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 and Bob Dylan, 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 prominent 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 1967 to London where he played with three locals in a pre-punk group, followed by a group with four North Americans who were raided by the police for marijuana importing. Clapton changed his birth name, using the last names of two of his heroes Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. His visa had expired, and he moved to Germany. Clapton emerged in the early 1970s as a singer-songwriter in the troubadour style of Neil Young and Jackson Browne. In 1972, Clapton returned to Australia and signed a publishing deal with Essex Music and a recording deal with Infinity Records, a subsidiary of Festival Records. His debut single, "Last Train to Marseilles", was released in October.
Clapton was backed by Red McKelvie (guitar, ex-The Flying Circus), Kenny Kitching (pedal steel), John Capek (piano, ex-Carson) and John Bois (bass guitar) and Tony Bolton (drums), both from Country Radio . At the end of the year he briefly joined a jazz-rock group, Sun, for six weeks into early 1973—he replaced their previous singer Renée Geyer. Clapton's debut LP album, 'Prussian Blue' appeared in November—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 Das, with other tracks variously featuring McKelvie, Glenn Cardier (guitar), Russell Dunlop (drums), Mike Perjanik (organ), Trevor Wilson and Mike Lawler (bass guitar) and Ian Bloxham (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. Due to Clapton's solid grass-roots support, 'Prussian Blue' sold steadily by word of mouth and four years later it was still selling 200-500 copies per week.
Critics praised his album which contained songs written while in Europe and Festival kept him on their books. He spoke about the song "Prussian Blue" in Rolling Stone magazine saying it was "the only song I ever contrived". He said it "came about when I was going through my 'wanna-write-me-a-masterpiece stage, which everyone goes through." He said it took him "six weeks getting all the right clever rhymes and all." 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 became a major hit, reaching the #4 spot on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in March. The album, 'Girls on the Avenue', also produced by Batchens appeared in April; for touring and session work, he formed the Richard Clapton Band with John Carr on guitar, Ken Firth on bass guitar (ex-Tully), Ace Follington on drums (ex-Country Radio), McKelvie on guitar (ex-Flying Circus), and Tony Slavich on keyboards (ex-Ariel).
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 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' released in July 1976, again produced by Batchens. He contributed six tracks to the film soundtrack for Highway One (1976).
The soundtrack included the single "Capricorn Dancer", which reached #40 in early 1977 and remains a concert staple. Clapton toured Europe at the end of 1976 with his band including Slavich, Michael Hegerty (bass guitar, ex-Stars), Kirk Lorange (lead guitar) and Jim Penson (drums, ex-Blackfeather). The song "Goodbye Tiger" came about after Clapton met up with a bunch of people who were in Sydney for the day Hunter S. Thompson hit town. Clapton got drunk and the drinking binge continued as he got on a flight to Germany before crashing out at a friends' place in Berlin.
After all this, the song "Goodbye Tiger" was born. Clapton said it was the only time he'd 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 then snowed in at a resort in Denmark. He said there was a blizzard, 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 'Goodbye Tiger'. Clapton's fourth studio album, 'Goodbye Tiger', was released in August 1977 and was acclaimed by Ian 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 #11 on the albums chart in November 1977. 'Goodbye Tiger' was the final album Clapton recorded for Infinity Records and produced by Batchens. Many Clapton fans regard the melancholic record as his masterpiece: it included two of his enduring songs, the anthemic "Deep Water", which reached #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 (ex-Sherbet), Diane McLennan (backing vocals), Cleis Pearce (viola, ex-MacKenzie Theory) and Greg Sheehan (drums, ex-Blackfeather, MacKenzie Theory).
Additional musicians included Tony Ansell (keyboards), Tony Buchanan (saxophone) and Penson. Australian rock music historian, Chris Spencer, cites the album as one of his favourites, "It represents 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 the album was the worst year of his life "but I guess that's the record I will always be remembered for".
During 1978, Clapton toured nationally with Ansell, Hegerty, Lorange, McLennan and Sheehan. Late in the 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 #17 but failed to attract international attention, Clapton supported its release with a 75-date national tour. He returned to Sydney in 1980 to record his next album, 'Dark Spaces'. The 1980s saw Clapton consolidate his career in the music industry, working with other artists and as a record producer.
His next album, 'Dark Spaces' appeared in July 1980, which he produced. His session musicians included Ansell, Andrew Durant on rhythm guitar (Stars), Clive Harrison on bass guitar (ex-Kush, Avalanche), Mark Moffatt on lead guitar (ex Carol Loyd Band) and Kerry Jacobsen on drums (Dragon). 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. In May, Clapton produced the third single, "The Loved One", for new wave band, INXS, 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 he signed with WEA and the Mark Opitz-produced 'The Great Escape' had contributions from members of Cold Chisel and INXS. The album, which peaked at #8 in March, spawned three singles. The hard-rocking "I Am an Island", with Cold Chisel's Ian Moss on guitar and Jimmy Barnes 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 his compilation, 'The Very Best of Richard Clapton', which reached #18 with 'The Great Escape' still in the top 20.
In 1983, Clapton joined The Party Boys, taking over lead vocals from James Reyne (Australian Crawl), the live album 'Greatest Hits (Of Other People)' and a single, "I Fought the Law"—a cover of the Sonny Curtis song—resulted from an extensive tour of the east coast of Australia. Clapton left the band to re-focus on his solo career and handed over vocals to Shirley Strachan (ex-Skyhooks) In September 1984, Clapton released 'Solidarity' on Mushroom Records 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), Kevin Borich on guitar (ex-La De Das, 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 and Mark Williams.
Clapton and Borich released the duet single, "Spirit of Sydney" in 1986.Clapton rejoined WEA in 1987 for his next 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' 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 (ARIA) Albums Chart. Later years Clapton was without a recording contract for four years from 1989 and had a few changes of his management until he signed with Sony Music/Columbia Records for the release of 'Distant Thunder' in May 1993.
The album spawned 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 appeared in their respective top 50 charts. In September 1999, Clapton released a compilation album, 'Definitive Anthology', which peaked in the top 30. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 12 October.
Additional musicians included Tony Ansell (keyboards), Tony Buchanan (saxophone) and Penson. Australian rock music historian, Chris Spencer, cites the album as one of his favourites, "It represents 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 the album was the worst year of his life "but I guess that's the record I will always be remembered for".
During 1978, Clapton toured nationally with Ansell, Hegerty, Lorange, McLennan and Sheehan. Late in the 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 #17 but failed to attract international attention, Clapton supported its release with a 75-date national tour. He returned to Sydney in 1980 to record his next album, 'Dark Spaces'. The 1980s saw Clapton consolidate his career in the music industry, working with other artists and as a record producer.
His next album, 'Dark Spaces' appeared in July 1980, which he produced. His session musicians included Ansell, Andrew Durant on rhythm guitar (Stars), Clive Harrison on bass guitar (ex-Kush, Avalanche), Mark Moffatt on lead guitar (ex Carol Loyd Band) and Kerry Jacobsen on drums (Dragon). 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. In May, Clapton produced the third single, "The Loved One", for new wave band, INXS, 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 he signed with WEA and the Mark Opitz-produced 'The Great Escape' had contributions from members of Cold Chisel and INXS. The album, which peaked at #8 in March, spawned three singles. The hard-rocking "I Am an Island", with Cold Chisel's Ian Moss on guitar and Jimmy Barnes 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 his compilation, 'The Very Best of Richard Clapton', which reached #18 with 'The Great Escape' still in the top 20.
In 1983, Clapton joined The Party Boys, taking over lead vocals from James Reyne (Australian Crawl), the live album 'Greatest Hits (Of Other People)' and a single, "I Fought the Law"—a cover of the Sonny Curtis song—resulted from an extensive tour of the east coast of Australia. Clapton left the band to re-focus on his solo career and handed over vocals to Shirley Strachan (ex-Skyhooks) In September 1984, Clapton released 'Solidarity' on Mushroom Records 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), Kevin Borich on guitar (ex-La De Das, 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 and Mark Williams.
Clapton and Borich released the duet single, "Spirit of Sydney" in 1986.Clapton rejoined WEA in 1987 for his next 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' 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 (ARIA) Albums Chart. Later years Clapton was without a recording contract for four years from 1989 and had a few changes of his management until he signed with Sony Music/Columbia Records for the release of 'Distant Thunder' in May 1993.
The album spawned 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 appeared in their respective top 50 charts. In September 1999, Clapton released a compilation album, 'Definitive Anthology', which peaked in the top 30. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 12 October.
Clapton spent four years writing and recording the 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" 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 2 concert series 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 (26 January) Clapton appeared in a performance held at Parliament House, Canberra. To celebrate 35 years of recording, Clapton held a one off concert at the Sydney State Theatre on 28 June.
In October 2010, Goodbye Tiger was listed at #15 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. In August 2012 Clapton's first studio album in eight years, 'Harlequin Nights', was issued on his own label and distributed by MGM. He was assisted on the album by Danny Spencer on guitar, who also co-wrote some tracks. The Australian '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'".
He toured with other artists in the Countdown Spectacular 2 concert series 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 (26 January) Clapton appeared in a performance held at Parliament House, Canberra. To celebrate 35 years of recording, Clapton held a one off concert at the Sydney State Theatre on 28 June.
In October 2010, Goodbye Tiger was listed at #15 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. In August 2012 Clapton's first studio album in eight years, 'Harlequin Nights', was issued on his own label and distributed by MGM. He was assisted on the album by Danny Spencer on guitar, who also co-wrote some tracks. The Australian '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 #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 Moffatt in the U.S. has put a country – soul twang into Clapton's 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 him a 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'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 #3 on the ARIA Albums Chart–his highest position
''Last Train To Marseilles / High Train Girl'' 1972 Infinity
''All The Prodigal Children / Hardly Know Myself'' 1973 Infinity
''I Wanna Be A Survivor / Prussian Blue'' 1974 Infinity
''Please Come Home / Burn Down Your Bridges'' 1975 Infinity
''I'm Travelling Down The Castlereagh / Girls On The Avenue'' (#4) 1975 Infinity
''Down The Road / Rose Wine Cafe'' 1975 Infinity
''Suit Yourself / Kickin' The Moon Around'' 1976 Infinity
''Capricorn Dancer (#40) / Babe Rainbow'' 1977 Infinity
''Deep Water (#43) / Factory Life'' 1977 Infinity
''Down In The Lucky Country (#70) / Wintertime In Amsterdam'' 1978 Infinity
''Stepping Across The Line (#98) / Suit Yourself'' 1978 Interfusion
''Hearts On The Nightline / When The Heat's Off'' 1979 Interfusion
''Ace Of Hearts / Down The Tracks'' 1979 Interfusion
''Get Back To The Shelter (#94) / Metropolis'' 1980 Infinity
''High Society / Le Club Des Fools'' 1980 Infinity
''I Am An Island (#20) / Walk On Water'' 1982 WEA
''Spellbound (#89) / Syncopation Train'' 1982 WEA
''The Best Years Of Our Lives / Flow In Motion'' 1982 WEA
''The Heart Of It (#87) / Atom Bomb'' 1984 Mushroom
''Solidarity [Edited Version] / New World'' 1984 Mushroom
''Goodbye Barbara Ann (#90) / Amsterdam'' 1985 Mushroom
''Spirit Of Sydney'' 1986 Oz
''Glory Road (#42) / Love Is Strong'' 1987 WEA
''Trust Somebody (Best Of Friends) / Homeland'' 1987 WEA
''Go Windward Passage / Go Windward Passage [Extended Version]'' 1988 Virgin
''Angelou / The Underground'' 1988 WEA
''Deep Water (Live) / Blue Bay Blues (Live)'' 1989 WEA
''Ace Of Hearts (Live) / Solidarity (Live)'' 1989 WEA
"Happy Valley" 1992 Columbia
"Distant Thunder" (#80) 1993 Columbia
"All Fall Down" 1993 Columbia
"Oceans of the Heart" 1994 Columbia
"Dixieland" 1996 Roadshow
"Calling for You" 1999 WEA
"Dancing with the Vampires" 2012 Gypsy
"Something About You" 2016 Gypsy
"Summer in the City" 2021 Bloodlines
"Cinnamon Girl" 2021 Bloodlines
'Prussian Blue' 1973 Infinity
'Girls On The Avenue' (#33) 1975 Infinity
'Mainstreet Jive' (#64) 1976 Infinity
'Goodbye Tiger' (#11) 1977 Infinity
'Hearts On The Nightline' (#17) 1979 Infinity
'Dark Spaces' (#23) 1980 Infinity
'The Great Escape' (#8) 1982 WEA
'Solidarity' (#27) 1984 Mushroom
'Glory Road' (#28) 1987 WEA
'Distant Thunder' (#37) 1993 Columbia
'Angeltown' (#89) 1995 Roadshow Music
'Diamond Mine' (#90) 2004 Warner Music
'Rewired' 2006 Warner Music
'Live At The State Theatre' 2008 Chief Entertainment
'Harlequin Nights' 2012 Gypsy
'The House Of Orange' 2016 Gypsy
'Music Is Love (1966-1970)' (#3) 2021 Bloodlines
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clapton
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
'Distant Thunder' (#37) 1993 Columbia
'Angeltown' (#89) 1995 Roadshow Music
'Diamond Mine' (#90) 2004 Warner Music
'Rewired' 2006 Warner Music
'Live At The State Theatre' 2008 Chief Entertainment
'Harlequin Nights' 2012 Gypsy
'The House Of Orange' 2016 Gypsy
'Music Is Love (1966-1970)' (#3) 2021 Bloodlines
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clapton
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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