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I don't "get" Eric Clapton

#41
mellowinman said:
...I can't think of a bad note he ever played.
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Oooh, there are some dodgy ones in 'Layla'! (Unless someone else played the slide bits, of course.) In fact, I think it would be a much better song without all those squealy solo bits! A rather bad EC moment for me.

A great Clapton memory: I remember him joining Dire Straits for a performance at the 'Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute' in London in 1988, and he played a terrific, heartfelt solo in 'Money For Nothing'.

I like him enough to have bought his bio, which I'll read as soon as I'm finished with Bowie's.

Cheers
V :)
 
#42
You have to take into consideration the early times. He was in the legendary Yardbirds. He then went on to play on John Mayall's Blues Breakers which really put him in the spotlight as probably one of the pre-eminent blues guitarists on the planet. He followed that up with Cream and no one had heard guitar playing like that before. He just blew audiences and critics away.

By his own admission, after Cream he was fed up with being the guitar chops legend. He moved on, or back, to his roots which were more basic blues. It was really his career up to and through his time with Cream that cemented his reputation. After that he was just doing whatever he felt like. Some of it was pretty darn good as Total Songs are concerned and some was crap - just like every other big name artist.
 
#44
RedMoses said:
Derrick and the Dominoes!
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Many players that worked on the Derek & The Dominos album have attested to the fact that most of the licks are in fact Duane Allman's. Now, because this is second hand(or maybe even more removed) information I'll expect that that could be misinformation.

Overall, I would echo what others have said here. Clapton was damn good and better than most between 1966 and the end of Cream. His singing is what carried his reputation even further, though as I stated he was carried aloft by surrounding himself with other excellent players and songwriters (ahem: Invalid Link Removed[/URL]) which he greatly benefited from. Personally I like his post-cream stuff in small doses and some of it was phenomenal. Greatest guitar player ever he clearly is not; not even close.
 
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#45
Again, part of it is he has been around so so. We all talk about Hendrix. He might have continued to rise, or he could have decended into two decades of drug induced garbage. What if colored our perceptions.

Same way with the Beatles. They all have done some great stuff after, but without the Beatle catelog, would Lennon or the others been held in such high regard? I doubt it.
 
#46
buldog5151bass said:
Again, part of it is he has been around so so. We all talk about Hendrix. He might have continued to rise, or he could have decended into two decades of drug induced garbage. What if colored our perceptions.

Same way with the Beatles. They all have done some great stuff after, but without the Beatle catelog, would Lennon or the others been held in such high regard? I doubt it.
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Yeah you have a point.

I've had this secret theory for years that Hendrix was on the verge of inventing Disco before he passed away. If you listen to some of his posthumously released material, there's a strong disco vibe running under the surface.

I can't imagine what we'd be saying about Hendrix now, if he had survived, and went full Disco at one point in his career.
 
#47
The Mighty 'V' said:
Oooh, there are some dodgy ones in 'Layla'! (Unless someone else played the slide bits, of course.) In fact, I think it would be a much better song without all those squealy solo bits! A rather bad EC moment for me.

A great Clapton memory: I remember him joining Dire Straits for a performance at the 'Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute' in London in 1988, and he played a terrific, heartfelt solo in 'Money For Nothing'.

I like him enough to have bought his bio, which I'll read as soon as I'm finished with Bowie's.

Cheers
V :)
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Slide guitar on Layla is Duane Allman.
 
#48
he's a good blues player. nothing more nothing less. he was part of a historical "in-crowd," thats for sure, and certainly worth more than his actual playing.

with people like Metheny, or Julian Bream, still floating around this planet, i think its funny when terms like "best guitarist ever" get thrown around for a guy like clapton. I'm not trying to be a hater, he's Eric Clapton- an icon, a great rock guitarist. but "best ever?" no such thing... and I'm sure eric himself would laugh at such a claim.

carry on.

t
 
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#49
buldog5151bass said:
Same way with the Beatles. They all have done some great stuff after, but without the Beatle catelog, would Lennon or the others been held in such high regard? I doubt it.
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Interesting statement. It amounts to asking "Same with the Beatles. They did great stuff, but what would we think of them if they hadn't done all that great stuff?"

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#52
embellisher said:
I know that Clapton is widely considered one of the greatest guitarists ever, and I will probably get lots of flak for this, but I don't think he's all that.

IMHO, other guitarists of his generation are better, Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Page, Phil Keaggy, etc.
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The only thing debatable in your post is if he's better than some of the names you mentioned and of course it's all "subjective" but what's not debatable is the fact that's he is "one of the greatest"
 
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#53
StayLow said:
Phil Keaggy! Wow, don't see that name often. Wonderfully expressive, unfortunately virtually unknown player.

No comment on who's better as I'm not into the contest thing. McLaughlin, Townshend, Dale and Iommi are my fave cats from decades ago. Just wanted to add props for Keaggy.
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yeah, I haven't heard that name in years but I was in bands based out of Cleveland through the 70's and he was quite a fixture
 
#56
embellisher said:
I know that Clapton is widely considered one of the greatest guitarists ever, and I will probably get lots of flak for this, but I don't think he's all that.

IMHO, other guitarists of his generation are better, Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Page, Phil Keaggy, etc.

As far as his musical output and songwriting, I don't think he's done anything of quality since Cream.

So, let me have it! Tear me up! Or, let me know if you agree with me.
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Except for Page, I have never liked any of the guitarists you mentioned. I find Hendrix playing to be extremely sloppy. The guitar player in my band feels the same way. Jeff Beck is just too busy for me. I like Clapton's playing quite a bit. He plays with a lot of feeling and has excellent not selection.
 
#60
When I first started playing guitar I was completely enthralled by Clapton, and what I liked about him was that his playing seemed so accessible. Compared to Hendrix or Van Halen, Clapton's approach and style seemed very doable. Personally, I went back to the sources, but Clapton plays with a rock fluidity that the blues guys don't have, that's not a knock, but I still love listening to Clapton. To me though, 1970 was an absolute perfect year for Clapton. The Gordon/Radle rhythm section was his best ever, and basically says that in his autobiography.

Then I burned out on the blues and never really could develop a style that didn't sound like Clapton Clone lead. Luckily an opportunity came up to play bass so I left the world of guitards.
 

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