Eric Clapton: “Slowhand”This doesn’t have anything to do with the Pointer Sisters’ desire for a lover with one of these, in case you’re wondering. If anything, it’s an ironic title similar to calling a fat guy “Slim.” But there’s a little more to it than that. It was given to him by the Yardbirds’ manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, and has a story behind it. In 1999, Clapton said, “I think it might have been a play on words from the ‘Clap’ part of my ...
more Eric Clapton: “Slowhand”This doesn’t have anything to do with the Pointer Sisters’ desire for a lover with one of these, in case you’re wondering. If anything, it’s an ironic title similar to calling a fat guy “Slim.” But there’s a little more to it than that. It was given to him by the Yardbirds’ manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, and has a story behind it. In 1999, Clapton said, “I think it might have been a play on words from the ‘Clap’ part of my name. In England, in sport, if the crowd is getting anxious, we have a slow handclap, which indicates boredom or frustration. But it wasn’t my idea; it was someone else’s comment.” He went into greater detail in his 2007 memoir: “On my guitar I used light-gauge guitar strings… and it was not uncommon during the most frenetic bits of playing for me to break at least one string. During the pause while I was changing my string, the frenzied audience would often break into a slow handclap, inspiring Giorgio to dream up the nickname of 'Slowhand' Clapton." Of course, in the late ‘60s, he also had another nickname: “God.” (See Jay-Z; blasphemy.)
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