3 Essential Songs by Eric Clapton That Show Why They Once Called Him “God”

Eric Clapton had only played with The Yardbirds and John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers when someone invoked the supernatural and spray-painted “Clapton Is God” onto a London wall. So if he was already godlike in the mid-1960s, then what do you call the man who recorded “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Layla”, or “Cocaine”?

To find out, let’s revisit three essential songs from Clapton’s early period that led to the guitarist’s mythical nickname. Consider it a glimpse of how “Slowhand” became known as “God.”

“Hideaway” by John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers

Clapton wasn’t interested in playing pop music. So he left The Yardbirds and dedicated himself to the blues. This Freddie King instrumental appears on Blues Breakers, or as some call it, The Beano Album. In a brisk three minutes, Clapton burns the kind of guitar licks that made this release a landmark blues-rock album. He may have been looking to the past for inspiration, but Clapton helped pioneer rock and roll’s guitar-centric future.

“All Your Love” by John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers

With John Mayall, Clapton helped create the blueprint for British blues rock. The guitarist wouldn’t stick around long, but when he left, he warmed the seat for future guitar legends Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) and Mick Taylor (The Rolling Stones). “All Your Love” opens The Beano Album with an Otis Rush standard featuring how Clapton built his style atop electrified Chicago blues. Though Clapton is most associated with the Fender Stratocaster, he used a Gibson Les Paul to capture this groundbreaking record with the Bluesbreakers.

“Smokestack Lightning” by The Yardbirds

When The Yardbirds recorded their breakthrough hit, “For Your Love”, Clapton had had enough. He wanted to play the blues and nothing else. “For Your Love” was a far cry from the band’s blues roots, which you can hear on this 1964 live recording of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning”. The performance is loose, raw, unhinged. Clapton’s wailing notes emerge occasionally through a wall of distorted harp and swaggering rhythm. It’s the sound of blues rock—and perhaps a god—being born in real time.

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