tell me about... eric clapton

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The Dr
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tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

he is one who has never done anything for me, but the other day i was watching the 1999 crossroads benefit concert and his performance with dylan on 'don't think twice' and 'not dark yet' were wonderful. i've tried the 'hits' layla etc and they have done nothing for me so where should i start if anywhere?
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
jack white
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by jack white »

Layla & other assorted love songs
gonna burn brightly
for a while
spunder
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by spunder »

start with the yardbirds, then go via john mayall , to cream. then stop.
angelsighs
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by angelsighs »

spunder wrote:start with the yardbirds, then go via john mayall , to cream. then stop.
this.

Cream in particular were brilliant I reckon. an elastic rhythm section combined with Clapton's guitar playing that is fiery and heavy with some seriously thick fuzz in places.
Don't know what the hell happened after that- his music is dull as ditchwater now. he's become a dullard that worthily plays blues in a very traditional and basic manner. I don't know where all that fire and invention went.
To me, his recent music sounds like your basic above average blues band in a bar.

I also don't think he's a particularly good songwriter in isolation. he's better as a band member.
The Dr
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

spunder wrote:start with the yardbirds, then go via john mayall , to cream. then stop.

thank you, one album from each to get a feel of each carnation?

aparently he has a new album out. from the fuss here i guess it was a good one :wink:
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
spunder
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by spunder »

*Five Live Yardbirds, ( he left soon after, replaced by Jeff Beck)

*John Mayalls Bluesbreakers. (John Mayall changed his lineup almost weekly in the 60's, think this is the only full album with Clapton)

*Cream - Disraeli Gears . theres also loads of decent live boot s about. the first US tour in '67 is particularly thunderous.
Ginger Baker always says that Cream were a free jazz group but him and Jack Bruce didn't tell Clapton ...or words to that effect. live they could certainly come across that way.

my old man used to love Clapton in his youth but in recent decades has totally abandoned him enquiring how can he possibly play the blues wearing an Armani suit .
spunder
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by spunder »

angelsighs wrote: Don't know what the hell happened after that- his music is dull as ditchwater now. he's become a dullard that worthily plays blues in a very traditional and basic manner. I don't know where all that fire and invention went.
To me, his recent music sounds like your basic above average blues band in a bar.

I also don't think he's a particularly good songwriter in isolation. he's better as a band member.
I think running off with Pattie Boyd and indulging in too much Horse might have something to do with it, but yes agree about his song writing, better as a player, Bruce wrote all the good Cream tunes.
James T
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by James T »

angelsighs
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by angelsighs »

AND he's a massive racist! I forgot about that.

Patti Boyd though 8)
runcible
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by runcible »

I wondered if someone was going to bring that up. Anyone read what he said in his famous rant? It's pretty worrying.
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by TheWarmth »

I remember being in high school when Clapton's hugely successful MTV Unplugged album came out, featuring a super boring version of "Layla" and, of course, "Tears In Heaven." UGH. Could not stand it then and can't stand it now.
The Dr
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

runcible wrote:I wondered if someone was going to bring that up. Anyone read what he said in his famous rant? It's pretty worrying.

------------------

disclaimer


--------




the below is posted as i looked it up out of curiosity- please don't be offended and, mods, if you need to delete it please do

Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands. Wogs I mean, I'm looking at you. Where are you? I'm sorry but some fucking wog...Arab grabbed my wife's bum, you know? Surely got to be said, yeah this is what all the fucking foreigners and wogs over here are like, just disgusting, that's just the truth, yeah. So where are you? Well wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country. You fucking (indecipherable). 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 and fucking (indecipherable) 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. We are a white country. I don't want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? We need to vote for Enoch Powell, he's a great man, speaking truth. Vote for Enoch, he's our man, he's on our side, he'll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he's on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!

i'm struck by his ambiguity

though it reminds me of a lyric from an otherwise brilliant dylan song hich he wrote when he went right of the kaiser with his born again phase where he would rail against homosexuals etc, even denouncing his close friend and mentor allen ginsberg
All that foreign oil controlling American soil
Look around you, it's just bound to make you embarrassed
Sheiks walking around like kings, wearing fancy jewels and nose rings
Deciding America's future from Amsterdam and to Paris
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
The Dr
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

though i like this
More bizarre was his wearing of whites to watch cricket on TV. Pasta preceded viewing The Godfather.

:lol: :lol: 8)
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
olan
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by olan »

The Dr wrote: the below is posted as i looked it up out of curiosity- please don't be offended and, mods, if you need to delete it please do
Thanks for posting that. I was very aware of the incident, but hadn't read the text of the rant before. What an utter bell-end. I intensely dislike his music, but the irony of that quotation from a white twat who made a fortune from playing the blues (very badly IMHO) is overwhelming.
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by TheWarmth »

Has Clapton ever gone back and renounced what he said?
angelsighs
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by angelsighs »

I don't think he did, which makes it even more disgusting.

Olan is spot on about the irony here, when he's a man who made his career out of watering down black music.
spunder
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by spunder »

Truly bizarre. Is it really the same bloke from the sixties?!. Ginger Baker should give him a good kicking for that
One Asian Under A Groove
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by One Asian Under A Groove »

I was going to post both that quote and a note of my disdain for someone who wouldn't have a career if it wasn't for black music to appropriate badly, but you lovely people beat me to it. Thank goodness I can't stand his music either, thus saving me a quandary.
The Dr
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

TheWarmth wrote:Has Clapton ever gone back and renounced what he said?




i started watching it but the first thing he says is 'it is easy to confuse that i was very upset by the arabs coming and buying...' i stopped watching then. seems it was the arabs fault he went on his rant. apology accepted :roll:
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
runcible
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by runcible »

I hadn't seen that interview before. Very flimsy excuses which don't wash - he lumped all foreigners together, not just Arabs. I was a kid in the 70s but I vividly recall that the use of the word 'wog' was deeply offensive back then, just as it is now, despite Clapton using it very loosely. So my opinion that Clapton is a massive wanker hasn't changed.

It is pretty amazing that his racist speech isn't highlighted more. The hypocritical nature of what he said against the background of the music he plays is just too overwhelming.
heisenberg
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by heisenberg »

Didn't Kim Jong-il and his sons go see him in concert a few times? I wonder what Clapton made of that.

I guess both men have something in common- one caused untold human misery and suffering with an instrument made to his own spec, designed to bolster his ego and standing among his contemporaries on the world stage. The other supposedly built and hid nuclear weapons.

To me, Clapton is a tuneless George Harrison, Hendrix without the full reckless abandon, and a pishy, watered-down BB King.
olan
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by olan »

I was wrong about not owning any Clapton. With the exception of Disraeli Gears, which I absolutely adore (originally only bought because Mick Jones told us to in the NME, I was about 12 at the time) there is nothing by Clapton in my collection. His music is a triumph of technique over artistry if you ask me. I have periodic episodes of self-loathing for buying Disraeli Gears and not having ditched it, but is wonderful. Trust the art and not the artist....
spunder
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by spunder »

olan wrote:I was wrong about not owning any Clapton. With the exception of Disraeli Gears, which I absolutely adore (originally only bought because Mick Jones told us to in the NME, I was about 12 at the time) there is nothing by Clapton in my collection. His music is a triumph of technique over artistry if you ask me. I have periodic episodes of self-loathing for buying Disraeli Gears and not having ditched it, but is wonderful. Trust the art and not the artist....

Disraeli Gears ain't just Eric . Its probably great cos Baker and Bruce were outdoing him
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by Ian »

runcible wrote:So my opinion that Clapton is a massive wanker hasn't changed.
There really is nothing I can add to that. Very succinct!
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The Dr
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by The Dr »

Ian wrote: 'So my opinion that Clapton is a massive wanker hasn't changed'
There really is nothing I can add to that. Very succinct!
no wonder he has the blues...!
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
angelsighs
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by angelsighs »

I can't believe the mealy mouthed excuses about what he said. the fact that the quote is usually repeated word for word suggests that there is actually a recording out there somewhere too. so he can't even say he's been misquoted.

unfortunately I still don't think you can disregard some of the music he's made. unfortunately a lot of great music has been made by dicks. like I said above, I think Cream were great. but a lot of that was down to the superb rhythm section. I've got an album called 'Cream Live Vol 2' and it's shit hot! perhaps lacking the true creativity of someone like Hendrix, and perhaps not avoiding self indulgence. but a great slice of freeform heavy rock that's built on the blues but trying to take it somewhere else.

they (not Eric) could write good songs too, as shown by Disraeli Gears and the like.

everything after Cream? don't bother. music for estate agents who still think they are edgy.

(anyone feel sorry for Jack Bruce for having to be in a band with both Clapton and Ginger Baker, neither of which seem to be the nicest people in the world.. to put it lightly )
runcible
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by runcible »

Also worth noting that he refuses to distance himself from what he said, let alone apologise. It does seem extraordinary that this incident didn't destroy his reputation forever.
plastic37
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by plastic37 »

The Blind Faith LP is really good.
Possibly my favourite of that ilk of that era.
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niamhm
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Re: tell me about... eric clapton

Post by niamhm »

Wonder what way Clapton voted? :(
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