Perhaps no one in the history of rock has had a career as long, rocky, storied, and successful as Eric Clapton. Beginning as a young man with the Yardbirds in 1964 and then with Cream, Clapton cemented a reputation as a "God" of rock and blues guitar. His early career also included brief stints as guitar slinger for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, second fiddle to Steve Winwood in Blind Faith, and high-profile sessionman for Delaney & Bonnie - the duo with whom he first developed his signature style. Clapton launched his solo career, however, with two landmark albums - his eponymous debut and Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs, a pseudonymous side project with Derek & The Dominos. The former mixed six-string pyrotechnics with laidback shuffles, setting the tone for Clapton's next three decades. The latter was, simply stated, the apotheosis of blues rock.

Eric Clapton and Derek & The Dominos' Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs were both released in 1970 and were recorded with many of the same musicians (mostly friends from Delaney & Bonnie). Both are tremendous albums and collectively represent remarkable burst of creativity which produced some of the best songs Clapton has ever written. Of the two records, Eric Clapton was the more congenial. Featuring an all-star cast (Rita Coolidge, Leon Russell, Stephen Stills, and Delaney Bramlett, who cowrote much of the album), the album was presented a lively mix of bright-sounding blues ("Lonesome And A Long Way from Home"), energetic boogie ("Blues Power"), and tender love songs ("Easy Now"), plus a J.J. Cale cover ("After Midnight"). Eventually, this mix would become a (very profitable) formula for Clapton; in 1970, though, he was young and hungry and had something to prove, and the formula sounded fresh, indeed.

Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs - the Dominos' sole studio recording - is indisputably a masterpiece, remarkable even when compared to something as good as Eric Clapton. Recorded with Delaney& Bonnie's rhythm section - Bobby Whitlock (piano), Carl Radle (bass), and Jim Gordon (drums) - Layla is marked by an abiding respect for the blues and is fraught with fiery exchanges between Clapton, Whitlock, and guests the caliber of Duane Allman and George Harrison. At the time, Clapton was mired in heroin addiction and deeply in love with George's wife, the former Pattie Boyd. Clapton's howling performances of "Bell Bottom Blues," "Anyday," "Little Wing," and - especially - the epic title track paint a vivid, harrowing portrait of a man at the absolute end of his rope. Even the album's blues standards (such as "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out ") speak to Clapton's misery. (For the whole story, read Pattie Boyd's 2007 biography, Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me.)

The Dominos toured briefly in 1970, later releasing a live album, In Concert (1973), now available as Live At The Fillmore (1994). (More recently, Polygram compiled a 3-CD box, The Layla Sessions, that extensively chronicled the album's evolution.) After the tour, however, Clapton's personal troubles kept him largely out-of-sight throughout the early 70's. In 1972, though, renewed interest in the absent guitar hero was sparked by several popular double-LP compilation albums, most prominently, The History of Eric Clapton. These albums helped put Clapton's already rich career in perspective for the first time, and "Layla" - a seven-minute-long, two-year-old song - became an unexpected hit single. Clapton himself, however, reemerged only after Who guitarist Pete Townshend goosed him out of seclusion.

Townshend organized a two-night stand for Clapton at London's Rainbow Theatre, snagging a host of old chums - Steve Winwood, Ron Wood, and others - to appear alongside the reluctant star. The resulting album, Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (1973), was successful, but Clapton's real comeback was to occur the next year. 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) is a record as peaceful and contented as Layla was tumultuous and tortured. Clapton exudes happiness, having won over Patti Harrison, kicked dope, and embraced Christianity. When he rocks ("Mainline Florida," "Motherless Children"), he rocks with joy; on the ballads and blues ("Let It Grow," "I Can't Hold Out"), he conveys an impression of a man in total harmony with his world. Soon after, Clapton scored bigger hits - Slowhand (1977), in particular - but he never again made as grand a statement as 461 Ocean Boulevard.

Beginning with the somnambulant Backless in 1978, Eric Clapton entered an uninspired period pockmarked by beer commercials (Michelob, to be precise) and collaborations with Phil Collins (ewwww!), a dark chapter which lasted much of the next decade. Beginning with the release of Journeyman (1989), however, Clapton reclaimed his blues roots and managed to recaptured a bit of the magic. This phase of his career produced a series of consistent - if less than incendiary - albums. Highlights include: Unplugged (1992), which spawned a hit with a sleepy retooling of "Layla"; From The Cradle (1994), a rousing blues excursion; Riding With The King (2000), a collaboration with the ageless B.B. King; and Me & Mr. Johnson (2004), Clapton's tribute to blues pioneer Robert Johnson.

As good as they are, however, those records are not the essential Eric Clapton. Polygram has remastered Clapton's 1970's catalog (albums originally on RSO Records), and those studio albums - Eric Clapton, Layla, 461 Ocean Boulevard, and Slowhand especially, but also There's One In Every Crowd (1975) and No Reason To Cry (1976) - are the core of Clapton's solo work. Still, a lot of that work - and much since - may sound unimpressive to listeners unfamiliar with Clapton's pedigree. Gradually through the 70's, a laidback picking style (nicked from J.J. Cale) supplanted Clapton's formerly godlike fretwork, and he settled into an easy-going groove. Many guitar buffs would argue that his unassailable technique remains, but few would chance to compare Clapton's "Lay Down Sally" (let alone "Tears from Heaven") with Cream's "Badge."

There's no denying that Eric Clapton is one of the premier guitarists of our time, nor can his longevity and implacable good taste be ignored. But in gaining his wizened maturity, he lost the fire in his belly. In the words of Robert Christgau, "He saw deeper when he knew less." I don't mean to say that one has to be a drug-addled reprobate to play the blues (not that it hurts...), but the blues are about feeling - not form. Eric Clapton has become a slave to form and, safe to say, his main contributions are well behind him now.

Clapton released a CD boxed set, Crossroads, in 1988 - one of the first such packages ever compiled. I can't call it definitive - there's just too much ground to cover on four CD's, and many of the songs are alternate takes or live versions - but it does an adequate job of pulling together highlights. Nevertheless, Crossroads is a illuminating journey through Clapton's long, varied career, touching on everything from the Yardbirds to that stupid beer commercial. Even sketchier - but amazing throughout - is The Cream Of Clapton (1995), a single-disc retrospective. Also of note are Crossroads 2: Live In The Seventies (1996) and Blues (1999), a two-disc set featuring popular and unreleased blues songs from the same period. Finally, Warner Brother's Clapton Chronicles: The Best Of 1981-1999 provides an economical way to cover much of his later career.

Exactly where - if anywhere - Eric Clapton will go from here is anybody's guess. The last ten years have found him exploring his most primitive roots (Me & Mr. Johnson) as well as experimenting with completely modern music (Retail Therapy). He has revisited his own past (Unplugged) and put his adult foibles on display (Pilgrim). He has endured tragedy (the death of his son) and indulged in the decadent spoils of stardom (or so I've heard). It seems certain that Eric Clapton will rise to the occasion - playing guitar with the hand of God - when and if it suits him. They don't call him "Slowhand" for nothing.