Christmas Clapton

If we were to travel back in time and tell young 19-year-old Eric, who had just left The Yardbirds because he felt their For Your Love sounded too pop, that he would one day record a Christmas album, he wouldn’t believe us for a second and would threaten to knock us out with his guitar! It’s a fact; 73-year-old Clapton is a changed man. Not only has he overcome many hardships, but he also appears serene and relaxed, at last enjoying family life with real holiday celebrations by the fireplace. He therefore has every right to offer his own version of such classics as White Christmas, Silent Night or Away In A Manger (Once In Royal David’s City), and less mainstream titles like Sentimental Moments (1955 by Joan Bennett), Lonesome Christmas (by Lowell Fulson and later covered by B.B. King and Joe Bonamassa) or Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas that was interpreted by Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra, and was also featured on the Jackson 5’s Christmas album (when little Michael was twelve). Even Chrissie Hynde sang it with The Pretenders, that’s saying a lot…

Eric Clapton even composed his own Christmas song, For Love On Christmas Day. It blends in perfectly with the “Christmas tree and wreath” decor and is fully “Claptonised” with a high dose of top-notch blues. The sole, highly surprising exception is the EDM-style Jingle Bells dedicated to DJ Avicii, whose passing particularly affected Eric as he drew parallels to his own self-destructive youth. And surprise, Clapton himself drew the joyful Santa on the album cover (a self-portrait?). Now you have something to put in a few stockings for Christmas…

LISTEN TO HAPPY XMAS BY ERIC CLAPTON ON QOBUZ

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