Eric Clapton

[Genuine_Indian_Guru]

I too agree...It's becoming more and more soul-less with each passing year..award show after award show, reality show after reality show..its one big fashion competition...thank god we still have some fairly Young good singer songwriters like Brendan Benson and Jason Falkner to carry some of the slack of an increasingly lackluster display of "entertainers". I just Hope the buying public catches on to the "Business" and starts supporting the new talent that actually have somthing to say and musicianship to display . Then the talent scouts will actually be forced to look for actual talent. because great music can't be entirely left up to a handfull of great players.

I suppose one can only dream!

[2 of 3]

I tend to agree also....BUT.......times have changed. There isn't much difference between what the Beatles did.....going on every show, lip syncing their latest hit.....tour non stop. How is that different than what U2 and Coldplay do? They tour non-stop too... the only difference is there are 100 award shows, instead of 100 Top of the Pop shows. At least they are actually playing. I think lumping U2 and Coldplay in with Simon Cowell is a bit of a stretch. I mean Clapton was no better when he was plugging the Un-plugged phase of his career. He put out a lot of wishy-washy albums there for quite a while.....most notalby, the stuff produced by Phil Collins.....and let's not forget your buddy Phil there Eric.

[theDingle]

I wasn't too keen on his 80s output, but I do so like about everything else he's done, even the overtly commercial stuff. He really established a lifetime rep with me way back in Cream and Derek & the Dominoes, not to mention that lead break on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Even though I've been critical of Coldplay, some of that stuff DID end up growing on me, lol. And I think the recent A Man And A Woman by U2 is one of their better all-time songs. I would have probably picked a couple of different groups to criticize---can't really come up with any names because I haven't tried too many newer ones lately, lol....

[kylestyle]

I'm not too crazy on his pop stuff, like Change The World etc.. I prefer him when he's going hard-out on his Strat weaving some kind of extraordinary blues solo. His voice is cool, and I do rate him as a songwriter, but being a guitar player myself, it's the guitar playing that really draws me towards him. The songs and the singing don't hook me quite as much. Not that it's bad, it's just, well you know!

[theDingle]

This thread has reminded me that I never got around to purchasing Me and Mr. Johnson----FOR SHAME!!!!!

I resolve to do just that tomorrow--and also pick up the 461 Ocean Blvd. remaster as well. That one has Johnson's Steady Rollin' Man, done pure-genius Clapton-style, an all-time fave. I do have it on vinyl, but you know, gotta back that up with other formats, lol......

[theDingle]

Me and Mr. Johnson is the best CD I've bought this year. Absolutely love it, every song. Bang-on production. Billy Preston did some excellent work on this as well.

I recently also picked up Eric's 2001 concert DVD, One More Car, One More Rider (Preston shines on this one too). Great songs, excellent vocals and pickin'........

[ANGRY]

after reading through all these, it was sir dingles'
"excellent vocals" line that caught my attention... i have come to believe that it is in finding a more true, blues voice, with the vocals, that has truly catapulted EC beyond the '80's dreck he was getting mired in. it is his voice, that sad, husky, bluesy voice, that he was never really stretching to a distinct 'blues' level, which has changed...much more impassioned, much more emotive...and his elegant, understated guitar work is backing that up perfectly...in the blues, it is about emotion, and the songs require a delivery straight from the heart, whether joyous or sad, and the rest follows...EC has finally mastered that...and is applying it in some very interesting ways in other areas...

to those who don't have it...'me & mr johnson' is a great album, a classic...

[theDingle]

...after reading through all these, it was sir dingles'
"excellent vocals" line that caught my attention...

Widdoutadoubt, angelo, very well-stated, he's come into his own vocally, it hits right home with me. I remember reading an interview back when he had just left Cream and was jamming with Delaney & Bonnie, he admitted that he was actually unconfident and insecure about his voice (!). It was Delaney that encouraged him to dare venture into being a real singer and not just a picker.

I'll have to also agree, his 80s stuff was drecky---I'd hear it and think, "I KNOW he can do better than that." And so he surely has.

[chris]

i've been lucky enough to have seen mr clapton live in concert many, many times. i will still say he is one of the best three guitarists to ever live. i will also concur that his 80's stuff was crap. what no one talks about though, and what, i believe, returned him to a blues playing virtuoso...was the invitation by one mr. roger waters to accompany him on his solo debut "pros and cons of hitch-hiking". the guitar work is genious (although, sounding close enough to david gilmore's work, that it was obvious who moulded the sound of pink floyd)

anyway...sorry to rant. after pros and con's, eric began making quality music again

and i loved hearing him play...until he bagan whoring himself out to anyone who needed a guitar solo (traci chapman?!?)

come on eric...i'll be patient, stop lending your considerable talents to those who haven't earned the right to play along side you

[ANGRY]

while i can see your point, there big C...isn't it possible, that, rather than looking upon it as him 'whoring' himself out...that, in fact, what he is doing, is trying to find as many inflences/voices/attitudes to express his craft...each person he meets up with adds something to the roiling mix...adds a new flava, a new experience, if you will...

besides...i've always kinda liked tracy c...it's no worse than working with phil collins, right ?