Have a listen and you'll find a few songs worth listening to by the fireplace while you wait for Santa Claus to make his delivery. On 17 December, 1998, at the time of the Bill Clinton administration, Eric Clapton was at the White House singing Christmas Tears. A year later he brought out a great new version of Christmas Blues by Canned Heat, which was recorded at the concert where he also performed Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. He was accompanied, as he was on Merry Christmas Baby, by his former backing singer (and girlfriend) Sheryl Crow. This was all done for a good cause, as the proceeds from the album Very Special Christmas – Live from Washington DC were donated to the Special Olympics.
It was during another Christmas period, in 1964, that Clapton decided against embarking on a rivalry with The Beatles. The Yardbirds were amongst many opening acts for Another Beatles Christmas Show, where music was far from the main focus. Clapton was horrified by the reception from hordes of screaming fans and the whole showbiz circus. Nevertheless, the four Liverpudlians, and George in particular, would win his friendship and his respect, as he felt that they managed to remain true musicians in spite of it all.
On 13 March, 1965, as he prepared to celebrate his 20th birthday (on the 30th), Clapton announced his departure from The Yardbirds, explaining that he disapproved of the pop turn they had taken with For Your Love. He meant to remain as traditional a blues musician as possible and joined forces with the very purist John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers. Later, his rival and friend, Jeff Beck, who replaced him in The Yardbirds, cracked: “We’d already upset him immensely by reaching America before he did, and we were selling records – the two things that most rock & roll guitarists would aim for – and he was playing in a club with John Mayall for eight people. I thought, “Well, at least you’re committed to your style”. And then, lo and behold, he came out with Cream and gave us all a smack on the knuckles"
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