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

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

Obsessive Compulsive said:
The term 'guitar god' should only apply to those with BOTH chops and commercial success. Just because Eric Clapton sells 500 thousand discs a month doesn't make him a guitar god. And the guy next door with flashy guitar skill can be declared 'god' cause nobody knows him.
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What's interesting is at the time Clapton was getting called 'God', he wasn't nearly as commercially successful as we view him retrospectively. He had only appeared on a couple Yardbirds albums which barely broke the top 50, and was now in a somewhat underground blues band at the time of the 'God' thing. The blues album made it to #6 on the UK album charts and nowhere else. Consider that - a guitar player who was in a band that didn't break the top 40, left and joined a band that only had one record that made it to #6 in the UK, not even the top 5. And still qualified as 'God' to some people.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

beaubrummels said:
What's interesting is at the time Clapton was getting called 'God', he wasn't nearly as commercially successful as we view him retrospectively. He had only appeared on a couple Yardbirds albums which barely broke the top 50, and was now in a somewhat underground blues band at the time of the 'God' thing. The blues album made it to #6 on the UK album charts and nowhere else. Consider that - a guitar player who was in a band that didn't break the top 40, left and joined a band that only had one record that made it to #6 in the UK, not even the top 5. And still qualified as 'God' to some people.
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Good points. I found out about Clapton when Cream started getting some airplay on AM radio (mid 60's) and soon became hooked on underground FM (nothing better than a control room full of hippies for DJ's). It wasn't until years later than I found out about he played with Mayall on the Beano album, which obviously wasn't well known in the US when it was released. He had an energy and excitement level in those two bands that propelled his career, although he was never able to match it after that. He's still a talented player even today, and his contributions to rock and blues are immense. He's one of the reasons why we're at this point now.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

i think part of it is just age, when you are younger you tend to have more fire. clapton was 20 when he left the yardbirds and joined mayall, 23 when cream ended. by 25 he had done blind faith, delany & bonnie, his first solo record and layla. i remember reading that he liked hearing the bands big pink since the song was the important thing and the guitar took a back seat.
 
Re: Eric Clapton - there has been A LOT of discussion within the threads on him.

jeremy said:
i remember reading that he liked hearing the bands big pink since the song was the important thing and the guitar took a back seat.
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That wasn't the bold Eric in Cream and the Bluesbreakers. Hendrix too had talked about forming a less guitar-oriented band, maybe in a jazzier direction, possibly with Steve Winwood on keys and Jack Casady on bass (they were on the Electric Ladyland album). We'll never know what could have developed from all that. There was a tremendous amount of pressure on both of those guitarists, from the fans and their record labels. Obviously takes a toll.
 
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