In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, guitar god Eric Clapton revealed that, alas, he is no god. The 71-year old rock legend unveiled the news that he suffers from damage to his nervous system, which is making playing the guitar all the more difficult these days, or as he described it “hard work”.
Eric Clapton’s ‘I Still Do’ Embraces The Past Amid An Uncertain Future
“I’ve had quite a lot of pain over the last year. It started with lower back pain, and turned into what they call peripheral neuropathy – which is where you feel like you have electric shocks going down your leg,” Clapton discussed. “And I’ve had to figure out how to deal with some other things from getting old.’’
By the time he launched his solo career in the 70’s, Clapton had already reached legendary status as one of the greatest guitar players the world had ever seen, having played in the 60’s with such classic groups John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. But superstardom also came with a price, as Clapton fought battles with alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and prescription drug addiction over the years. “Because I’m in recovery from alcoholism and addiction to substances, I consider it a great thing to be alive at all. By rights I should have kicked the bucket a long time ago….For some reason I was plucked from the jaws of hell and given another chance.”
Having just released his 23rd studio album, I Still Do, which features selections from Bob Dylan, J.J. Cale and Robert Johnson‘s respective catalogs, Clapton has been asked whether or not this is it for him, especially given the title of the final track on the album, “I’ll Be Seeing You”. His answer, “It’s one of those things that’s been haunting me… I love the song and I love the sentiment. Just in case I don’t cut another record, this is how I feel. I kind of might be saying goodbye. But I’ve been doing that for a while.”
[via Daily Mail]