Clapton was pretty amazing in the early days-- riding distortion on "Stormy Monday" at one of the London clubs when he was playing with John Mayall. I think the old Les Paul he had at the time went missing.
The best Cream record is, sadly, a boot- the Grand Ballroom performance in Oct., '67. I eventually lost interest in what he was doing when he embarked on a solo career but he was important in that era between the electric blues and hard rock with psychedelic influences. At the time, what he was doing was considered inventive, though it is now a well worn groove. I'm not into technical mastery, as such. I like the player to capture the soul of the song.
Haven't seen/heard him in some time; probably the Clapton-Winwood tour where they reprised a lot of Blind Faith. It was good. (Good band too).
@asctim - you would be surprised at how cost effective a refurbishment by factory is- I have done this periodically and you get back what amounts to a new watch (sometimes they say, oh, do you want to replace the face, and I say no, because I like the patina of age). Often the total of a full refurbishment with warranty is a fraction of the value of the timepiece. I just received one of my watches that was overdue for the full re-do and it is enormously gratifying that it is fully operational again, and have two that are in process. Even if the watch does not have sentimental value, the cost of factory rehab is far less than the cost of the watch on the used market. When you have time, contact a local authorized dealer and they can send it to the factory shop (in the case of several of mine, that is located here in the States) and they will give you an itemized estimate for refurb. The only cost to you is shipping (which if done by a jeweler is a fraction of what you'd pay as a civilian with insurance, etc.).