The Eric Clapton Supergroup That You Probably Don’t Remember (No, It’s Not Cream)

When one thinks of guitar virtuoso Eric Clapton, one often thinks of the very concept of the supergroup. His most famous supergroup, Cream, is widely considered to be the very first supergroup. However, Eric Clapton was part of several supergroup outfits throughout his career. Blind Faith is one other short-lived outfit. And there’s another, more obscure, short-lived supergroup that Eric Clapton was part of.

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That supergroup was Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse, a blues-rock outfit formed back in 1966. The lineup was pretty impressive and full of some familiar faces that Clapton had worked with before.

The Short but Sweet Lifespan of Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse

Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse was formed in 1966, and sadly for fans, they didn’t record much material at all. They launched and ended that year, only producing three songs. Those tracks (“Crossroads”, “Steppin’ Out”, and “I Want To Know”) were included on the compilation record What’s Shakin’, which also included songs by The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Allegedly, the band recorded a fourth song, a slow-moving blues piece, but that song has never been released. According to Clapton, the “slow blues” song is probably still “on tape at Elektra [Records] somewhere.”

The lineup of this band was pretty cool, honestly. Eric Clapton played the guitar, Steve Winwood (who went by Steve Anglo) sang, Paul Jones (under the name Jacob Matthews) played the harmonica, Jack Bruce played bass, Pete York (as Peter Howard) played drums, and Ben Palmer took on the piano. Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse was a pretty impressive supergroup, considering it included members of Cream, Blind Faith, Manfred Mann, and The Spencer Davis Group. Allegedly, Ginger Baker of Cream was asked to play drums, but was too busy at the time.

Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse were never meant to go on forever. It was intended to be a very brief studio project. They were basically an ad hoc studio group meant to fill in the gaps of What’s Shakin’. However, each member of the band has gone on to perform with one another through the years, so it’s not like they’ve completely disappeared. 

Eric Clapton’s most famous supergroup will probably always be Cream, but one can’t help but wonder what could have been if The Powerhouse kept powerin’ on.

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns