to the world of music as the six-string magician from Ripley.

Put simply, one look at Clapton’s five-decade-long résumé is enough to blow any rock ‘n’ roll junkie’s mind. It includes time with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, the Plastic Ono Band, Bonnie & Delaney, Derek and the Dominoes, and his own solo discography, not to mention his Crossroads festivals and appearances at the Concert for Bangladesh, the Last Waltz, Live Aid, the Secret Policeman’s Other Ball, and so much more.

Along the way, Clapton has won seven Grammy Awards and eighteen gold, eight platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums—including one ten-times platinum LP. And if that weren’t enough, he’s also the only musician to have been inducted in the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame three times—as a solo performer and as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream.

From respected author and rock journo Chris Welch, Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History is a beautifully illustrated celebration of all things Clapton. Packed with more than 400 photographs, guitars, concert posters, and other memorabilia, this first-of-its kind book also houses eleven chapters following Clapton’s remarkable career—from its earliest days to his various work in several now-legendary bands to his stunning solo career. Also included is a wealth of sidebars covering the gear Clapton has used through the years, as well as extensive appendices detailing his complete discography.