Eric Clapton ‘might be saying goodbye’

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By ( Classic Rock ) published

Eric Clapton covered I’ll Be Seeing You for I Still Do in case it’s his final album

Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton (Image credit: Getty)

Eric Clapton included a version of blues standard I’ll Be Seeing You on his album I Still Do in case it’s his final release, he’s said.

The 71-year-old has been considering retirement for some time, and he’s already put an end to his days of large-scale touring because he doesn’t enjoy travelling any more.

Clapton tells the Chicago Tribune: “I love the song and I love the sentiment. It’s one of those things that’s been haunting me.

“Just in case I don’t cut another record, this is how I feel. I kind of might be saying goodbye – but I’ve been doing that for a while.”

I Still Do is his first studio project with producer Glyn Johns since 1977’s Slowhand. But Clapton had to contend with a serious skin issue just as work began.

“I had full-body exzema and it ended up on my hands,” he recalls. “It was a nightmare. I started thinking it was psychosomatic – that maybe I was nervous. And maybe I was.”

And he accepts the days of his most adept guitar work are behind him. “I can’t go to that place any more. I have to work hard now to get to the place where it’s absolutely free.

“I was a young man with a passion. I don’t know that guy any more at all. But I know where the music came from, and I can tap into a point where I think it’s okay.”

I Still Do is released on May 20 (Friday) along with an hour-long TV special focusing on the album.

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Martin Kielty
Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.