Q 01/05

In which English county was Eric Clapton born in 1945?

A) Sussex

B) Surrey

C) Essex

D) Kent

Answer · why

B) Surrey

He grew up believing his grandmother was his mother and his mother was his older sister.

Q 02/05

Clapton's father was a soldier from which country?

A) Poland

B) United States

C) Canada

D) Australia

Answer · why

C) Canada

Edward Fryer returned to Montreal before Eric was born and apparently never knew he had a famous son.

Q 03/05

Which R&B band did Clapton join in October 1963 and leave in March 1965?

A) The Bluesbreakers

B) Manfred Mann

C) The Animals

D) The Yardbirds

Answer · why

D) The Yardbirds

He quit the day their pop hit "For Your Love" was released, disliking the commercial direction.

Q 04/05

How did Clapton get his famous nickname?

A) He was a notoriously slow learner on guitar

B) A pun on the slow handclap during string changes

C) A misheard shout of "Showhand" at a gig

D) His unusually slow, wide vibrato

Answer · why

B) A pun on the slow handclap during string changes

Manager Giorgio Gomelsky coined it during his Yardbirds days.

Q 05/05

Whom did Clapton recommend as his replacement, only for him to decline and suggest Jeff Beck?

A) Jimmy Page

B) Mick Taylor

C) Peter Green

D) Ritchie Blackmore

Answer · why

A) Jimmy Page

Beck, Page and Clapton were never in the group at the same time.