Eric Clapton before he was famous

The nobody years

1. 

   1958 His first guitar defeated him

   His first guitar was so difficult to play, he gave up.

   At thirteen he got a cheap German guitar, found it too hard, and gave up. Source

2. 

   1962 Thrown out of art school

   Kingston College of Art threw him out for neglecting his work.

   He was thrown out of Kingston College of Art for playing music instead of doing art. Source

3. 

   early 1960s Building site labourer

   Music wasn't paying yet. He worked on building sites.

   Not yet earning from music, he worked as a labourer on building sites. Source

4. 

   1963 Joining the Yardbirds

   In October 1963, he joined the Yardbirds.

   His first band, the Roosters, lasted from January to August. Source

5. 1945

   Was born in Ripley, Surrey, to a sixteen-year-old mother and a Canadian soldier. Source

6. 1950s

   He grew up believing his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. Source

7. 1960

   Two years later he picked it up again, practising along to blues records. Source

8. 1962

   He busked around Kingston, Richmond and the West End. Source

9. 1963

   He joined the Yardbirds in October. Source

Reconstructions of documented moments, generated with AI. Not archive photographs, and not depictions of real people. © The Nobody Years