Clapton makes himself even more popular

Sassafras

I lost interest after Cream split up and he started playing soppy ballads.
I 

BillDL

Wasn't Cocaine written by JJ Cale, along with After Midnight?

Smellyfingers

BillDL said:

Wasn't Cocaine written by JJ Cale, along with After Midnight?

Yes, sorry. But I think Clapton popularised it.

I get the lyrics are maybe supposed to be sardonic, but as a teenager I found the chorus 'She don't lie, she don't lie -cocaine' quite compelling.

richardhomer

BillDL said:

Wasn't Cocaine written by JJ Cale, along with After Midnight?

Yes. Cale reckoned he made more money from EC’s cover, than he did from his own record sales. John Martyn said the same about him covering May You Never.

EricTheWeary

In fairness to Clapton I don’t think he’s ever claimed much for his songwriting and would probably tell you that Freddie King was a better guitarist . Indeed despite his many faults over the years ( really quite a lot of them) he has been much better at giving credit to the people who inspired him than many of his contemporaries were. He is also a significant figure in the history of music played on the electric guitar whether you like what he did with it or not. 

If I had an overarching criticism of him it would be that he has failed to learn that using his fame as a platform for sharing his beliefs has never gone well. And if anyone should have learned that lesson a long time ago it's Clapton. 

RocknRollDave

CaseOfAce said:

Good grief. Clapton overrated.
Really?
I'm fairly certain, if I by some miracle, I ever sat down to play blues with the gentleman, after 2 minutes (I'm being EXTREMELY generous) my ass would be so very firmly handed to me as I was shown the door after exchanging my standard stock pentatonic meanderings with weak vibrato and phrasing against his playing.

This is before you even consider his songwriting (he co-wrote Layla !) and vocals.

Not to be mean, but “Clapton can’t be overrated; he’s way better than that bloke off the Fretboard forum!” is hardly a compelling argument, is it?

Cols

@Sassafras has it spot on. For all the subsequent commercial success and Grammy awards, Clapton never again reached the artistic heights he achieved in two short years with Cream.

He really needed Bruce and Baker to push him out of his comfort zone; since then he’s really been cruising.  And dare I say it, if it weren’t for the stellar reputation he’d forged with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers he may have just had a career as a moderately successful purveyor of blues rock ballads.

Still, from 1965-1968 he achieved more than most guitarists will in a lifetime.  Regardless of what one might think of his solo work, he remains one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.

Even if he is a bit of a miserable twat.

Rocker

I can’t understand why there is such an anti Eric Clapton vibe on this forum. The guy plays guitar, sings, writes and has written lovely songs and has inspired many thousands of folk like us to pick up and try to play a guitar. As an individual, he might not be ‘perfect’ but who is. What is there not to like about him?

Mellish

I wasn't an EC fan. That's purely because I wasn't into that music genre. He can have odd views. I don't share them but what he believes is *his* business I guess  

fretmeister

Rocker said:

I can’t understand why there is such an anti Eric Clapton vibe on this forum. The guy plays guitar, sings, writes and has written lovely songs and has inspired many thousands of folk like us to pick up and try to play a guitar. As an individual, he might not be ‘perfect’ but who is. What is there not to like about him?

From the wiki:

"Keep Britain White"

On 5 August 1976, Clapton provoked an uproar and lingering controversy when he spoke out against increasing immigration during a concert in Birmingham.[187] Visibly intoxicated on stage, Clapton voiced his strong support for the right-wing British politician Enoch Powell.[188][189][190] He addressed the audience as follows:

Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands. So where are you? Well wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country. I don't want you here, in the room or in my country. Listen to me, man! I think we should vote for Enoch Powell. Enoch's our man. I think Enoch's right, I think we should send them all back. Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white. I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism. It's much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans don't belong here, we don't want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don't want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white![191][192]

LastMantra

.

LastMantra

Cols said:

@Sassafras has it spot on. For all the subsequent commercial success and Grammy awards, Clapton never again reached the artistic heights he achieved in two short years with Cream.

He really needed Bruce and Baker to push him out of his comfort zone; since then he’s really been cruising.  And dare I say it, if it weren’t for the stellar reputation he’d forged with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers he may have just had a career as a moderately successful purveyor of blues rock ballads.

Still, from 1965-1968 he achieved more than most guitarists will in a lifetime.  Regardless of what one might think of his solo work, he remains one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.

Even if he is a bit of a miserable twat.

I actually prefer his later stuff.

Hurling_Fruitmig

ICBM said:

Sassafras said:

Apparently, neither do Germans.

She certainly won't see the funny side of this little episode.

She must be having a laugh though...

"The woman’s lawyer told Bild that they intended to appeal again."

Does she run a hair salon in Bradford on the side?

RocknRollDave

Rocker said:

I can’t understand why there is such an anti Eric Clapton vibe on this forum. The guy plays guitar, sings, writes and has written lovely songs and has inspired many thousands of folk like us to pick up and try to play a guitar. As an individual, he might not be ‘perfect’ but who is. What is there not to like about him?

The fact that he is held in such high esteem as a musician when he’s really quite average.

EricTheWeary

Rocker said:

I can’t understand why there is such an anti Eric Clapton vibe on this forum. The guy plays guitar, sings, writes and has written lovely songs and has inspired many thousands of folk like us to pick up and try to play a guitar. As an individual, he might not be ‘perfect’ but who is. What is there not to like about him?

The racist rant ( quoted above) is a bit ancient history and he has done a lot to support black artists and charitable work supporting what are largely impoverished black people since but some people haven’t forgotten/ forgiven

The drink and drugs. The admitted sexual abuse of his wife. More recently financially supporting an anti lock down campaign in the U.K. and befriending Greg Abbot who is a US politician who is anti abortion, anti vaccination, anti same sex marriage,etc. Comparing lockdowns (massive hardship for a multi millionaire I’m sure) to slavery and generally being a bit of a grumpy old git. 

Offset

CaseOfAce said:

Good grief. Clapton overrated.
Really?
I'm fairly certain, if I by some miracle, I ever sat down to play blues with the gentleman, after 2 minutes (I'm being EXTREMELY generous) my ass would be so very firmly handed to me as I was shown the door after exchanging my standard stock pentatonic meanderings with weak vibrato and phrasing against his playing.

This is before you even consider his songwriting (he co-wrote Layla !) and vocals.

I'm pretty sure there are some members of this forum who could more hold their own playing with EC.  Perhaps not quite so many if you put them up with (say) Brian May or EVH.

Layla - great song.  And fab guitar work by Duane Allman :-)

Cols

LastMantra said:

Cols said:

@Sassafras has it spot on. For all the subsequent commercial success and Grammy awards, Clapton never again reached the artistic heights he achieved in two short years with Cream.

He really needed Bruce and Baker to push him out of his comfort zone; since then he’s really been cruising.  And dare I say it, if it weren’t for the stellar reputation he’d forged with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers he may have just had a career as a moderately successful purveyor of blues rock ballads.

Still, from 1965-1968 he achieved more than most guitarists will in a lifetime.  Regardless of what one might think of his solo work, he remains one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.

Even if he is a bit of a miserable twat.

I actually prefer his later stuff.

Interesting, and perfectly valid; the world would be a much poorer place if everyone had the same musical taste.

What is it that attracts you more towards the later material than the early stuff with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers?

LastMantra

Cols said:

LastMantra said:

Cols said:

@Sassafras has it spot on. For all the subsequent commercial success and Grammy awards, Clapton never again reached the artistic heights he achieved in two short years with Cream.

He really needed Bruce and Baker to push him out of his comfort zone; since then he’s really been cruising.  And dare I say it, if it weren’t for the stellar reputation he’d forged with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers he may have just had a career as a moderately successful purveyor of blues rock ballads.

Still, from 1965-1968 he achieved more than most guitarists will in a lifetime.  Regardless of what one might think of his solo work, he remains one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time.

Even if he is a bit of a miserable twat.

I actually prefer his later stuff.

Interesting, and perfectly valid; the world would be a much poorer place if everyone had the same musical taste.

What is it that attracts you more towards the later material than the early stuff with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers?

Not sure I've listened to much BB stuff. Cream I quite like but sounds a bit dated and slow. I've got a "best of" album "time pieces" I think and prefer listening to that. Obviously I'm not exactly a big fan.

poopot

Rocker said:

I can’t understand why there is such an anti Eric Clapton vibe on this forum. The guy plays guitar, sings, writes and has written lovely songs and has inspired many thousands of folk like us to pick up and try to play a guitar. As an individual, he might not be ‘perfect’ but who is. What is there not to like about him?

His music!…

basically middle class, corporate blews… aimed solely at men of a certain age, insipid and uninspiring… it’s just cack!…

fob

I'm really not getting the 'he's just average as a player' comments. I get that people don't like the man or the music - Guthrie is obviously as talented as it gets and I can watch interviews and demos with him all day long but I don't ever decide I'm going to spend some time with an Aristocrats album.

And I'm not saying the comments are wrong - and maybe it's just my ear not being up to the job with the guitar as an instrument - but what are some examples of him being average? Which songs are sloppy, have bad timing etc?