One Fateful Night in Surrey
As a way for the young soldier to earn extra cash, Fryer would play piano and sing at clubs around Surrey, the area he was stationed in. It was actually something that he had been doing for a living since the age of 14 after he ran away from home. In Surrey, in 1944, Fryer performed at a small pub where he met Patricia Clapton.
British guitarist Eric Clapton performing on stage with Cream during their first live appearance at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival in Berkshire, England on July 31 1966. Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
It proved to be a fateful night as she later became pregnant with their future superstar son. But in those days, in 1940s Britain, there was a real social stigma attached to having a child born out of wedlock. Not to mention the difficulties for a 16-year-old girl in raising a child. Patricia’s mother and step-father, Rose and Jack, agreed to raise the baby as their own, which meant telling him that he was their son and his mother was his sister.