Eric “Slowhand” Clapton hand-picked the best musicians to ease addiction at Crossroads Guitar Festivals.
Former Cream, Yardbirds and Derek and the Dominos guitarist – Eric Clapton had a lot of musical friends. He played and partied with them, breaking strings and sharing riffs and spliffs. The rock and roll lifestyle caught up with a lot of the musicians when they got home from the road.
Clapton also shared his curative paradise, the Crossroads Centre for drug treatment in Antigua, which he opened with Richard Conte, CEO of The Priory Hospitals Group. To pay the piper, Clapton founded the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
Genesis Publications commemorates the Crossroads Guitar Festivals, 1999-2013, with Sunshine of Your Love: Eric Clapton and Friends. The limited edition book and record set will be available for shipping in May 2018.
Clapton personally selected the guitarists who played the Crossroads Guitar Festivals. He invited Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Doyle Bramhall II, Jimmie Vaughan, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Buddy Guy and B.B. King.
“One by one, my heroes would eventually be in the same room with me. What do we do? We just play, play our hearts out,” Clapton remembers in the book.
The first concert was held on June 30, 1999, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which also hosted the show in 2013.
“It was really special playing Madison Square Garden. It was amazing to be in New York City with all those cats and all that music,” Gary Clark Jr. remembers in the book.
The 2004 concert was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, 2007 and 2010 festivals were held at Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois, just outside Chicago.
“Eric’s been such a great person for guitar players,” remembers Buddy Guy. “Anybody would be happy to be a part of this.”
The new book documents Clapton’s work in the Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream. Whole pages are dedicated to the history of the slide guitar, from Elmore James to Duane Allman, and to the continuing significance of the Chicago blues men.
Blues legends like B.B. King, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy, as well as newer guitar virtuosos, such as John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. recount the history of guitar music, from bluest to country, from jazz to rock n’ roll.
Sunshine Of Your Love: Eric Clapton and Friends includes an exclusive 7″ vinyl picture disc that includes a performance of “Wonderful Tonight” from the first benefit concert in 1999, and “Got To Get Better In A Little While” performed at the final Crossroads in 2013.
Sunshine Of Your Love: Eric Clapton and Friends was handcrafted in Milan, Italy, the 1,650 collector copies are quarter bound in leather with foil blocking and silver page edging. The 36,000-word book features archival photos and exclusive interviews with Clapton and the performers, each numbered copy is signed by at least three legendary Crossroads musicians.
Sunshine of Your Love: Eric Clapton and Friends will be ready for shipping starting in May 2018.
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