Eric Clapton was a disappointment?

EmmetSpiceland

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Clapton is the subject of one of my favourite showbiz stories. Davina McCall was his girlfriend at the time he wrote Tears in Heaven. He played the song to her before it was released. she was so overcome with emotion she gave him a blowjob. True story.

It’s a better story than what yer man from The Brian Jonestown Massacre said about him and that song.

ohnonotgmail

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

It’s a better story than what yer man from The Brian Jonestown Massacre said about him and that song.

which was?

EmmetSpiceland

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

which was?

“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a ****in’ ledge and write a song about it?”

Wanderer78

Deleted User wrote:

Clapton is wildly overrated, hasn't produced any fiery guitar solos since 1971 and Rory Gallagher was streets ahead of him in technique and feeling.

Clapton is a great player, but I completely agree about Rory, just truly astonishing

EmmetSpiceland

Bobtheman wrote: »

He has some strange politics bordering on fascist. Look at what he says about Enoch Powell.

Some people argue that his words were taken out of context and he was, originally, against the influx of people from the West Indies because he felt they would just be forced to work all the menial jobs and ghettoised.

Make of that what you will, he was fairly “out of it” at the time.

ohnonotgmail

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a ****in’ ledge and write a song about it?”

EEK!

paw patrol

rapul wrote: »

As already said Rory Gallagher and Taste even was far better than oul slow hands and hendrix but alas the Irish are cursed! But yeah Clapton hasnt done anything good since Cream.

Cream are very good.

Lyle Lanley wrote: »

If you judge every guitarist against Rory you won't have much music to listen to.

back in 1999 I lived in donnycarney in a rented house.
we had a party one night - all tenants.

a debate over Gallagher and hendrix started brewing from early.

Ended in a stabbing.


Somebody dropped 20 pounds during the melee which I pocketed.
That's pretty much my whole exposure to either artist.

Mr. CooL ICE

Clapton was a great player. But he was overrated as a songwriter. Some of the best tunes attributed to him were written or co-written by others. Even in Cream, he was riding on the coattails of Ginger and Jack.

Necro

Mod:

This might be better suited in the Music Forum. Moving there now.

Terminator.

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Interviewer: "What does it feel like to be the worlds greatest guitarist?"

Hendrix: "Ask Rory Gallagher."

Clapton: "Ask Prince"

Joe_ Public

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Some people argue that his words were taken out of context and he was, originally, against the influx of people from the West Indies because he felt they would just be forced to work all the menial jobs and ghettoised.

Make of that what you will, he was fairly “out of it” at the time.

Dunno. Shouting "fcking coons" and "wogs" out on a stage while proclaiming undying support for Enoch Powell is hard to take out of context imo. And i dont know that taking drugs or alcohol, in whatever quantities, ever automatically turned anyone into colossal racists. Prejudice comes from deep within. And it's not as if Clapton quickly recanted for his views - he was doing interviews still declaring his support for Powell up to 10 years ago. The big apology - including the classic standard "i had lots of black friends" - only came 2 years ago. Doesnt mean you have to deny he made some great music, i feel relieved i never really liked much of it to begin with.

coolshannagh28

Strumms wrote: »

A rumor doing the rounds for decades is the Stones asked him to join before Mick Taylor joined. Rory that is.

Mick Taylor made the Stones.

Terminator.

coolshannagh28 wrote: »

Mick Taylor made the Stones.

Wasn't Keith Richards jealous or did I hear that wrong

coolshannagh28

Terminator. wrote: »

Wasn't Keith Richards jealous or did I hear that wrong

Apparently , but they wrote their most enduring and best material when Taylor was on board , when he left they settled for Woody who slotted in and played along not pushing the boundaries .

EmmetSpiceland

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Dunno. Shouting "fcking coons" and "wogs" out on a stage while proclaiming undying support for Enoch Powell is hard to take out of context imo. And i dont know that taking drugs or alcohol, in whatever quantities, ever automatically turned anyone into colossal racists. Prejudice comes from deep within. And it's not as if Clapton quickly recanted for his views - he was doing interviews still declaring his support for Powell up to 10 years ago. The big apology - including the classic standard "i had lots of black friends" - only came 2 years ago. Doesnt mean you have to deny he made some great music, i feel relieved i never really liked much of it to begin with.

Did he even apologise? There was supposed to be a big one at some charity concert but it never came.

Maybe the “reasoning” I heard was a nice retrofit too explain it all away?

Joe_ Public

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Did he even apologise? There was supposed to be a big one at some charity concert but it never came.

Maybe the “reasoning” I heard was a nice retrofit too explain it all away?

There was a big documentary release a couple of years back and he did a round of contritional interviews for it, dont know if he recanted his support for powell or not, but was proclaiming to be an anti brexit supporter so there was that. The Rock Against Racism movement of the late 70s was a direct consequence of Claptons prejudice so at least some good did come out of it!

coolshannagh28

Clapton is like a lot of artists who have long successful careers; they are on fire for a short time and live long off that , in his case it was with Cream who were then at the cutting edge of rock , the Stones are similar in a way in that they have had long success but peaked around 69 to 72 when they probably were the best of them all.

SmartinMartin

Clapton in Malahide Castle ;
Worst concert I was ever at by a long shot.

splinter65

Trigger Happy wrote: »

I read his autobiography once and found that he was a bit of a boring character. Generally a stay at home addict.
He was a decent musician though.

I read that book too and found it kinda heartbreaking there was so much misery and stress in it. His obsession with Patti Boyd for so long would be considered stalkerish now and was worthy of psychiatric treatment in itself never mind the drug taking the alcoholism and the terrible relationship with his mother. You can hear it all in the guitar playing though which is the plus for us the listeners.

splinter65

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a ****in’ ledge and write a song about it?”

There’s some very bitter jealous people out there in music land. Imagine how much of a c**t over someone else’s talent you’d have to be to say something like that?

The Nal

One of the all time great guitar players. What a sound, what timing.

Tragic character really up until relatively recently. A world class alco and smack head.

The racist rant was unfortunate and he acknowledges that now but it was the ramblings of a drunk drug addict.

Eric Clapton - Life in 12 Bars. Well worth a watch.

beauf

coolshannagh28 wrote: »

Clapton is like a lot of artists who have long successful careers; they are on fire for a short time and live long off that , in his case it was with Cream who were then at the cutting edge of rock , the Stones are similar in a way in that they have had long success but peaked around 69 to 72 when they probably were the best of them all.

Clapton has a vast number of successful singles and albums a lot of them after cream. So that makes no sense.

If you don't like his stuff after cream fair enough or if you think artistically his peak was then. But in terms of commercial and chart success he was at it for decades.

Some artists and bands have one good single or album then vanish. In that context Clapton success is remarkable. Very few artists have had such longevity.

Terminator.

I rewatched the last waltz there recently

Clapton was v good with the guitar

Van the man was awesome

Royale with Cheese

Strumms wrote: »

A rumor doing the rounds for decades is the Stones asked him to join before Mick Taylor joined. Rory that is.

He was supposed to audition to replace Mick Taylor but would have had to drop some dates on his tour at the last minute to fly out to the audition and decided his fans got preference. He wouldn't have got the gig anyway, better guitarists than Ronnie Wood auditioned but they went with Wood as he was a better fit for them personally. He was already mates with Keith I think.

The Black and Blue album features a few of the guitarists they tried out. There's a song on it called Hand of Fate where the lead guitar work is done by Wayne Perkins and it's one of the best of any Stones song for me. You'd wonder what might have been if they'd went with him.

The Nal

Beautiful player. The solo here, c'mon lads.

This is nice. Lovely acoustic player too.

trashcan

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

“People talk about Eric Clapton. What has he ever done except throw his baby off a ****in’ ledge and write a song about it?”

I'm no Clapton fan, and I think Tears in Heaven is muck (ditto Wonderful Tonight) , but, :eek:

splinter65

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

He was supposed to audition to replace Mick Taylor but would have had to drop some dates on his tour at the last minute to fly out to the audition and decided his fans got preference. He wouldn't have got the gig anyway, better guitarists than Ronnie Wood auditioned but they went with Wood as he was a better fit for them personally. He was already mates with Keith I think.

The Black and Blue album features a few of the guitarists they tried out. There's a song on it called Hand of Fate where the lead guitar work is done by Wayne Perkins and it's one of the best of any Stones song for me. You'd wonder what might have been if they'd went with him.

If he’d joined the stones he’d have either clashed very badly with Keith who has a huge ego and has to be the best guitarist in the band all the time, or he’d have tipped all the way into total drug hell and he’d not have survived. Wood knows how to handle Keith and is happy and humble and easy going enough to give way to him without losing his own dignity.

Joe_ Public

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

He was supposed to audition to replace Mick Taylor but would have had to drop some dates on his tour at the last minute to fly out to the audition and decided his fans got preference. He wouldn't have got the gig anyway, better guitarists than Ronnie Wood auditioned but they went with Wood as he was a better fit for them personally. He was already mates with Keith I think.

The Black and Blue album features a few of the guitarists they tried out. There's a song on it called Hand of Fate where the lead guitar work is done by Wayne Perkins and it's one of the best of any Stones song for me. You'd wonder what might have been if they'd went with him.

I remember Rorys brother Donal suggesting this could have worked, but i always had trouble imagining it. Rory was always a frontman, dictating his own path and career. Just cant see him as one guy among equals, however much truth was in those stories.

beauf

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Dunno. Shouting "fcking coons" and "wogs" out on a stage while proclaiming undying support for Enoch Powell is hard to take out of context imo. And i dont know that taking drugs or alcohol, in whatever quantities, ever automatically turned anyone into colossal racists. Prejudice comes from deep within. And it's not as if Clapton quickly recanted for his views - he was doing interviews still declaring his support for Powell up to 10 years ago. The big apology - including the classic standard "i had lots of black friends" - only came 2 years ago. Doesnt mean you have to deny he made some great music, i feel relieved i never really liked much of it to begin with.

It would seem to be more deep seated nationalism and isolationism than racist, considering how he lived his life and championed not simply blues music but also the artists. That's not excusing it, as you can't. But a colossal racist would not lived the life he did, or done so much for blues music and artists. All very odd and discordant.

splinter65

The Nal wrote: »

One of the all time great guitar players. What a sound, what timing.

Tragic character really up until relatively recently. A world class alco and smack head.

The racist rant was unfortunate and he acknowledges that now but it was the ramblings of a drunk drug addict.

Eric Clapton - Life in 12 Bars. Well worth a watch.

If you’d asked any very drunk uneducated white British man at that point in time his opinion on immigration and race you’d have got a fairly similar reaction. It’s easy to sit here now and be horrified at what people did and said 50 years ago but it’s quite stupid too. “The past is a different country. They do things differently there”.