Top Ten Songs by Eric Clapton

I'm not sure exactly what it is about Eric Clapton that makes him my all time favorite musician, but I find him amazing.

Eric Clapton's music has ranged all over, from the psychedelic acid rock of the sixties, to a more relaxed and mellow rock in the seventies and eighties, then his period of really exploring the blues, then the acoustic work, and now back on into some hard driving and intense rock/blues. Clapton constantly reinvents his music, and it always gets better and better.

These are my favorite ten songs by Eric Clapton, in no particular order.

Hello Old Friend

This was the first Eric Clapton song I really ever remember hearing, when I was just a girl of nine or ten years old. It's just a happy song, and I guess that's why it's always appealed to me. That and that amazing repeating guitar lick that Clapton lays on throughout the song.

Layla (Derek and the Dominoes version)

The unplugged version of Layla is a superb piece of acoustic blues, and I really like the refurbishing of an old Eric Clapton classic, but for me, the original Layla is totally where it's at. The intensity of the rock and roll version shows the man's sheer desperation to get and to keep this woman by his side. I used to wish that somebody wanted me so deeply. I'm married to him now, and it's a good feeling.

Lay Down Sally

This song's rhythm and Eric Clapton's guitar licks reach out and grab you and pull you right into this song. What I love about this one is that it is a man talking to a woman he finds enticing and interesting, somebody he doesn't just want to sleep with, but also talk with, and watch the night pass and the morning come with. It's about beginnings and treasuring the moment, and Clapton really captures the essence of that.

Wonderful Tonight