Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

leevc5

New member
Clapton went from "God" to just another super star when Hendrix showed up.
He went from kick ass, hard driving, SG playing king of the lightening of overdriven slow hand that made him "God" to Stratocaster toting subpop riffing journeyman.
He continues to evolve and whether you are a fan of his various evolution's he has always been an artist true to his craft.

That is my opinion. What do you think of Clapton now, then and along the way and why?
 
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Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

To state my IMOs on Clapton rather quickly: I've never liked his improvisation; he is not a tasty improviser. The guitar work for Cream in studio – where he had the benefit of multiple takes, multi-tracking, and a producer calling shots – was awesome, but they sucked live, from every recording I've heard. Just a bunch of showing off, and none of the lushness of their excellent studio work. Hasn't done one single good thing since Blind Faith...and even that was a bit spotty. I have no interest whatsoever in anything he does now, or has done for over 40 years. If I got free tickets to see him, I would scalp them. If I got an album for free, I'd sell it. If I want to enjoy Clapton, I will spin Disraeli Gears, and be content with that.
 
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Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

To state my IMOs on Clapton rather quickly: I've never liked his improvisation; he is not a tasty improviser. The guitar work for Cream in studio – where he had the benefit of multiple takes, multi-tracking, and a producer calling shots – was awesome, but they sucked live, from every recording I've heard. Just a bunch of showing off, and none of the lushness of their excellent studio work. Hasn't done one single good thing since Blind Faith...and even that was a bit spotty. I have no interest whatsoever in anything he does now, or has done for over 40 years. If I got free tickets to see him, I would scalp them. If I got an album for free, I'd sell it. If I want to enjoy Clapton, I will spin Disraeli Gears, and be content with that.

You didn't even like his solo on Crossroads live with Cream or Stormy Monday with john mayhall?
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

To state my IMOs on Clapton rather quickly: I've never liked his improvisation; he is not a tasty improviser. The guitar work for Cream in studio – where he had the benefit of multiple takes, multi-tracking, and a producer calling shots – was awesome, but they sucked live, from every recording I've heard. Just a bunch of showing off, and none of the lushness of their excellent studio work. Hasn't done one single good thing since Blind Faith...and even that was a bit spotty. I have no interest whatsoever in anything he does now, or has done for over 40 years. If I got free tickets to see him, I would scalp them. If I got an album for free, I'd sell it. If I want to enjoy Clapton, I will spin Disraeli Gears, and be content with that.

A little severe but only a little.

I love the Layla album but, the older I get, the more I realise that this is because there is so much Duane Allman on it.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

Not sure if this should be in the Sound Room, but...

I don't want to like him, but over a long time I have found myself listening to a lot of his work across his career, buying certain key recordings, and whether I want it or not, he has proven to be influential to me; sometimes directly in my playing hands, and other times just simply listening to him making me want to play more.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

Phil Collins destroyed Clapton's career & legacy
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

No player is "god".
Poor old Eric's ego took a hit when he heard Jimi Hendrix, but even Jimi is no "god".
Music is art. There is no best, or greatest or whatever you want to call it.
All players have their strengths and limitations. All have their good days and their not so good days.
All players are striving to express the sounds in their head.
Over the years Eric Clapton has made some great stuff, and some not so great stuff.
I think that his body of work over decades is a pretty amazing achievement in itself.
Just to write one song that touches even one person on an emotional level is a great achievement. Think about how many times EC has done this.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

With the exception of Layla, Clapton's songs are ones that I always prefer covers to the original...not saying anything negative about him just how I feel about his music.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

got examples?
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

not to be capt obvious but
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

What do I think of Eric Clapton?

Genius. He invented modern overdriven guitar tone and his phrasing and elegant vibrato woke all of us up and made us look at our own sloppy, crappy, copy cat and childish playing and want to change it for the better.

What do I think of Jimi Hendrix? Another genius.

But who do you think Jimi most admired and wanted to meet upon arrival in England? Eric Clapton.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

Post Cream, I'm not so enamored. Tone or Tune.

I could spin Beano only for the rest of my life and never feel like I was missing out on too much as far as playing goes. Cream of course has some amazing moments, but Beano was the high point for me.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

i love jimi as much as the next guy, but id rather listen to cream do that.

clapton brought les paul->cranked marshall tone to the general public with mayall in '65. i dont know who else was doing it before that but im sure someone might have been. the fact that i dont know who they are goes to show he was the one who showed us the way.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

i love jimi as much as the next guy, but id rather listen to cream do that.

clapton brought les paul->cranked marshall tone to the general public with mayall in '65. i dont know who else was doing it before that but im sure someone might have been. the fact that i dont know who they are goes to show he was the one who showed us the way.
 
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