Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival

[GtrPlyr]

Again, I'm completely astonished...

 

While My Guitar Gently Weeps.... Enough said...

 

I did say that Clapton lost me after "Layla." I like some of the Cream stuff and his playing on "While My Guitar Genly Weeps" is perfect for that song. He definitely has had some moments of inspiration, but unfortunately for me his playing often comes off as: insert "Freddie King" lick here, connect that to an Albert King lick there... his playing doesn't have the uniqueness of a Hendrix, or Beck.

[jff]

 

You have a point about SRV.. And I agree that it is about personal preference.. I am speaking for what is generally known among the masses.. It's just that this is the first I have heard of negative comments towards Clapton's guitar playing, and I'm having a hard time computing it.. (lol).  His song writing is another story, he had some weak years in that department.  

 

One thing you and I can agree on, Zappa was a freaking madman on the guitar and a musical genius.  Influential?  Hugely.  As influential as Clapton?  Not hardly.  

 

I think this article explains it well:

 

 

Full article: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/eric-clapton-20110420

So why is he only #55 on that list?  

[lamradio]

So why is he only #55 on that list?  

 

Because that is a list of greatest artists, not guitar players.  

[jff]

 Folks saying that Clapton is overrated is just preposterous.

I thinik he's been overrated since the moment someone spray painted "Clapton is God" on a wall in England.

 

I like Clapton, BTW, but there are loads of more exciting and soulful guitar players living and dead out there.

 

Because that is a list of greatest artists, not guitar players.  

I didn't catch that.  Touche.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I thinik he's been overrated since the moment someone spray painted "Clapton is God" on a wall in England.

 

I like Clapton, BTW, but there are loads of more exciting and soulful guitar players living and dead out there.

 

I didn't catch that.  Touche.

This is how I feel too. I don't begrudge the guy his success, and I think he has plenty of good songs. I just much prefer his work with the Yardbirds and Cream to most of his other work. Pretty thin resume in my mind. I think he's a likable bloke, and I am glad he has worked hard to introduce Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, Freddie King, Albert King, etc., to the masses. I just like all those cats better.

Even the classic lengthy workout on Cream's version of Crossroads does not hold my attention. My mind wanders from it. So I guess I am hopeless. But if people love the guy, more power to 'em.

[lamradio]

I thinik he's been overrated since the moment someone spray painted "Clapton is God" on a wall in England.

 

 

 

 

That's cool.. And to be honest, I'm having fun debating this, whether I think you are out of your mind or not... lol

 

Just gearing up for seeing one of my hero's for the first time in a few weeks.  

[Mr. Heartbreak]

That's cool.. And to be honest, I'm having fun debating this, whether I think you are out of your mind or not... lol

 

Just gearing up for seeing one of my hero's for the first time in a few weeks.  

If you like him that much, you will have a great time.

And if you read online later that anyone was disappointed by the show in some way, you will be baffled all over again! Lol

One of my guitar heroes is the great Bruce Cockburn. Huge in Canada, barely known here in the states. I saw him 3 nights in a row earlier this month, and he can still deliver. But he didn't even sell out these little theaters that hold 400-500 people. Very strange.

[jff]

That's cool.. And to be honest, I'm having fun debating this, whether I think you are out of your mind or not... lol

 

Just gearing up for seeing one of my hero's for the first time in a few weeks.  

I'm having fun, too.  That's going to be awesome.  I hope it's a blast. I think he has the amazing Steve Jordan on drums, so the rhythm section is guaranteed to be great.

[jff]

 

One of my guitar heroes is the great Bruce Cockburn. Huge in Canada, barely known here in the states. I saw him 3 nights in a row earlier this month, and he can still deliver. But he didn't even sell out these little theaters that hold 400-500 people. Very strange.

I saw him open for Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman in the '90s.  I had always heard good things about him, but the venue was a huge amphitheater, so it didn't come across very well (frankly, neither did Weir's set).  Eventualy I'll check him out and see what I've been missing.

[Shug]

As for Clapton playing blues tunes, I'm sorry, but I still don't think he's anywhere close to Buddy Guy's league. There's a reason Buddy is Clapton's hero, and not vice versa.

Here is a nice clip of Buddy demonstrating how to out-Clapton Clapton.

Mr. Heartbreak, I understand and respect that you like Buddy Guy and the other electric blues originators more than Clapton and the other second generation of electric blues guitarists, but I'm kinda baffled that you think the Buddy Guy clip you posted shows Buddy doing what Clapton does but better.

 

First, Clapton has never been a showboater like Guy has become. Clapton doesn't play with his teeth and all that stuff. In the video you posted, Guy spends far more time walking around the stage, waving a towel, making faces and holding up his guitar than actually playing guitar. And when he does play in this video, he's just quoting Henrdrix and Clapton songs, he's not playing a full song or even a full solo in the song.

 

And I think there is probably more mutual respect between Guy and Clapton than your comment would suggest. Just because Guy is one of Clapton's heroes and inspirations doesn't make Clapton a second rate version of Guy. They really aren't that similar in their playing and I think if you listen to some of the performances in this thread, that would be pretty clear. Of course, Clapton is a protoge of the original blues masters and he's never gonna rate himself as highly as he does those guys, they were his inspiration and what he grew up on. But many folks love the second generation of electric blues guitarists' take on original electric blues. I prefer Clapton, Page, Beck, Allman, Hendrix, Green, Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, etc because I like the influence of late 60s/early 70s rock on the blues. It speaks to me and moves me emotionally more than the playing of the originals.

 

I like Buddy Guy's Stone Crazy album on Alligator and his early stuff. After that he became too clownish for me, although I do appreciate his beaming smile and positivity. Here's a good video of him in 1969.

 

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[Mr. Heartbreak]

Well, I think people like to see a show. That was one of the reasons Hendrix was so popular. Mick Jagger said he thought Hendrix's performance was "the most sexual" thing he had ever seen. Not a word about Hendrix's technical proficiency. He and Buddy Guy both copped a lot of that showmanship from another great blues guitar player, T. Bone Walker. In fact, one of the knocks on Jerry Garcia was always that he, like Clapton, pretty much stood there and played his guitar. Nothing else dramatic onstage.

 

I honestly just grabbed the first Buddy Guy clip I found on YouTube that was of decent quality, and it happened to have him playing parts of Voodoo Chile and Sunshine of Your Love. He didn't write those songs, so he doesn't do note-for-note covers of them, but that is part of his live show. I saw him last year, and he was still excellent, at 74 or whatever he is now. You're right about one thing for sure, Buddy has a lot of respect for Clapton. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

 

I get why you say that the later folks' music "speaks to me and moves me emotionally more than the playing of the originals," but that's not the case for me at all. Of the people you listed - Clapton, Page, Beck, Allman, Hendrix, Green, Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel - only Hendrix makes it onto the "Top Guitarist" thread I just posted. Of course, that is just my personal feeling.

 

But really, I don't think these threads are meant to be debates...more like conversations among musical friends. "You know what I like? I like ____." "You know who I like even better than him? I like _____."

At least that's how I see it...

[Analogman]

That is how it is for me. Probably due to the fact that is what I started out listening to those dudes way back in the last century. Plus - Robert Johnson records are too dam scary to listen to in the dark.

 

 I like the influence of late 60s/early 70s rock on the blues. It speaks to me and moves me emotionally more than the playing of the originals.

 

[Shug]

Well, I think people like to see a show.

And some people would rather listen to the music than see a show. I like a guitar player to rock out and move around, but not at the expense of great playing. If I had to choose, I'll take Mick Taylor, Garcia, and Derek Trucks standing still and playing hot over a showboater not playing much or not playing very well. But if you can balance showboating and intense playing, like SRV and Hendrix did, then I'm all for that as well. If the topic is how good certain guitar players play the blues, then I think the focus should be on musicality, not entertaining stage moves.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

The music comes first and foremost for me too, and I'll still take Buddy over Clapton any day of the week, whether they are singing, playing guitar, or both. So there you go. For that matter, I prefer Peter Green.

As for that clip I posted, there is plenty of guitar playing during the first three minutes. And he's playing it held straight up in the air, behind his back, with his teeth. Even with his admittedly diminished skills, I find him much more enjoyable than any of the British "guitar gods" who play the blues.

By the way, David Fricke posted a very complimentary, almost reverential review of Clapton's show in Austin, TX. If you read the comments section, you will find some stuff that makes everything on this thread look extremely polite. Not recommended for fans (the comments, that is, not the review):

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/blogs/alternate-take/eric-clapton-spans-his-career-on-50th-anniversary-tour-20130318?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

[worldrecordplayer]

He was playing the strat in combination with Duane's Les Paul.  Strats and Les Pauls are a beautiful combination, but a Strat alone can be pretty dicey.

 

Eric played a Gibson holowbody on a recent tour (maybe the Derek Trucks tour?) and his sound on that guitar was noticably different (and better, imo) than the sound he gets from a strat.

 

 

Yes, on the Layla album you had the Les Paul and Strat combo.  But from what i recall, Duane played only a couple of live shows with the Dominos, and I'm pretty sure Clapton played his Strat throughout. And I'm pretty certain he played his Strat on the tour with Derek Trucks.  I think I would have remembered if he played something else.  I have both Crossroads dvd's, one of those is the band with Derek I believe, I'll take a look.

[jff]

Yes, on the Layla album you had the Les Paul and Strat combo.  But from what i recall, Duane played only a couple of live shows with the Dominos, and I'm pretty sure Clapton played his Strat throughout. And I'm pretty certain he played his Strat on the tour with Derek Trucks.  I think I would have remembered if he played something else.  I have both Crossroads dvd's, one of those is the band with Derek I believe, I'll take a look.

Someone made a point earlier about how it wasn't the Strat, but the chorus effects he was using.  Surely that's a major factor.  Clapton did sound good on the Strat for a few albums (although VERY different than his sound on Gibsons), but something started changing for the worse around the time right after Slowhand.

[jff]

I'm pretty certain he played his Strat on the tour with Derek Trucks.  I think I would have remembered if he played something else.  I have both Crossroads dvd's, one of those is the band with Derek I believe, I'll take a look.

Looks like it was the From the Cradle tour.

 

[worldrecordplayer]

Looks like it was the From the Cradle tour.

 

Excellent research!

[Analogman]

He also played one (an ES-335) of those towards the end of Cream.

[jff]

He also played one (an ES-335) of those towards the end of Cream.

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed that he didn't use a Gibson for the Cream reunion shows.

[Shug]

Excellent research!

And the video of Someday After Awhile I posted earlier in this thread also showed Clapton playing the red Gibson hollow body, also on the From The Cradle tour in '94.

[jff]

And the video of Someday After Awhile I posted earlier in this thread also showed Clapton playing the red Gibson hollow body, also on the From The Cradle tour in '94.

'94, wow.  I must've overlooked the video you posted.  I'm surprised it was that long ago.   I thought I had seen some photos of him in a guitar magazine playing the red 335 from a recent tour, but I could be mistaken.

[Jcamp]

That is how it is for me. Probably due to the fact that is what I started out listening to those dudes way back in the last century. Plus - Robert Johnson records are too dam scary to listen to in the dark.

I used to have a commute that would take me over the Golden Gate Bridge into SF  at about 4am... Right about then I could pick up some Berkely radio station that was playin some old mono blues ... it sounded Great.

[Analogman]

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed that he didn't use a Gibson for the Cream reunion shows.

 

 

I am guessing since Eric sold all of his guitars, he just uses stock Fenders now? From what I have seen in various videos, the ones he plays look new.

 

I used to have a commute that would take me over the Golden Gate Bridge into SF  at about 4am... Right about then I could pick up some Berkely radio station that was playin some old mono blues ... it sounded Great.

 

I've been under that bridge in a ship a time or three.

[jff]

I am guessing since Eric sold all of his guitars, he just uses stock Fenders now? From what I have seen in various videos, the ones he plays look new.

I think he has a signature model Strat.  Gibson has also made some Clapton signature models, if I'm not mistaken.   I know he sold lots of guitars from his collection, but I'll bet he still has some of his old ones at home that he doesn't take on the road.