Clapton

shaunm

Regarding the racist outburst. After that point have black artists shunned him? Looking at the crossroads festivals, the albums with BB, the friendship with Buddy and numerous others indicate they haven’t. Who knows what went on behind closed doors but presumably something did. 

People asking about his apology. He is a recovered drug addict and alcoholic. I don’t know if he advocates a 12 step program but if he does then he will certainly have made amends or attempted to. 

(Edit: he does work a 12 step program)

He has spent the last 30 years working with other alcoholics and addicts. His story is a poster for what can happen if you fall into that path. How many lives has he saved? Numerous i am sure. 

I don’t know about what went on with his wife from what I have read here that doesn’t sound good. I wonder how she feels about him now? 

Cols

He’s one of the most important guitarists of the 20th century, and effectively set the template for rock guitar.  Anyone who plays rock music and says they don’t owe anything to Clapton is gravely mistaken.

However, to get the best out of him he really needed to be taken out of his comfort zone and pushed.  Post-Cream, he frankly cruised along for the most part, cranking out radio-friendly blues pop.

Politics and personality - couldn't care less.  If I started chucking out bits of my music collection on the grounds of one of the musicians having said or done something dodgy I'd have a pretty bare record shelf.  Zeppelin?  Think of all the poor groupies and the rumoured satanism, into the bin.  Sabbath?  Same.  Pink Floyd?  Well, Roger Waters can be a bit of a nob.  Chuck it.  Queen?  Didn't they play aparteid-era South Africa?  They'll simply have to go.  Etc, etc.

So judge him by the music - and at the very least, the Bluesbreaker's and the three Cream albums is a hell of a musical legacy across just three years.

shaunm

Sarge said:

shaunm said:

Sarge said:

blueskunk said:

He was pissed as a fart and eating Colombian Marching powder like sugar, in the midst of a dark time in life. I’m gonna forgive him, the good outways the bad, he’s built rehab centres for addicts etc. 

It’s official. Eric gets a pass.  

Thats odd, because myself and millions of others like me have been blind drunk and under the influence of white powders amd never once uttered a racist slur.

Oh he's got enough money to buy a pass? riiiiight 
Wrong. 
he sucks as a person and his music is beyond boring. 

@Sarge you are saying you have never once in your life uttered a racist slur? I don’t know you but I am going to call bull on that. Most people have at some point in their life said something they regret and that doesn’t mean only regarding race. 

For someone admitting to doing and taking drugs you seem to be stood on a soapbox? Odd. 

You're correct, you don't know me so do not judge me by your own low standards.

I can't say for sure as a child I didn't ignorantly use a racist slur, but I'm absolutely fucking certain from the age of 11 at the start of highschool I have not.

Are you also saying my past drug use prevents me from stating my opinion? 

No, that’s not what I meant at all. I find it odd because you view a racist outburst as worse than your participation in the drug trade. I’m not whiter than white (pun intended) either but to call out bad behaviour and say “when I was breaking the law I didn’t say anything racist” is an odd moral high ground. 

Sarge

shaunm said:

Sarge said:

shaunm said:

Sarge said:

blueskunk said:

He was pissed as a fart and eating Colombian Marching powder like sugar, in the midst of a dark time in life. I’m gonna forgive him, the good outways the bad, he’s built rehab centres for addicts etc. 

It’s official. Eric gets a pass.  

Thats odd, because myself and millions of others like me have been blind drunk and under the influence of white powders amd never once uttered a racist slur.

Oh he's got enough money to buy a pass? riiiiight 
Wrong. 
he sucks as a person and his music is beyond boring. 

@Sarge you are saying you have never once in your life uttered a racist slur? I don’t know you but I am going to call bull on that. Most people have at some point in their life said something they regret and that doesn’t mean only regarding race. 

For someone admitting to doing and taking drugs you seem to be stood on a soapbox? Odd. 

You're correct, you don't know me so do not judge me by your own low standards.

I can't say for sure as a child I didn't ignorantly use a racist slur, but I'm absolutely fucking certain from the age of 11 at the start of highschool I have not.

Are you also saying my past drug use prevents me from stating my opinion? 

No, that’s not what I meant at all. I find it odd because you view a racist outburst as worse than your participation in the drug trade. I’m not whiter than white (pun intended) either but to call out bad behaviour and say “when I was breaking the law I didn’t say anything racist” is an odd moral high ground. 

I find it suspiciously odd that you think taking party drugs is worse than spouting hatred towards another human for the colour of their skin. 

digitalscream

OK, @Sarge @shaunm - take that conversation to PM if you want to continue it, please. You're derailing the thread with an argument that's going to turn personal (if it hasn't already) and it'll almost certainly end up with someone in the cooler. I'd rather avoid that.

shaunm

@digitalscream fair point. 

menamestom

What he did was abhorrent and I’ve never forgiven him.

Fitting an active mid boost circuit to a Stratocaster is crossing a line I could never deal with 

Sarge

@digitalscream I'll say no more

snowblind

Only thing I have against Clapton is that I find too much of his stuff dull and uninteresting. Not to say he hasn't produced some good stuff here and there but too much of it just washes over without leaving an impression. Seeing him live was one of the few gigs I've been to where I was genuinely bored for much of the evening. That said he did produce Badge and that guitar through the Leslie is one of the reasons why I own guitars. Granted there are plenty of musicians (like any other human) with some questionable opinions. Eh, Roger? Doesn't stop them producing meaningful tunes for a wider audience. Anyone care to justify why Michael Jackson's stuff still sells as well as it does? By way of another example we get to thank Erwin Schrodinger for a lot of quantum mechanics and thus electronics and physics upon which we absolutely depend but at the same time his unhealthy interest in very young girls is glossed over. 

The tendency is that if you like what a person does then you forgive or overlook less desirable characteristics they may possess. It's just a facet of human nature. Can anyone try to explain why 50M Americans would happily vote for an orange-painted idiot with no redeeming features even after he has reduced their country to a state of divided chaos? None of this stuff is logical.

But Clapton is boring. 

Emp_Fab

I dunno.  I think that if it's the music you like that the person makes then who gives a shit who they are ?  You have to be able to separate the art from the artist in my opinion.  Whether I'd pay money for their music if they, the person, benefitted financially from it, is another thing. 

shaunm

Emp_Fab said:

I dunno.  I think that if it's the music you like that the person makes then who gives a shit who they are ?  You have to be able to separate the art from the artist in my opinion.  Whether I'd pay money for their music if they, the person, benefitted financially from it, is another thing. 

There must be a line that you use with that opinion? Garry Glitter and R Kelly for instance.

 I understand what you are saying though. I guess it’s a personal take on what you can separate from the artist and person.

SteppedOut

I love Clapton of 60s and 70s still to this day trying to nail his vibrato.

HT986M2

I’ve got to say I’m surprised at the number of people who know about his behaviour and are still defending him. It’s one thing to be able to separate an artist from the person - and that’s great if you can. However, to not only know about it, but to also defend his actions?

The people saying ‘he was young and thrust into the spotlight’ - so? There’s plenty of young stars that don’t have highly questionable political views. Age is not an excuse.  The same goes for the ‘he was under the influence’ line. Drink and drugs don’t make you have those views - they lower your inhibitions and make the truth come out. 

The beating your spouse thing - “everyone did it”. Really? Every single person back then beat their spouse because it was the done thing?  Just no.  Only the scumbags did.  What’s worse is that they were beating someone who they were in a position of power over. That is abuse. And cowardly. 

CaseOfAce

Fantastic player. Learnt and played a few of his songs (Lay Down Sally is a particular fave) - fun to play and sing.
I disregard the The Fretboard lunacy about the fella.

shaunm

@HT986M2 when it comes to addicts in the real depths of addiction their substance of choice does not simply lower their inhibitions. Rehab centres are full of people suffering many different levels of psychosis. Drugs and alcohol are defined by medical professionals as a mind altering substance. It’s a personal reaction to these substances that dictate how it affects you. It’s not correct to say these substances lower inhibitions so your filter gets lowered as a blanket statement. With some you will be right, others not at all. 

victorludorum

shaunm said:

Emp_Fab said:

I dunno.  I think that if it's the music you like that the person makes then who gives a shit who they are ?  You have to be able to separate the art from the artist in my opinion.  Whether I'd pay money for their music if they, the person, benefitted financially from it, is another thing. 

There must be a line that you use with that opinion? Garry Glitter and R Kelly for instance.

 I understand what you are saying though. I guess it’s a personal take on what you can separate from the artist and person.

Come on @shaunm , you can't fool me, don't tell me you didn't have a smile on your face when that Glitter tune came on in the stairway scene in Joker.  ;-)

shaunm

@victorludorum ha. I was sat in the cinema watching that thinking “how on earth did this slip through the net?”

You do raise a point. R Kelly still gets played on the radio. 

victorludorum

shaunm said:

@victorludorum ha. I was sat in the cinema watching that thinking “how on earth did this slip through the net?”

You do raise a point. R Kelly still gets played on the radio. 

You and many, many others! Classic scene.

Th4fonz

Clapton Is God

snowblind

Th4fonz said:

Clapton Is God

Bit short on creativity if that is the case. What? Only manages to produce life on a single planet?

< duck and cover >