Says in March of 2015 he will be 70 years old and he is done.


He's such a road dog I have a hard time believing he'll ever stop.

But I have to laugh at the irony. These guys (Stones, EC, Who, Macca, etc) all got into music because they loved it and it provided a way to avoid having a "proper" job. Now they are still "working" many years after they could've retired from a real one.

But with more wealth of course.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

My sister went to see Clapton play a "farewell" tour.

I think that was eight or nine years ago.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Except the irony is that they actually do retire in between tours, but with someone whose life has been on the road for 30+ years, Cabin Fever is a recurring syndrome.....
Pack up the gits and the duffel and let's Roll.... So We Can Rock....

They're the one's laughing all the way to the bank....

For most of us retirement is forced upon us, for them it's like a yearly sabbatical ....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

+1...2001 was supposed to be his last "World Tour"...I went, I saw, and he was still way to good to retire...it just took him a while to figure it out. But even if he does, he has sure as hell earned his retirement!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I am looking forward to a retirement that will allow me to play out again! Just became an empty nester and it is amazing what the possibilities ahead are.

-Harry

Clapton will never retire!!!

Consider the England these guys arose from and I would wonder that they got into music only because they loved it. I suspect, from having 'grown up' so to speak, with these artists, that they got into it because there wasn't much else they could do, and were fortunate enough to be able to hone a hidden talent which, under other circumstances might or might not have manifested itself elsewhere. Not to mention the fact that in the competition of hundreds of bands throughout the world at that time, they became part of the fortunate few and forged a really tight click of players, drifting in and out of bands with each other, forming the central core of the British rock music scene. Both you and I were in it back in the day, as many others of our generation on these Forums, so you know the drill as well, and from whence I speak. Further discussion begs another pleasant lunchtime on a sunny summer afternoon in Maine. It would take many hours.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Clapton was a fine stain glass maker and brick layer, I'm sure had he had to, he would have made it just fine with either one of these.

I gather from what has been written biographically about him and by him that he was less motivated with respect to the skills sets you cite, and became more convinced that he had a future as a guitar player seeing that he was expelled from the art school due to poor productivity and saw music as his only other recourse.

"Apart from a short period when I managed to get into the glass department, where I learned engraving and sand blasting, and became quite interested in contemporary stained glass, I was bored to tears. Music was ten times more exciting, ten times more engaging, and as much as I loved art, I also felt that the people who were trying to teach me were coming from an academic direction that I just couldn't identify with...........consequently my interest and my output dwindled down to nothing."....."they booted me and one other student out, just two of us out of fifty, which was not good. I was totally unprepared for it, but it threw me back into using the only other talent I had." ....'Clapton..The Autobiography'....pg 36.

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"Another day in paradise!"

He made a choice, he would have been fine no matter what he did.

Personally, I think it's about time.

From my perspective, he's been 'phoning it in' now for the past decade anyway.

Admittedly, it's difficult to watch your 'Heroes' dwindle... but such is Life !!

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

I'll say......look what happened to Randy Cunningham!



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

the Cream farewell tour was rock and roll at it's British best. late october '68 at the old coliseum in Chicago, they opened the set with white room and I can't remember the warm-up act. Clapton stop touring, seemed farfetched then too.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

No argument... from Navy Cross Tiger - to Congressman - to Prison Bride

Major Delta Sierra



cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

He was on his way into his substance abuse hiatus by then. His life could have had a completely different ending than the present.

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"Another day in paradise!"