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Richard Clapton (born 18 May 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer. His solo top 20 hits on the
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...
Singles Chart are " Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and " I Am an Island" (1982). He reached the top 20 on the related albums chart with '' Goodbye Tiger'' (1977), '' Hearts on the Nightline'' (1979), '' The Great Escape'' (1982) and '' The Very Best of Richard Clapton'' (1982). Clapton's highest-charting album, ''Music Is Love (1966–1970)'' (April 2021), peaked at number 3 on the
ARIA Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. As a producer he worked on the second
INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
album, '' Underneath the Colours'' (1981). In 1983, he briefly joined the Party Boys for a tour of eastern Australia and their live album, '' Greatest Hits (Of Other People)'' (1983), before resuming his solo career. Australian rock music historian
Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...
described Clapton as "one of the most important Australian songwriters of the 1970s." On 12 October 1999, Clapton was inducted into the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA)
hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
. In August 2014 he published his memoirs, ''The Best Years of Our Lives''.


Career


Early years

Richard Clapton was born on 18 May 1948, however his birth name is elusive. When the artist changed his birth name in the mid-1960s, he used the last names of two of his music heroes,
Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...
and
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
. Speculation over his age has varied: an article in ''
Who The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
'' magazine (1996) gives his birth year as 1951, while Ian McFarlane's ''
Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop ''The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' or ''Rock and Pop'' by Australian music journalist Ian McFarlane is a guide to Australian popular music from the 1950s to the late 1990s. The book has a similar title to the 1978 work by Noel McG ...
'' (1999) has 1949. In a 2002 interview with ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''s Warwick McFadyen, he described himself as being 50-something. Clapton's mother was a night nurse at a Sydney hospital and his Australian-Chinese father was a doctor—they had a volatile relationship and divorced when Clapton was two years old. During his childhood, Clapton had no contact with his father and lived with his mother, who had mental health problems. She would periodically place him in care until she committed suicide when he was aged ten. Clapton met his father at her funeral and was subsequently enrolled in a Sydney boarding school, Trinity Grammar, at Summer Hill. As an adolescent he listened to the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
and
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
, and was given his first electric guitar by a school friend's father. He cites Richard Wherrett—his house master and English teacher at Trinity who later became a theatre director—as an early mentor. In 1965, Clapton formed Darktown Strutters with Ross Andreasen, Mick Bradley, Will Fowler, Dennis Hunter, Ross Lamonde and Ian Peepman. He left school in his final year without completing his mathematics examination. He played guitar while training as a commercial artist in the 1960s. He raised enough money to board ship, in late 1967, via MS ''Achille Lauro'', to London where he played with three locals in a pre-punk group. This was followed by a group with four North Americans who were raided by the police for
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
importing. His visa had expired and he moved to Germany, where he played in a band, Bitch; he worked solo in folk clubs and on streets busking. Clapton, as guitarist and vocalist, was a member of Sopwith Camel (not the United States band of same name), with Burghard Rausch on drums and Michael Günther on bass guitar (both members of
krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...
group Agitation Free). Clapton emerged in the early 1970s as a singer-songwriter in the "troubadour" style of
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
and
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
.


1972–74: Debut album: ''Prussian Blue''

In March 1972, Clapton returned to Australia from
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
via SS ''Orcades''. He signed a publishing deal with Essex Music and a recording deal with Infinity Records, a subsidiary of
Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...
. His debut single, "Last Train to Marseilles", was released in October of that year. Clapton was backed by Red McKelvie on guitar (ex- the Flying Circus), Kenny Kitching on pedal steel, John Capek on piano (ex- Carson) with John Bois on bass guitar and Tony Bolton on drums, both from Country Radio (see
Greg Quill Gregory Raymond Quill (18 April 19475 May 2013) was an Australian-born musician, singer-songwriter and journalist. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was an entertainment columnist at the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper from the mid-1980s unt ...
). At the end of the year he briefly joined a
jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...
group,
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
, for six weeks into early 1973—he replaced their previous lead singer, Renée Geyer. Clapton's debut solo album, ''
Prussian Blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue, Parisian and Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula . It consists of cations, where iron is in the oxidat ...
'', appeared in November 1973—it included "Last Train to Marseilles" from a year earlier—and was produced by Richard Batchens ( Blackfeather, Sherbet). Two more singles were issued, "All the Prodigal Children" in October and "I Wanna Be a Survivor" in July 1974. On "Hardly Know Myself" and "I Wanna Be a Survivor" Clapton was backed by the La De Da's, with other tracks variously featuring McKelvie, Glenn Cardier on guitar,
Russell Dunlop Russell James Dunlop (21 October 194516 May 2009) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer-engineer. From the late 1970s he collaborated with Bruce Brown in a production company for albums and singles by Australian perfo ...
on drums, Mike Perjanik on organ, Trevor Wilson and Mike Lawler on bass guitar and Ian Bloxham on percussion. According to rock historian Noel McGrath, the album suffered from lack of radio exposure—Australian commercial pop radio was overtaken by a local version of the Drake-Chenault "More Music" format—with a drastically restricted play list shutting out many Australian performers. Garry Raffaele of ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...
'' observed, " esounds as though he's involved with the real issues of our time—pollution, man's inhumanity to those who share Spaceship Earth with him, communication difficulties. He writes of these things but his words are not likely to convince anybody. It's the simplistic trap again." Due to grass-roots support, ''Prussian Blue'' sold steadily and four years later it was still selling 200–500 copies per week. Critics praised the album, which contained songs written while in Europe and Festival kept him on their books. He described the title track in ''Rolling Stone'' Australia as "the only song I ever contrived" and "came about when I was going through my 'wanna-write-me-a-masterpiece' stage, which everyone goes through". It took, "six weeks getting all the right clever rhymes and all".


1975–77: ''Girls on the Avenue'' to ''Main Street Jive''

Clapton's commercial breakthrough came with his single, " Girls on the Avenue", issued in January 1975. Although Festival had little faith in the song—initially releasing it as the B-side of "Travelling Down the Castlereagh"—it was picked up by radio and reached No. 4 on the Australian
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...
Singles Chart in March. According to Clapton:
"Not only did I not feel that 'Girls on the Avenue' was the perfect song, but Festival Records rejected that song six times. They'd say to me, 'What's the chorus, is it "Don't you slip" or "Friday night ..."?' I don't know! Why does a song have to have a hook or a chorus? You either like the song or you don't!"
The song was written about his observations of women from and around the Avenue, Rose Bay, although it was seen as a
paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek (also or ), "song ...
to prostitutes by the record label, radio commentators and the prostitutes themselves. According to Clapton, it took half an hour to write. He said the only real money he ever made out of "Girls on the Avenue" was when it became available "on one of those bargain ''Explosive Hits'' ( compilations) and they sell about 400,000 each time". According to him, in 1976 there were three cover versions of it: one by Mike McGear, another by ex-
Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...
member Trevor Lucas and an obscure Greek version. The album '' Girls on the Avenue'', also produced by Batchens, appeared in April 1975. For touring and session work he formed the Richard Clapton Band with John Carr on guitar, Ken Firth on bass guitar, Ace Follington on drums, McKelvie on guitar and Tony Slavich on keyboards. The album cover depicted Clapton with three women—one was a prostitute. Other tracks dealt with similar themes to his debut album. Because of the commercial nature of the song, he was accused of
selling out To "sell out" is to compromise one's integrity, morality, Authenticity (philosophy), authenticity, or Principle#As moral law, principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money or power. In terms of music or art, selling out is associated w ...
by deliberately writing a commercial song, a claim he refuted. A second single, "Down the Road", was released in June but did not chart. Clapton moved to Melbourne to write new material for his third album, '' Main Street Jive'', which released in July 1976, again produced by Batchens. He contributed six tracks to the film soundtrack for '' Highway One'' (1976). It provided the single, "Capricorn Dancer", which reached No. 40 in early 1977 and remains a concert staple. Other contributors to the soundtrack, produced and engineered by Batchens, were the Dingoes, Bilgola Bop Band, Skyhooks and Ol' 55 with one track each. Clapton toured Europe at the end of 1976 with his band including Slavich, Michael Hegerty on bass guitar (ex-
Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...
), Kirk Lorange on lead guitar and Jim Penson on drums (ex-Blackfeather).


1977–79: ''Goodbye Tiger''

The song, "Goodbye Tiger", was written after Clapton and his friend were in Sydney to see Hunter S. Thompson. The singer-songwriter was referred to as "Tiger" by " is'beat poet' buddies." They got drunk and the binge continued as he got on a flight to Germany before crashing out at a friend's place in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. Clapton described how it was the only time he had ever written a song and not gone back to change something, "It seemed like it had been the end of our innocence or something." He was later snowed in at a resort in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. He said there was a
blizzard A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
and they were trapped, "but we had enough beer so it didn't really matter". It was there he wrote the bulk of what became his fourth studio album, '' Goodbye Tiger''. It was released in August 1977 and was acclaimed by McFarlane as "his most celebrated work, an album full of rich, melodic and accessible rock with a distinctly Australian flavour. It established Clapton's reputation as one of the most important Australian songwriters of the 1970s." It reached No. 11 on the albums chart in November 1977. It was the final album he recorded for Infinity Records and produced by Batchens. Many Clapton fans regard the melancholic record as his masterpiece: it included two of his popular tracks, the anthem, "Deep Water", which reached No. 43 in November and "Down in the Lucky Country" released in January 1978. His backing band for ''Goodybe Tiger'' was: Hegerty, Lorange, Gunther Gorman on guitar, Diane McLennan on backing vocals, Cleis Pearce on viola (ex- MacKenzie Theory) and Greg Sheehan on drums (ex-Blackfeather, MacKenzie Theory). Additional musicians included Tony Ansell on keyboards, Tony Buchanan on saxophone and Penson. Australian rock music historian, Chris Spencer, cites the album as one of his favourites, " trepresents one of the pinnacles of Australian rock music. Clapton, essentially a singer-songwriter, working within the security of numerous band line-ups, wrote his best lyrics on this album. He never reached the same heights again, particularly with his melodies, visions and observations of urban Australia." Clapton said working on the album was the worst year of his life, "but I guess that's the record I will always be remembered for." During 1978 he toured nationally with Ansell, Hegerty, Lorange, McLennan and Sheehan. Late in that year he travelled to Los Angeles to record his fifth studio album, '' Hearts on the Nightline''. Released in April 1979, it was produced by Dallas Smith for the Interfusion label on Festival. The album peaked at No. 17 but failed to attract international attention, it was supported by a 75-date national tour.


1980s: ''Dark Spaces'' to ''Glory Road''

Clapton returned to Sydney in 1980 to record and produce his sixth studio album, '' Dark Spaces'' (August 1980). His session musicians included Ansell, Andrew Durant on rhythm guitar (Stars), Clive Harrison on bass guitar (ex-Kush, Avalanche), Mark Moffatt on lead guitar and Kerry Jacobsen on drums (
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
). It peaked in the top 30 and was dedicated to Durant who had died of cancer in May, before its release. Members of Stars, and various artists including Clapton, performed at the Andrew Durant Memorial Concert in August, which was released as a live double-album in February 1981. During the decade he consolidated his career, working with other artists and as a record producer. In May of that year he produced the third single, "
The Loved One Loved Ones, Loved One, The Loved Ones, or The Loved One may refer to: Films *The Loved One (film), ''The Loved One'' (film), a 1965 American satire based on the Evelyn Waugh novel *The Loved Ones (film), ''The Loved Ones'' (film), a 2009 Australia ...
", for new wave band,
INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
, which was recorded at Studios 301 in Sydney. It was a cover of a 1966 song by the Loved Ones and peaked in the Top 20. In July–August, he produced their second album '' Underneath the Colours'', which reached the Top 20 after its October release. In 1982 Clapton signed with WEA and the Mark Opitz-produced, '' The Great Escape'' (March 1982), had contributions from members of
Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...
and INXS. The album, which peaked at No. 8 in March, provided three singles. The hard-rocking " I Am an Island", with Cold Chisel's Ian Moss on guitar and
Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...
on backing vocals, reached the top 20. Two other singles, "Spellbound" (April) and "The Best Years of Our Lives" (September) did not chart in the top 50. In May, WEA released a compilation album, ''The Very Best of Richard Clapton'', which reached No. 18 with ''The Great Escape'' still in the top 20. In 1983 Clapton joined the Party Boys, replacing
James Reyne James Michael Nugent Reyne Order of Australia, OAM (born 19 May 1957) is an Australian musician. He achieved fame as the lead singer of Australian Crawl, and subsequently went on to a successful solo career. Biography Early years Reyne was born ...
(
Australian Crawl Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams ( bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David ...
) on lead vocals, the live album '' Greatest Hits (Of Other People)'' and a single, "
I Fought the Law "I Fought the Law" is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets and popularized by a cover by the Bobby Fuller Four, becoming a top-ten hit for the band in 1966. Their version of the song was ranked No. 175 on the ''Rolling Stone'' li ...
"—a cover of the
Sonny Curtis Sonny Curtis (born May 9, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include " Wa ...
song—resulted from an extensive tour of the east coast of Australia. Clapton left that band to re-focus on his solo career and was replaced on vocals by Shirley Strachan (ex-Skyhooks). In September 1984 he released his eighth studio album, ''
Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
'', on
Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...
which was produced by Opitz, Ricky Fataar, Tim Kramer and Moffatt. For the album he used Graham Bidstrup on drums (ex- The Angels, the Party Boys), James Black on keyboards (ex-
Mondo Rock Mondo Rock are an Australian rock band, formed in November 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria. Singer-songwriter Ross Wilson (musician), Ross Wilson founded the band, following the split of his previous band Daddy Cool (band), Daddy Cool. Guitarist Er ...
),
Kevin Borich Kevin Nicholas Borich (born 27 October 1948, Huapai, North Island, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was the mainstay of the La De Da's, the leader of Kevin Borich Express, and a founding member of ...
on guitar (ex-La De Da's, the Party Boys), Fataar on drums, Allan Mansfield on keyboards (Dragon), Graham Thompson on bass guitar (ex-Stars), and backing vocals from Mary Bradfield,
Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born Australian singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach. Fields was a backing vocalist for touring American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as working as a ...
and Mark Williams. Clapton and Borich released a duet single, "Spirit of Sydney", in 1986. Clapton rejoined WEA in 1987 for his ninth album, '' Glory Road'', released in October, and its three singles, which were produced by Jon Farriss of INXS as a return favour for the production of ''Underneath the Colours''. A live album, ''
The Best Years of Our Lives ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (also known as ''Glory for Me'' and ''Home Again'') is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Ru ...
'' was recorded on 16 April 1989 and released in September. His band were Hegerty, Lorange, Moffatt on guitar, Jeff Bartolomei on keyboards, Ben Butler on guitar, and Steve Sowerby on drums. The album peaked in the top 30 on the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA) Albums Chart.


1990s–2010: Continued success and ARIA Hall of Fame

Clapton was without a recording contract from 1989 to 1992 and had four changes of management until he signed with
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
/
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
for the release of ''Distant Thunder'' in May 1993. It provided four singles and was produced by Clapton. It charted in the top 40 but no single reached the top 50 on ARIA's Singles Chart. His second album for Sony, ''Angeltown'' appeared in May 1996 with a single, "Dixieland", in March—neither reached their respective top 50 charts. In October 1999 Clapton released a compilation '' Richard Clapton – The Definitive Anthology'', which peaked in the top 30. The album was released to coincide with his
ARIA Hall of Fame Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...
induction at the
ARIA Music Awards of 1999 The 13th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) was held on 12 October 1999 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Hosted by Paul McDermott and Bob Downe, and prese ...
alongside Jimmy Little. Clapton was inducted by INXS member, Andrew Farriss, he observed, "That's very apt. Especially since I wrote a really good song with Andrew a few months ago." At the '' Gimme Ted'' benefit concert on 9 March 2001 Clapton was backed by surviving members of INXS on four of his songs, Clapton spent four years writing and recording his twelfth studio album, ''Diamond Mine'', at his home studio, a process he described as the most creatively liberating experience of his recording career. It was released in May 2004—eight years after his previous studio album—but did not chart. On his 2006 album, ''Rewired'', also recorded in the home studio, Clapton provided "unplugged" or acoustic versions of his early songs. Clapton had appeared on '' Countdown''—an Australian pop music show on national broadcaster, ABC-TV—during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He toured with other artists in the
Countdown Spectacular The ''Countdown Spectacular'' is a series of concerts reviving the nostalgia of the Australian music television series '' Countdown''. Countdown Spectacular The first tour was staged from June to August 2006. It featured mainly Australian artists ...
two series of concerts in Australia between late-August and early-September 2007. He sang three of his songs, including the crowd favourite, "Girls on the Avenue". In 2008 on
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
(26 January) Clapton performed at
Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the Legislature, legislative body of Politics of Australia, Australia's federal system of government. The building also houses the core of the Executive (government), execut ...
. To celebrate 35 years of recording, Clapton held a one-off concert at the Sydney State Theatre on 28 June. The event included a line-up of Australian musicians who had played with him including Jon Farriss from INXS. The performance was recorded for a live album, ''Live at the State Theatre'', which was released in October. Clapton showcases his 1977 album, ''Goodbye Tiger'', at that same venue in September 2009. The first concert sold out in less than an hour and a second was added. The entire album was performed as well as an eclectic mix of old and new tracks played in the second set. On the second night Clapton and band were joined by Moss (Cold Chisel) who played a rendition of "I Am an Island". Clapton inducted one of his favourite bands, the Dingoes into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 29 August
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
. Clapton's portrait by Alexander McKenzie was a finalist in 2009 for the
Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
. McKenzie explained his choice of subject, "He's got great a personality and face for painting. He himself admits he's no beauty but he's a lovely man and I've always liked what he does." In October 2010, ''Goodbye Tiger'' was listed at No. 15 in the book, '' 100 Best Australian Albums''.


2010–present: Later years

In August 2012 Clapton's first studio album in eight years, ''Harlequin Nights'', was issued on his own label and distributed by
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
. He was assisted on the album by Danny Spencer on guitar, who also co-wrote some tracks. ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
''s reviewer noted that Clapton "hasn't lost his touch as a songwriter" as the album "veers between the heady optimism of opening track 'Sunny Side Up' and the poignant autumnal reflection of the beautiful 'Blue Skies'" while Clapton is a "troubadour buffeted by uncertain winds and still searching for answers in songs such as the epic 'Vapour Trails' but pushing on regardless in the folksy 'Run Like a River'". In August 2014, a retrospective album titled '' Best Years 1974–2014: The 40th Anniversary Collection'' was released and peaked at number 36 on the ARIA Charts. He issued his fifteenth studio album, ''House of Orange'', in April 2016, which was recorded in Nashville with Moffatt co-producing. Brooke Hunter of ''girl.com.au'' noticed, "Working with offattin the U.S. has put a country – soul twang into laptons band that spills out into classics like 'Deep Water", 'The Best Years of Our Lives", 'Goodbye Tiger' and so many other songs that have made ima national treasure." In April 2021 Clapton released his 16th studio album, ''Music Is Love (1966–1970)'', which was preceded by the lead single,
The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influ ...
's " Summer in the City" (February 2021). All 15 tracks are cover versions of works from the late 1960s – his formative years – and were recorded with Terry Blamey as executive producer for Bloodllines/Mushroom Group labels. Clapton described these songs as being relevant to recent events, "As the world dealt with Trump, COVID-19 and racial unrest." ''Music Is Love (1966–1970)'' peaked at number 3 on the
ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
–his highest position. In April 2023, it was announced that Clapton has signed with Concord Music Publishing.


Personal life

Clapton's mother was a nurse who died when he was ten; his father was a doctor who died in c. 2004. Clapton has pterygiums and his eye surgeon recommended he wear dark glasses. When he left Australia in the late 1960s he travelled to London with Lois Grace Sattler (born 1946) The couple married in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
in March 1971, and in May 1972 they returned to Australia. She worked as a production assistant at
Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...
, Sydney in 1973. Clapton met Susie, a fashion model, in the mid-1980s. They married and had a set of twins. In March 2008 he appeared on ABC-TV's ''
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
'' where he told Peter Thompson about his early life. He described the impact of his mother's erratic lifestyle prior to her suicide when he was ten; he then met his father for the first time and was enrolled in a private boarding school: "My mother was sort of the antithesis of my father, because she had always aspired to... more the Bohemian artistic side of life" and "it was a bit of a shock when my father came to collect me... we just never got on. It was a fiery clash from the very start. My father obviously wanted me to become a doctor or some similar sort of career". Clapton started writing his autobiography in mid-2010, which he hoped would appear later that year. He told Moran of ''The Sunday Telegraph'', "I have no regrets about anything in my life. It has been a very colourful ride. I don't want to homogenise and pasteurise this book because I don't have any regrets about anything I've done in my life". Clapton and Susie were divorced by July 2012. He told
Paul Cashmere Paul Cashmere is an Australian entrepreneur, broadcaster, music journalist and media executive. In 1995 he founded the digital music CD-ROM magazine, ''Undercover'', with Australian photographer and domestic partner, Ros O'Gorman (1960–2018) ...
of ''Noise11.com'', "I went through a really miserable divorce ... I wrote a couple of songs like 'Over the Borderline' which was a last ditch attempt to make amends with my ex-wife. The divorce got very long and drawn out. It went on for about five years which is just absurd". On 1 August 2014 Clapton published his memoirs, ''The Best Years of Our Lives'', via
Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...
. ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
''s Tammy Lewis felt, " tbegins from the late 60s and continues to 1990, as he was forced to keep the word limit down... it continues to touch on intrigue, excitement and some rather PG related stories." James Rose of ''Daily Review'', observed, "He writes vernacular very well. Lot’s icof swearing and sexual exploits (mostly others, less his own). For Oz Rock fans, there’s plenty of behind the scenes dirt and goss on big names..." As of November 2018 Clapton's domestic partner is Meegan White.


Bibliography

*


Discography

* ''
Prussian Blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue, Parisian and Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula . It consists of cations, where iron is in the oxidat ...
'' (1973) * '' Girls on the Avenue'' (1975) * '' Main Street Jive'' (1976) * '' Goodbye Tiger'' (1977) * '' Hearts on the Nightline'' (1979) * '' Dark Spaces'' (1980) * '' The Great Escape'' (1982) * ''
Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...
'' (1984) * '' Glory Road'' (1987) * ''Distant Thunder'' (1993) * ''Angeltown'' (1996) * ''Diamond Mine'' (2004) * ''Rewired'' (2006) * ''Harlequin Nights'' (2012) * ''The House of Orange'' (2016) * ''Music Is Love (1966–1970)'' (2021)


Awards and nominations


Australian Record Awards

, - , 1975 , ''Girls on the Avenue'' , Male Vocal Album ,


ARIA Music Awards

The
ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of
Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...
. They commenced in 1987. , - ,
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, Richard Clapton ,
ARIA Hall of Fame Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has inducted artists into its annual ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone ceremo ...
,


Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame

The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. , - , 2010 , himself , Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame ,


Countdown Australian Music Awards

'' Countdown'' was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine ''
TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
''. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. , - , 1984 , himself , Best Songwriter , , -


References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapton, Richard 1948 births Living people ARIA Award winners ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Australian people of Chinese descent The Party Boys members Musicians from Sydney Australian rock guitarists Australian male guitarists Australian male singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters