Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, heavier-driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, guitarist Keith Richards, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts. During their formative years, Jones was the primary leader: he assembled the band, named it, and drove their sound and image. After Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager in 1963, he encouraged them to write their own songs. Jagger and Richards became the primary creative force behind the band, alienating Jones, who had developed a drug addiction that interfered with his ability to contribute meaningfully.
George Edward Clinton is an American musician, singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. He launched his solo career with the 1982 album Computer Games and would go on to influence 1990s hip-hop and G-funk.
Edward Earl Hazel was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. His ten-minute guitar solo in the Funkadelic song "Maggot Brain" is hailed as "one of the greatest solos of all time on any instrument". In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Hazel at no. 83 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.
Slowhand is the fifth full-length studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. Slowhand produced the two hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight", reached various international music charts and was honoured with numerous awards and recording certifications. In 2012, a deluxe edition was released to celebrate the album's 35th anniversary.
The Tommyknockers is a 1987 science fiction novel by Stephen King. While maintaining a horror style, the novel is an excursion into the realm of science fiction for King, as the residents of the Maine town of Haven gradually fall under the influence of a mysterious object buried in the woods.
William Everett Preston was an American musician, whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Reverend James Cleveland, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He gained attention as a solo artist with hit singles such as "That's the Way God Planned It", the Grammy-winning "Outa-Space", "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Space Race", "Nothing from Nothing", and "With You I'm Born Again". Additionally, Preston co-wrote "You Are So Beautiful", which became a #5 hit for Joe Cocker.
Andrew Loog Oldham is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style.
Anita Pallenberg was a German-Italian actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the Rolling Stones founder, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, and later, from 1967 to 1980, the partner of Stones guitarist Keith Richards, with whom she had three children.
William George Wyman is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993, plus a one-off guest appearance in 2012. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Rolling Stones. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing records and films, and has scored music for films and television.
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in King of the Gypsies (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes for his role in Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983). Roberts's performance in Runaway Train (1985), as prison escapee Buck McGeehy, earned him a third Golden Globe nod and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is the older brother of actress Julia Roberts.
Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. is an American actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Passenger 57 (1992), True Romance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Strange Days (1995), Heat (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Red Planet (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), and Pearl Harbor (2001), and for voicing Sonny Forelli in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. He also played Joey, Marissa's jealous ex-boyfriend, in the film Zyzzyx Road (2006), and Anthony Sinclair in the revival television series Twin Peaks (2017).
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–69) and the Rolling Stones (1969–74). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).
Freaky Styley is the second studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released August 16, 1985 on EMI America. Freaky Styley marks founding guitarist Hillel Slovak's studio album debut, following his return to the band earlier in the year. The album is the last to feature drummer Cliff Martinez. Freaky Styley was produced by George Clinton, of Parliament-Funkadelic, and the sessions benefitted from Clinton's chemistry with the band but suffered from the band's drug use during recording.
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang label, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart. It featured the Sweet Inspirations singing back-up vocals and is considered to be Van Morrison's signature song.
"Brown Sugar" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written primarily by Mick Jagger, it is the opening track and lead single from their album Sticky Fingers (1971). It became a number one hit in both the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it charted at number two. In the United States, Billboard ranked it as the number 18 song for 1971. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 495 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010 and number 490 in 2004 and at number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
"Flash Light" is a song by funk band Parliament, written by George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, and Bootsy Collins and released in January 1978 on the album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome. It was the first #1 R&B hit by any of the P-Funk groups and spent four months on the U.S. pop chart, peaking at #16.
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in its 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" before dropping a place the following year.
Shine a Light is a 2008 concert film directed by Martin Scorsese documenting the Rolling Stones' 2006 Beacon Theatre performances during their A Bigger Bang Tour. The film also includes archive footage from the band's career and marked the first utilisation by Scorsese of digital cinematography for his films, with it being used for the backstage sequences. The film takes its title from the song of the same name, featured on the band's 1972 album Exile on Main St. A soundtrack album was released in April 2008 on the Universal label. This is also the last movie by Paramount Classics, as the company merged into its sister company Paramount Vantage after the movie was released.
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars is a 2017 documentary film about Eric Clapton, directed and co-produced by Lili Fini Zanuck. The film covers Clapton's early childhood, including the trauma of his mother leaving him to be raised by his grandparents, and his career, consisting of "a single-minded mission to raise the profile of the blues in popular culture". Clapton's tragedies, including his infatuation with Patti Boyd, then the wife of his best friend George Harrison, his struggles with drugs and alcoholism, and the death of his 4-year old son Conor are highlighted.
