When Clapton was God

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scottT
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When Clapton was God

Post by scottT » Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:35 pm

Hard to believe there was a time. I remember buying the "Beano" album with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. At that time I only really knew him for the AOR radio perennial "Layla" and Cream, and what he was currently doing at the time. Things like I Shot The Sheriff, Lay Down Sally, and Wonderful Tonight. These last are hardly worthy of a guy with guitar god credentials, but it was a time when the fate of the guitar in rock and pop music was uncertain.

Though his work on that album with Mayall may not have been groundbreaking, I sort of got it. Hide Away--for me the standout track--comes off as a respectful tribute to Freddy King's original. I truly feel he wanted to pay homage to those pioneers who preceded him, not exploit them.

I only recently realized that Tales of Brave Ulysses (Cream) is one of the first recordings using the wah wah pedal. The song structure was used again a couple of years later for the much better known White Room which opens Wheels of Fire. On recently hearing this again, I was amazed that I could quote each phase as though they were lyrics to the song. Of course this can be accounted for by it having been played repeatedly on radio, but the whole thing really struck me as remarkable performance. I think that this is particularly noteworthy considering he had few if no models on which to base his use of this pedal, yet he all but created a musical vocabulary for it and a definitive performance which to my mind has not been improved upon.

The purchase of Layla and Assorted Love Songs proved a revelation as well. I'm pretty sure I got it as a double CD at Target. Few albums impact me and rise to the level of indispensable, but this is one. An absolute classic and possibly Clapton's finest hour (even if it may have been the nadir of his personal life).

I wonder if one day the internet will rehabilitate his reputation and be a little kinder to his legacy?

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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Singlebladepickup » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:11 pm

Liked him when I was 10, have gradually liked him less each year since then. My dad surprised me with tickets to his show when I was 20, I was grateful for the gesture but really bummed that I had to go. I'm now 30, and a year ago I played music with someone who wasn't that great, but worshiped Clapton and only wanted to have extended blues jams on Layla. That made my hatred for Clapton grow. I now think I hate Clapton as much as is possible for me, but perhaps if I delved into his back-catalog I, too, might have a revelation.

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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Embenny » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:20 pm

Singlebladepickup wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:11 pm
Liked him when I was 10, have gradually liked him less each year since then. My dad surprised me with tickets to his show when I was 20, I was grateful for the gesture but really bummed that I had to go. I'm now 30, and a year ago I played music with someone who wasn't that great, but worshiped Clapton and only wanted to have extended blues jams on Layla. That made my hatred for Clapton grow. I now think I hate Clapton as much as is possible for me, but perhaps if I delved into his back-catalog I, too, might have a revelation.
Wow, I'm the same age and have had a very similar progression to my fandom. I remember buying up every used vinyl I could get of his old recordings when I was in my early-mid teens. I bought a second copy of Derek & The Dominoes when I found it for $1 at a local store because I was wearing out the first one (which, in fairness, had some mileage on it before I bought it). I now am in a place where I respect his contribution to the guitar world and music at large, but you could not pay me enough to sit through a set list (or even an album).

I think part of it is that I have had to sit through so many derivative blooze licks in gear demos over the years that I've lost an appreciation for the players who were actually fresh at the time. If I click on a pickup/pedal/guitar/amp demo and hear funk, jazz, rockabilly, country, or anything that isn't blooze/br00talz, I practically jump for joy.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Telliot » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:38 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:20 pm
Singlebladepickup wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:11 pm
Same, same. Every word of it. I like to call him Earache Craptone, but I guess that's probably just me. I do have an affinity for the album 461 Ocean Boulevard, but other than that I really can't be bothered to care much about what he produces, musically speaking.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:40 pm

In my teens & early 20s I loved pretty much all of his work with Cream (although I have just as much love for Ginger Baker & Jack Bruce). They really had something. I still listen to them from time to time.

Saying that though, I was never a fan of Derek & The Dominoes & his later solo stuff did nothing for me either. I fucking hated Layla! By the time I'd heard about his horrible racist opinions I was pretty much over him.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Telliot » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:44 pm

PorkyPrimeCut wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:40 pm
I fucking hated Layla! By the time I'd heard about his horrible racist opinions I was pretty much over him.
Yep.

On "Layla", that fucking out-of-tune slide outro has always put me in such a bad mood. I truly hate that song.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by MechaBulletBill » Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:28 pm

My feelings towards Clapton are very complicated. His music means a lot to me and I'm not sickened on it like some people (I'm 24 if that seems related??), but I don't think I'd have a nice time hanging out with him.

Bluesbreakers
Live Cream 1 & 2
Blind Faith
Layla (great album, bad song) and the Live @ the Fillmore album
461 Ocean Boulevard
even From The Cradle and the Robert Johnson tribute stuff

All that stuff is music I love and would enjoy listening to at any given minute.

Regarding the ugly things he's said in public... eesh, it ain't good, is it? Anyone who is a fan of rock from the 60s/70s has to acknowledge that those (white guys) making that great music were probably shitty people who believed and did a lot of shitty things. EC said racist shit, Lennon/Macca are basically known women beaters, Chuck Berry/Stones/Bill Wyman/Jimmy Page liking verrrrry young girls...

Romesh Ranganathan did a documentary about Richard Pryor, who he has tattooed on his arm, and how he has to rationalise the misogynistic things he said with his comedic influence. I think if you can have a relative (like a grandparent) who occasionally says offensive things and still have familial affection for them, you can enjoy Badge in spite of the people involved.

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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Embenny » Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:33 pm

PorkyPrimeCut wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:40 pm
In my teens & early 20s I loved pretty much all of his work with Cream (although I have just as much love for Ginger Baker & Jack Bruce). They really had something. I still listen to them from time to time.

Saying that though, I was never a fan of Derek & The Dominoes & his later solo stuff did nothing for me either. I fucking hated Layla! By the time I'd heard about his horrible racist opinions I was pretty much over him.
Layla is probably my least favourite track from that album.

Bell Bottom Blues spoke to teenage Mike in a way I still can't explain. The understated solo really enhances the song in a way that few guitar solos ever do, and the subtle 4-note vocal line that follows the guitar to launch it is just perfect.

It's just about the only EC track I'll ever listen to these days.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by andy_tchp » Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:21 pm

scottT wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 1:35 pm
I wonder if one day the internet will rehabilitate his reputation and be a little kinder to his legacy?
Probably not. Horrible music and an even worse human being.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Telliot » Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:51 pm

MechaBulletBill wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:28 pm
Lennon/Macca are basically known women beaters
What?

It's no secret Lennon had his demons, but McCartney?? The only time I've heard anything suggesting anything like that was Heather Mills as she tried dragging Paul's name through the mud during a bitter divorce. As far as I know her claims have been debunked, or have I missed something?
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by mackerelmint » Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:55 pm

Taken from a WaPo article on the South Korean Olympics and North Korea's participation/inter-korean implications:
They have an older brother, Kim Jong Chul, who is not thought to play a significant role in the regime but is sometimes spotted at Eric Clapton concerts abroad.
That links to an article describing how the elder Mr. Kim is a Clapton megafan who's been spotted following Clapton on his tours for years, sporting leather jackets and pierced ears.

And if that's not the best condemnation to date of Clapton and his music, I dunno what is. If anything, that's his legacy. Catnip to rebellious North Korean scions, along with adamant racist and purveyor of awful blooze. He was talking to the press recently about retiring or something, and I wish he would.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by timtam » Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:31 pm

Neither love him nor hate him. Not into deities of any kind. I 'don't mind him' though. I was largely unaware of the dumb things he said particularly in the 1970's. He and others are still trying to rationalize that period in the current doco ...

Clapton’s mental and physical decline in the mid-1970s is hard to watch. His apparent grasp of racist politics – however brief – is all the stranger when you consider that he worshipped black musicians. It’s not just offensive; it seems slightly mad. Of course, he was heavily medicated at the time. In the film, a repentant Clapton struggles to understand what came over him.
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film ... -1.3327327
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by Singlebladepickup » Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:46 pm

I honestly learned about this racist stuff today. Epiphany indeed, I found a new and better reason to hate Clapton. It feels wrong to hate a person for playing bad music, even if he's probably been phoning it in for decades. Hating him for who he is deep down feels pure.

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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by mackerelmint » Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:52 pm

Deep down, he's a man who enjoys making bad music. That's worth hating on its own.
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Re: When Clapton was God

Post by julius2790 » Thu Feb 08, 2018 5:53 pm

Telliot wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:38 pm
mbene085 wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:20 pm
Singlebladepickup wrote:
Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:11 pm
Same, same. Every word of it. I like to call him Earache Craptone, but I guess that's probably just me. I do have an affinity for the album 461 Ocean Boulevard, but other than that I really can't be bothered to care much about what he produces, musically speaking.
Ha ha! I work in geriatrics at a skilled nursing facility and I recently mentioned in passing to a couple I was working with that I played guitar. I had a (very kind) guy CORNER me and insist that Clapton was the greatest blues guitar player of all time. I nodded my head solemnly. I wanted so badly to ask if he'd listened to Bukkha White, Elmore James, Mississippi Fred, or Hound Dog but I didn't have the guts to speak up. Such a nice old guy.

Hey...FUCK Eric Clapton. I like "Badge,"and "Can't Find My Way Home." I don't think he wrote anything on either of those songs. The guy is talented and whatnot but never did anything for me. But I enjoy how much he provokes love/hatred from people. So polarizing.

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