{"id":2895,"date":"2026-06-17T18:56:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=2895"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:56:06","slug":"3-essential-songs-by-eric-clapton-that-show-why-they-once-called-him-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/3-essential-songs-by-eric-clapton-that-show-why-they-once-called-him-god\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Essential Songs by Eric Clapton That Show Why They Once Called Him \u201cGod\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Eric Clapton had only played with The Yardbirds and John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers when someone invoked the supernatural and spray-painted \u201cClapton Is God\u201d onto a London wall. So if he was already godlike in the mid-1960s, then what do you call the man who recorded \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/derek-the-dominos\/layla\">\u201cLayla\u201d<\/a>, or \u201cCocaine\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To find out, let\u2019s revisit three essential songs from Clapton\u2019s early period that led to the guitarist\u2019s mythical nickname. Consider it a glimpse of how \u201cSlowhand\u201d became known as \u201cGod.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cHideaway\u201d by John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hideaway\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_xes9UVj6RY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Clapton wasn\u2019t interested in playing pop music. So he left The Yardbirds and dedicated himself to the blues. This Freddie King instrumental appears on <em>Blues Breakers<\/em>, or as some call it, <em>The Beano Album<\/em>. 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\u2019s guitar-centric future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cAll Your Love\u201d by John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"All Your Love\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OkedAcAAcU4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With John Mayall, Clapton helped create the blueprint for British blues rock. The guitarist wouldn\u2019t 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). \u201cAll Your Love\u201d opens <em>The Beano Album<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u201cSmokestack Lightning\u201d by The Yardbirds<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Smokestack Lightning (Live at the Marquee Club, 1964)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qaBd4oo51QQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When The Yardbirds recorded their breakthrough hit, \u201cFor Your Love\u201d, Clapton had had enough. He wanted to play the blues and nothing else. \u201cFor Your Love\u201d was a far cry from the band\u2019s blues roots, which you can hear on this 1964 live recording of Howlin\u2019 Wolf\u2019s \u201cSmokestack Lightning\u201d. The performance is loose, raw, unhinged. Clapton\u2019s wailing notes emerge occasionally through a wall of distorted harp and swaggering rhythm. It\u2019s the sound of blues rock\u2014and perhaps a god\u2014being born in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by Michael Putland\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Clapton had only played with The Yardbirds and John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers when someone invoked the supernatural and spray-painted \u201cClapton Is God\u201d onto a London wall. So if he was already godlike in the mid-1960s, then what do you call the man who recorded \u201cWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d, \u201cLayla\u201d, or \u201cCocaine\u201d? To [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":2897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[302,18],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-2895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","tag-eric-clapton","tag-rock-music"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Lists","term_id":14,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/lists\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Eric Clapton","term_id":302,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/eric-clapton\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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