• Writer: Bob Marley
• Producer: Tom Dowd
• Recorded: Spring 1974 at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida
• Released: August 1974
• Players:
  Eric Clapton — vocals, guitar
  George Terry — guitar
  Dick Sims — organ
  Carl Radle — bass
  Jamie Oldaker — drums
  Yvonne Elliman — vocals
• Album: 461 Ocean Boulevard (RSO, 1974)
• Also On:
  Time Pieces: The Best Of Eric Clapton (RSO, 1982)
  Crossroads (Polydor, 1988)
  The Cream Of Clapton (Chronicles, 1995)
  Crossroads 2 (Live In The Seventies) (Chronicles, 1996)
  20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best Of Eric Clapton (Polydor, 2004)
  and other compilations
• Thanks to a strong reggae presence in the British music scene, Eric Clapton was aware of Bob Marley & the Wailers long before mainstream rock audiences.
• “I Shot The Sheriff,” a cover of the Bob Marley song, was the first Clapton single to hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached Number Four in the U.K.
• 461 Ocean Boulevard was Clapton’s first studio album under his own name in four years. It marked a comeback following a debilitating heroin addiction that kept him out of sight for many months. He overcame it with the help of acupuncture treatments in 1973.
• Produced by veteran Tom Dowd — best known for his work with the Allman Brothers Band — it was recorded with a group that featured bassist Carl Radle from Derek & the Dominos, and backup singer Yvonne Elliman, who later had a Number One hit of her own with “If I Can’t Have You” from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
• 461 Ocean Boulevard was Clapton’s first Number One album on the Billboard 200 chart. Both the single of “I Shot the Sheriff” and the album 461 Ocean Boulevard have gone gold, for sales of over 500,000 copies.

FAST FORWARD:

• Clapton has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: with the Yardbirds in 1992, with Cream in 1993, and under his own name in 2000.
• Clapton was awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) honor from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, which was upgraded to Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in December 2003.
• In 1998, he founded and funded the Crossroads rehabilitation center on the island of Antigua, to provide intensive therapy for those addicted to drugs and alcohol. To raise money for the operation, he held his first guitar auction in 1999, while a second one took place in 2004, in conjunction with the three-day Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. A second Crossroads Guitar Festival took place in Chicago in the July of 2007.
• Clapton was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2001.
• Clapton continues to tour in short bursts, even though he announced a few years ago that he wouldn’t do any more extended world treks.
• In 2004, he was inducted into Hollywood’s RockWalk.
• In 2005, Clapton reunited with singer-bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker for Cream shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London and Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In 2008, Clapton reunited with his old Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood for three joint concerts at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.