Eric Clapton

audiobliss · July 2005

Anybody here just totally captivated by Eric Clapton's amazing skills on the guitar (and whatever else he plays), vocals, amazing way of expressing thoughts, and wide range of styles of music? The first I heard of him was when I listened to my dad's CD Eric Clapton Unplugged. I loved (and still do) that CD. I listened to it for weeks on end. And throughout the last few years, I have never tired of coming back to it every now and then.

Slightly more recently I bought Cream of Clapton. For me, this was a totally different side of Eric Clapton. I recognized a few of the songs, but for the most part it was new. I really grew to like this side of him every bit as much as the other, though they're so different.

Now fast forward to about three weeks ago. My friend discovered and then gave me a (bootleg..:D) copy of Clapton Chronicles. This CD is much like Cream of Clapton in styles, but is slightly different. I haven't been able to stop listening to this CD for more than a day or two at a time over the last three or four weeks!

I have decided that I'm a huge Eric Clapton fan, and that I'd love to start collecting some of his better works. (Not that I imagine that he has any 'lesser' works!

)

So, what are some your opinions on Eric Clapton? His style? The CDs I mentioned? What are some other CDs I (and others in the same boat) should take a listen to? And may even be worth buying? I don't have a SACD player (yet), but are there any good SACDS (or DVD-Audio discs) worth mentioning?

-audiobliss

audiobliss · July 2005

Also, I meant to ask what all he plays. I forgot, lol. I imagine that he's pretty good with several different instruments. What other instruments are commonly found in his music? Just general comments regarding him and his work would be very interesting and much appreciated!

Polkersince85 · July 2005

Clapton has been around a while, mostly guitar playing. His most recent CD is Me and Mr. Johnson, it's a rendition of Robert Johnson blues. I like it. Any of his stuff is good IMO. All the way from Cream up. I saw him live on the "Cocaine" tour, will never forget it. He did a tribute to Bob Dylan for PBS about 15 years ago that was fantastic. He learned to play guitar by listening to a record player and picking out the tunes. A true great one.

audiobliss · July 2005

To elaborate just a bit.

Tears In Heaven, Running On Faith, Layla are a few of my favorite songs from Eric Clapton Unplugged. Some of the especially 'different' songs that I've recently been introduced to include Pretending, I Get Lost, and It's In the Way That You Use It. My Father's Eyes and Blue Eyes Blue are some of my new favorites that aren't too far removed from the style of Unplugged.

What got me started on thinking about this so much and then starting this thread was I was listening to Clapton Chronicles. I was home alone and so I had it turned up pretty good. I finally got to the last track which is (on my burned copy) River of Tears. This was the first time I had really listened to it. The music is beautiful. I read the lyrics online as I listened to the song, and it was so powerful.

Music really is an amazing thing!

Polkersince85 · July 2005

He wrote "Tears in Heaven" after his small son was killed by falling out of a window. I don't know how he was able to sing it.

audiobliss · July 2005

Yeah, I had heard that. I think the same thing every time I hear it (that I'm emotionally stable enough to think!). A very moving song. From a very sad time. One of the great deeply touching, thought-provoking songs.

F1nut · July 2005

Congrats on discovering one of the greats. IMO, any of his works are worth listening/owning.

Roy Munson · July 2005

If you like the blues get Claptons "From The Cradle". This is a stellar CD chocked full of classic blues!

AsSiMiLaTeD · July 2005

yep, 'From the Cradle' is my favorite of his stuff done in the last decade or so...especially the first track...

warren · July 2005

audiobliss ,Clapton has a DVD out, a tribute to George Harrison, it's great. Aloha, Warren

Larry Chanin · July 2005

Hi,

I just got the Eric Capton Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD. It's an absolutely fantastic two-disc set featuring Eric and a collection of superb guitarists!! Its pretty recent, it was recorded live at the Cotton Bowl, in Dallas Texas and released last year.

audiobliss: Surprise your dad and get him this DVD, you will definitely earn points with him.

Larry

audiobliss · July 2005

If you like the blues get Claptons "From The Cradle". This is a stellar CD chocked full of classic blues!

Oooh! We have that! I just know it! Now I hafta find it....

audiobliss ,Clapton has a DVD out, a tribute to George Harrison, it's great. Aloha, Warren

I'll hafta look into that one. I do actually have a DVD player!

Larry
I was thinking, "That sounds too expensive!" But then, that'd be a great present for Dad sometime; I'd still get to watch it!!

Oh, and I assume thoses DVDs are regular DVDs and not DVD-Audio discs.

ND13 · July 2005

This shows that there's still hope for the younger generations to discover what "real" talent is. I'm very pleased to here that AB has uncovered Clapton. Listen to your father's recommendations, you'll uncover some truly exquisite music from the "glory days" of rock and roll (1965-1975 give or take). I'm not saying that the newer music isn't good, because there are some talented artists out there, just not like it was then. Almost every newer artist was influenced by or flat out copies the likes of Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Stones, The Who, Sabbath, and so on.

Kudos to you for recognizing true talent and not being scared to admit it. Alot of your generation would never publically come out and say what you did for fear that they wouldn't be cool.

Larry Chanin · July 2005

Originally posted by audiobliss

Larry
I was thinking, "That sounds too expensive!" But then, that'd be a great present for Dad sometime; I'd still get to watch it!!

Oh, and I assume thoses DVDs are regular DVDs and not DVD-Audio discs.

Hi AB,

Yes, it was a little pricey. I paid about $22 at Walmart. It's a regular Video DVD in widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0, and DTS 5. 1 sound. The playing time is 210 minutes. I had it playing in my home theater during a birthday celebration. My guests told me that it was just like being there.

Larry

RuSsMaN · July 2005

Forget the 5.1 mixes, get out the old table and find these classics. It might not hurt to check to see if anyone has remastered them, and released them on CD.

Derek and the Dominos, and Blind Faith. Really cool EARLY Clapton.

RuSsMaN · July 2005

Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, Rich Grech.

Cheers,
Russ

ND13 · July 2005

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Forget the 5.1 mixes, get out the old table and find these classics. It might not hurt to check to see if anyone has remastered them, and released them on CD.

Derek and the Dominos, and Blind Faith. Really cool EARLY Clapton.

Blind Faith ROCKS. You'll love it. Great classic rock is the only way to go.

RuSsMaN · July 2005

It is classic rock, but I really dig the abstract stuff on this one, when they just JAM. I guess that's the Ginger Baker abstract/jazz influence. It's very cool.

ND13 · July 2005

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
It is classic rock, but I really dig the abstract stuff on this one, when they just JAM. I guess that's the Ginger Baker abstract/jazz influence. It's very cool.

Yes, it is indeed. Gotta love GB, SW, and Clapton on the same stage. One of the first true supergroups.

audiobliss · July 2005

Last night after supper, all of us (the fam) went out to the bookstore. I'm usually not too fond of the idea, but pass the time avidly reading car magazines. Last night, however, I was really wanting to go to the bookstore - to look at Eric Clapton CDs. I was just so excited about it. When we walked in, I didn't immediately see the music section and asked Mom where it was, she said they don't have music. :eek:

:eek: :mad:

Oh well. Hopefully I'll get to look for some here pretty soon.

audiobliss · July 2005

I pulled out Dad's From the Cradle CD. I really don't like it. I guess I'm just not into blues/jazz.

However, I went to Barnes & Noble Sunday and bought Pilgrim. I've liked quite a few of the songs on that CD. Though, when just playing through the CD, it gets kinda monotonous, because several of the songs have almost exactly the same back beat/rhythm.

Hmm..Blind Faith. I'll have to look for that the next time I go to the bookstore; maybe this Sunday.

Tide · July 2005

Originally posted by audiobliss
However, I went to Barnes & Noble Sunday and bought Pilgrim. I've liked quite a few of the songs on that CD. Though, when just playing through the CD, it gets kinda monotonous, because several of the songs have almost exactly the same back beat/rhythm.

If you like the Clapton drum machine dominated synth songs on Pilgrim, try TDF: Retail Therapy. Clapton is disguised as "x-sample." Not my cup of tea, but there's a Clapton for everybody, because he's done hard rock, album rock, soft rock, blues, country, synth, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002NCZ/ref=m_art_li_1/104-6732491-9290355?v=glance&s=music

audiobliss · July 2005

Interesting; I don't think I saw that one at the store. However, I wasn't saying that I liked that as much as I was stating an observation. He did country?! :eek: Never would have guessed.

ND13 · July 2005

Originally posted by audiobliss
Interesting; I don't think I saw that one at the store. He did country?! :eek: Never would have guessed.

EC is an extremely well rounded musician.

audiobliss · July 2005

Originally posted by ND13
EC is an extremely well rounded musician.

You can most definitely say that again. And not only is he well-rounded, from what I've heard (so far), he is extremely talented/dedicated/effortlessly masterful of all the different genres he has tackled.

Absolutely nothing short of an amazing artist.

ND13 · July 2005

Originally posted by audiobliss
You can most definitely say that again. And not only is he well-rounded, from what I've heard (so far), he is extremely talented/dedicated/effortlessly masterful of all the different genres he has tackled.

Absolutely nothing short of an amazing artist.

Nothing short indeed.

Micah Cohen · July 2005

Ugh, you guys are all over the place. Clapton? Today? He's a limp wrist and you all know it. And really, "Derek & The Dominoes" is awful. Listened to it lately? It doesn't hold up. And most of the lead guitar playing on it -- the stuff that gets your attention -- is Duane Allman anyway!

Look, in seven minutes I'll give you the very best of Eric Clapton. Hunt down the remastered "Wheels Of Fire" CD (that's Cream), and slap on their version of "Crossroads." Then, if that doesn't sizzle your synapses, hunt down his later version of "Further On Up The Road" from his awful live album, "Just One Night." He's already, by that time, crocked up on bad drugs and lost his youthful talent, but that one cut is near as he ever gets to the real evil of the bluesmen he was stealing from when he was younger (I mean, Robert Johnson, et al).

Two cuts, the best of Clapton ever.

Clapton today is case of reputation preceeding actual talent. He's boring. I would encourage you to go back, go back, and find some old blues stuff, a complilation of great blues from the 40s, 50s and 60s, and you will quickly see that Clapton pales, even in relation to the other English guitarists of his ilk, Page and Beck, even. They are just more interesting to listen to.

Better yet, grab up the new remaster of The Allman Brothers' "Live At The Fillmore East," and let Duane Allman and Dickey Betts (and a smoking hot blues band) smother you in evil, devilish blues.

Clapton... Feh. :mad:

MC

Larry Chanin · July 2005

Hi Micah,

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.;)

I guess you're not too happy with Eric's remake of Layla? I have to admit everytime I hear the remake I start to wonder.

Nevertheless, not being as critical a listener I still can enjoy Eric and his friends in live concerts.

Larry

Micah Cohen · July 2005

not being as critical a listener

Why not be more critical? I mean, why settle for crap? Why not seek out better stuff? Why not look beyond the BS, the media hype, the rep, and find the stuff that really stands up.

How can you not be bored by Clapton? He has been putting Boomers to sleep since that early 70s "Further On..." moment. And people just buy right into it.

There's nothing there, man. It's empty and boring.

And all you really need to do to see this is listen to Cream's "Crossroads." Bingo! Amazing! Superb! All cylinders firing! Evil! What has he done since that comes even close to that? Nothing at all.

I'm telling you, check out The Allman's "Fillmore East" stuff.

Otherwise, you risk being bored to death by crap.

Don't give in, man. Don't give in!

MC

george daniel · July 2005

If you can find it ,obtain the video "Eric Clapton, 24 Nights", its got a little bit of everything,,BTW,, Ihave a copy of the British Import, Blind Faith,,totally different album cover,, I'm not sure if I am allowed to post it,(naked girl on cover, would be glad to send offline for anyone interested) Clapton is God!!

audiobliss · July 2005

Ok, Micah...I usually don't get involved on stuff on here.....but you've lit me up.....:p

First off, I know I asked for your opinions and your advice on Eric Clapton. However, as you can easily see, I and many others who have posted in this thread are completely enveloped within the music of Eric Clapton. Considering this atmosphere that has been set-up, I feel that your post is totally out of place. Sure you can disagree; you have every right to. And, yes, you can even state that opinion (though it's wrong...:p); however, the manner in which you did so stands out very much in this thread and not only in content.

Next, you dare to insult quite a few by saying that that which we love 'doesn't hold up', is 'stolen from other artists', and 'boring'.

Music is very much like audio equipment in that it is all preference. Because of that, you (unfortunately) are not wrong in your belief; however, neither am I. I let my ears and my heart (as emotions, I believe, do play apart in music) tell me what's good. For you to tell me that what I hear and what my heart says is wonderful, is actually crap is totally out of place, IMO.

Can you name me one artist who hasn't/didn't borrow from the other artists of his time or that he admired? (And you may possibly be able to. However, you get my point.) If artists never borrowed from their fellow musicians and built upon their accomplishments, we'd get no where (and have waaaaay too many genres...:p).

It's boring?! Again, it's personal preference. My ears and heart tell me it's exciting, it's stimulating, it's 'Wonderful Tonight'. Nothing you can say can change my mind. It's not about specs, numbers, popularity, others' opinions; it's about what I (the listener) hear. That's why I created this thread. I was overwhelmed by Eric Clapton and wanted to express my awe and get some advice on some good albums I should get (and, thank you to those who have contributed, I have received much such advice).

You're main premise just doesn't stand up. You say all these other groups/artists are 'more interesting to listen to'. That's all personal preference. (Yeah, I know I've harped on that a lot; it's the whole foundation here, though.)

Also, all the songs that you recommend from Clapton's career as actually being worth something (Blues), I've already said I don't like. So, I'll now know not to get anything with those songs on it.

Someone here (I forgot who) recommended 'Derek & The Dominoes' and you go on and on about how horrible it is. Again, you can disagree and you can state that. However, we are all friends here; it's not at all, IMO, appropriate to rashly and vehemently disagree in a way that very directly says "You don't have any musical taste!"

I hope that didn't come off too strong, but you kinda lit my fire.

Peace.
audiobliss

Eric Clapton

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