Eric Clapton: Hero or zero?

LooseMoose

Excellent player but his on stage attitude really pissed me off. Didn't even say hello, thank you or goodnight. Looked disinterested at best and I left the gig wishing I had saved the money and stayed at home.

littlegreenman

Great guitar player, albeit often a bit bland for my taste but credit where it's due for the good stuff.

That rant though? Pissed or not, it is what it is. What a loathsome example of a nasty human being.

DulcetJones

richardhomer said:

I love his playing. He has the ability to make the hairs on your arms stand up (for me anyway).

His technique is sufficient to play the way he plays. Clearly, he is not a shredder.

The fact that his playing is fairly simple means a relatively inexperienced player can copy it and feel gratified that they can 'play like Eric Clapton'. The reality is, like Gilmour, it's all about the subtleties - vibrato, phrasing, etc, which take a lot of experience.

I like plenty of his songs too.

The guy has had a 50 year career and has inspired countless players to pick up a guitar.

For me, he'll always be a hero.

This.

Emp_Fab

Lixarto said:

I think he functions as a household name that British non-musicians can use when they want to make a shortcut point: He's a famous guitarist they've heard of, therefore he's brilliant.

Nail.  Head

I think that phenomenon can also apply to the likes of Elvis.  I've met so many people over the years who have no real interest in music, yet will suddenly declare that Elvis was the greatest ever when joining in in a conversation in the pub.  It's an attempt to not look stupid, so declaring your support for an artist that's known to be popular is always a safe bet.

boogieman

LooseMoose;213400" said:

Excellent player but his on stage attitude really pissed me off. Didn't even say hello, thank you or goodnight. Looked disinterested at best and I left the gig wishing I had saved the money and stayed at home.

Pretty much this, except I don't think he's even that good a player these days. I saw him doing a charity NYE gig a couple of years back and he had zero stage presence. Shambled on, no between song talking, no band introduction (it was Gary Brooker and Andy Fairweather Low among others, hardly anonymous ), mediocre song selection, uninspired playing, no thank you, looked bleeding miserable throughout, no goodnight, shambled off. Awful. What made it worse was it was one of his "secret" gigs for AA, so it was a dry event with no alcohol to kill the boredom. The support band of the local vicar and his chums was way better and they actually looked like they were enjoying themselves too.

luscombe

@luscombe please tell me that is sarcasm?

No, it wasn't sarcasm. I despise Muslim's and the Islam faith. Islam is not in tune with modern civilisation and should have been left in the middle ages where it belongs. It causes problems everywhere and is loathed by every civilised country. This is not racism, it is fact.  Anyone who fails to realise this is either blind or stupid. In my eyes anyone who supports the rise of Islam in the UK is a traitor to England. God only knows how they will explain their actions to their grandchildren when some areas of the UK become no go areas for non-Muslims. In every part of my life I make every effort not to give any business to Muslim's. I would walk rather than ride in a Muslim taxi. I would never eat in an India restaurant (they are not Indian restaurants really, but run by Pakisatani's - would you knowingly eat in a Pakastani restaurant? - no I didn't think you would!). If I was buying a car, or indeed anything else I wouldn't buy from a Muslim as some of the profits are fed back through the mosques to support the Taliban who are trying to kill our brave troops in Afghanistan.

xSkarloey

@luscombe Careful. Just because some muslims are violent C U Next TuesdayS, doesn't mean they all are. It'd be like judging billions of Christians by the actions of Mssrs Bush and Blair.

breakstuff

How do you decipher who's a Muslim and who isn't by appearance alone?Comes across as you having a bit of a problem with black Asians really and that IS racist.Not accusing,just how you come across.

Deijavoo

@luscombe, fair enough, everyone has their own opinion and I never said you were racist. From other posts you seem like a real stand up bloke but I really disagree with you on that one. 

I sincerely hope that one day you meet a Muslim that will change your mind. 

Also, by the way I am not blind, stupid or a traitor to Britain for having people as friends of a different background or faith. 

Deijavoo

Oh, also, I would happily eat in Pakistani owned restaurants as much as my local Bangladeshi. 

I also am proud as punch of said brave troops. 

Karlos

Astounding show of naivety on a dangerous level.

"Daily Mail, get your Daily Hate Mail here"

Islam is not a hateful religion just like Capitalism does not condone poverty or Communism means we all eat cabbage and wear dungarees. FFS. It's the people that interpret in the wrong way that are at fault and that cannot be everyone that practices it.

Your average Catholic does not condone the actions of these sick priests, are all Catholics paedophiles? No. 

It's easy to argue against any religion or ideology without resorting to simplifying it to the worst example carried out in it's name. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence can form a coherent argument against any religion without just stereotyping the proponents. 

If I kill someone and shout "I'm a guitarist" does that make the guitar responsible or all guitarists murderers? Sounds simplistic but that's exactly what's been said here about Muslims/Islam. (although it maybe true about all drummers;-)

With respect; get a grip and read a book instead of the gutter press.

bluechargeboy

I loved Clapton as a young'un, can't say I listen to him any more but I always cite Cocaine as an example of the importance of "feel" and rhythm. Go and listen to just about any cover of that song on Youtube; nobody ever thinks about the spaces between the notes, something that Clapton has/had down to a fine art.

I wouldn't buy a guitar from luscombe in case some of the profits are fed back to UKIP.

Fretwired

Who'd want to be a guitarist ... "hey Clapton .. you're shit" ... total bollocks. Clapton has sold zillions of records and packs out concert halls and stadiums all over the world and yet he's criticised by arseholes who couldn't fill their local boozer. Like many artists he's had his ups and downs and some albums are patchy. He's still recorded music worth listening to ...

stickyfiddle

@lusbcombe - crikey fella, calm down.  I live in a Muslim country and my favourite restaurant by a country mile is a local Pakistani place with patio chairs outside to sit on. I work with loads of Muslims, I bought my car from one, almost every cab in the city is driven by one. Almost everyone is great. You get the same proportion of dicks as you do in the UK. 

In any case, Islam isn't the problem- it's people being colossal dicks, either individually or in collusion that's the problem. 

Saying it's all Islam's fault is no different to saying "The 7/7 bombers were all British, therefore all Brits are terrorists. I'll never eat in a British restaurant again." It's nonsense!

Deijavoo

Fretwired said:

Who'd want to be a guitarist ... "hey Clapton .. you're shit" ... total bollocks. Clapton has sold zillions of records and packs out concert halls and stadiums all over the world and yet he's criticised by arseholes who couldn't fill their local boozer.

Aha, so having a different opinion automatically makes you an arsehole? Interesting.

I suppose this theory then supports Justin Bieber being a "hero" too? He packs them out every time he gigs and sells zillions of records too. 

richardhomer

Deijavoo;221827" said:

I suppose this theory then supports Justin Bieber being a "hero" too? He packs them out every time he gigs and sells zillions of records too. 

Yes and no.

Bieber is doubtless a hero to his massive fan base. His fans are predominantly females, of a similar or younger age to him. They may or may not feel the same about '1D'.

What Bieber is, is a pop star. These seem to have less career longevity with each passing year. My guess is in 5 years time, he won't be making records.

EC has worked as a professional musician for 50 years and has fans of all ages. As I said in an earlier post, he has inspired literally millions of players (EVH and Eric Johnson are on record as saying he was a massive early influence).

I can accept (as with the Hendrix thread) that he may not appeal to everyone - music is after all a matter of personal taste - but I think there is sufficient objective evidence that Eric is one of the most important guitar players ever.

I am however, extremely partisan - EC is a massive hero of mine....

luscombe

Islam is a religion, not a race. So I can't be a racist. Indeed, I have the biggest issue with British people who convert to the Islam faith. Even I recognise that in Pakistan the people have no choice. Islam causes problems in every corner of the world, and we need another crusade to get rid for good.

Fretwired

Deijavoo said:

Fretwired said:

Who'd want to be a guitarist ... "hey Clapton .. you're shit" ... total bollocks. Clapton has sold zillions of records and packs out concert halls and stadiums all over the world and yet he's criticised by arseholes who couldn't fill their local boozer.

Aha, so having a different opinion automatically makes you an arsehole? Interesting.

I suppose this theory then supports Justin Bieber being a "hero" too? He packs them out every time he gigs and sells zillions of records too. 

I'm referring to sweeping statements like 'Clapton's shit' and 'I don't get why he's revered'. I can't stand most of the heavy metal music being made these days - my personal tatse. But I wouldn't make sweeping statements about how shit the music is and how naff the guitarist are .. too often conversations revolve around tone and technique rather than the end product - the music.

And yes Bieber is a hero ... ask the millions of young girls with posters of him on their bedroom walls.

Deijavoo

Fretwired said:

l

too often conversations revolve around tone and technique rather than the end product - the music.

And yes Bieber is a hero ... ask the millions of young girls with posters of him on their bedroom walls.

Agreed. 

Music as an end product is absolutely right, look at Zappa and some of his tones, probably horrendous in any other style but for what he did it works. Helped that he was a great player too though. 

Deijavoo

^^^^my word, what a bloody mess.  That's what you get for using a phone.