Eric Clapton

You're excited and stimulated by... "Wonderful Tonight"? I hope you stay in the right lane when you're driving home, because I'm listening to The Allmans jamming hard thru "Stateboro Blues," and that's so ****-kicking exciting that I'm FLYING down the left lane playing air guitar on my steering wheel. You're probably asleep in the right lane listening to newish Clapton. I hope I don't wake you.

Look, I'm just throwing stink bombs here on my old forum. So, don't take it personally of course. And don't think I didn't go thru a time when Clapton was god to me, too! I mean, who didn't learn to play air guitar to that dreadful long "Cocaine" on rock radio in the early 80s? But, have you heard it lately? It just doesn't stand the test of time, in my opinion. It's boring. Really, really boring. It's not inventive and it's not interesting.

And I'm not saying that stealing is bad. Every musician steals. I think Jimmy Page -- I mean in his heyday, when he wasn't old and hollow, as he is now -- is far more exciting and talented and innovative than Clapton (than even boring old Hendrix!), and Page stole every lick he ever played! The diff is that Page made it exciting and fun, and so his playing stands up, even stands with the playing of the great blues men he stole from! Clapton's falls flat.

It's great that you're discovering Clapton. What a rich and wonderful musical career he's had. You've obviously touched on the high- and low-lights, and I look forward to when you move on. You will have so much more fun!

FUN. It's about fun. Clapton today just seems so... Serious. So boomer serious. It's boring. There's nothing fun about him, none of the sleighride excitement of that amazing hell bent for leather guitar solo in "Crossroads," or the emotional depth and true anger of his show closing "Further On Up The Road." Man, that stuff is FUN!

"Wonderful Tonight" is a nice love song to play at your wedding. Your mom will like it. But it's no fun.

And that's Duane Allman doing all that cool stuff on "Layla." Which is boring anyway compared to what Duane does on "Fillmore East." I mean, Duane Allman is an amazing, amazing, exciting, awesomely talented guitar player. But you've missed him because you're buying the hype about Clapton.

And that's all I'm saying. One exposure to better stuff and you'll see. I know you will. I have faith.

MC

Clapton is still God. Micah, get a haircut, might help your hearing.

Come on movies, sure - but good music?

Micah wouldn't know good music if it fell out of the sky and clobbered him.

XOXOXO,
Russ

Now you have done it. have/did you ever see Hendrix or Clapton perform live?, I grew up with Duane and crew,listened to them when their band was called the A J's if you know what that means. T.I's guitar abilities are very good, however I have progressed from listening to groups that remind me of a Giant Phrehistoric Eggplant trying to learn how to walk. I do not disrespect you for the groups/guitarist's that you prefer, however give credit where its due, the times that I have seen Clapton and Hendrix are forever etched into my brain, they have a way of musically taking you to a different realm,, different smells, almost a different "plane of existence" music is just a different form of communication/expression, if you are ever in the atlanta area,please look me up, I have some vintage Clapton and Hendrix (cd/vhs/laser/dvd) that might interest you,and I can assure you,it ain'f***ing boring. Not to mention my collection of british import vinyl, Shine on--respectfully--Sedan Delivery

Dude, you blew your whole argument when you claimed Sabbath was fresher than Clapton and that Hendrix wrote bad songs!

you blew your whole argument when you claimed Sabbath was fresher than Clapton...

Hello? No I didn't. Sabbath does sound FRESHER and more exciting than anything Clapton's done in ages. (Well, since that live "Crossroads." 1968.) It does. It's faster, hotter, more innovative and a lot more fun.

See, you are not thinking this thru. You think, "Oh, Black Sabbath, lumbering dinosaur of heavy metal..." and you stop there. But that's because you have not listened to Black Sabbath since the last time you heard the overplayed "Iron Man" on the radio. (Stop listening to adult rock radio!) Fact is, Sabbath is fast and hard and fun and exciting!

You're thinking "reputation" instead of "reality."

And the proof that Hendrix was no song writer comes when you listen to Hendrix do cover songs, like "Red House." Holy smokes, he's amazing! But the song is great, and he didn't write it. His stuff is boring and poorly written. Not poorly played, says I, just poorly written. He was not a good song writer. He tried, but he failed consistently. And that's why his own music is sort of boring. But when Hendrix covered other, more well-written songs, he shines.

Also, Clapton is GREAT at junking up collaborations with wimpy, boring guitar playing. It's like he's trying to hide in the crowd. (Mark Knopfler is a better, more exciting guitar player than Clapton is now; if I were Clapton, I'd want to stand over by Knopfler and make it look like we were playing "together," too!) Some of the worst, most boring and outright bad Clapton playing can be found on Roger Waters' first awful solo album, "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking." Having Clapton try to take the place of Gilmour as the electric guitar voice of his pained music was a MISERABLE failure. That's because Gilmour is (was) a far more expressive guitar player.

Don't forget, these are just my opinions. But they're correct.

MC

I'm not answering my telephone, and I've baricaded myself in the basement.

Don't touch that trip-wire, either, or we're both in big trouble.

MC

Micah, You certainly are entitled to your opinion but I have to tell you that it [your opinion] doesn't carry much weight when you or anyone else for that matter compares Black Sabbath to Clapton or Hendrix! I might remind you that Hendrix recording career only lasted about three years and his best may not have been attained by the time he died.

As far as Clapton goes I will admit that he had a couple of times during his very long career that he seemed to be sleepwalking through some performances but he is unquestionably one of the best guitar players of his generation and that's saying something!

How anyone could listen to Black Sabbath play nothing but power chords and have to suffer through Ozzie's slobbering vocals and then claim they are fresh is beyond me!

FRESH...how can Ozzie be considered fresh when he's been dead for the last twenty years!

btw..how can you be right when I'm never wrong? lol

SRV's rendition of "Little Wing" is probably the best cover ever done,IMO. You have got to hear on some SDAs, it's "Wonderful Any Night".;)

Micah, I'm as big a fan of SRV as most but if it weren't for Hendrix there wouldn't have been a SRV! Listen to Stevie and sometimes you would swear that you are listening to Hendrix..the reason being that Stevie copped most of Hendrix licks! Also when Hendrix released "Are You Experienced" it started a boom in Fender Strat sales that is still going strong today! While SRV has influenced many he didn't have anywhere near the impact that Hendrix had. Before Hendrix the only people playing Strats were country players, after "Are You Experienced" every guitar player in the world wanted to own a Strat! And I don't think that SRV's commercial success was as good as Hendrix either and he was here for a much shorter time. As far as Stevie being more fun to listen that's a tough call but I think you should go put on a copy of "Are You Experienced" and then decide if the song writing is bad and when you are finished and you haven't had any fun...well then I guess you just don't like Hendrix!

Oh btw..there isn't anything wrong with heavy metal as a matter of fact the term was first coined by a British music writer...after hearing Hendrix he wrote that his music sounded like "heavy metal falling from the sky".

but if it weren't for Hendrix there wouldn't have been a SRV

I dig that, man. I agree. I know the whole historical thing you're laying down. And I believe it. But it doesn't mean that Hendrix was a good songwriter. He wasn't. I think he'd even admit that.

Maybe it just comes down to what moves you, and I'm fascinated by people who are moved by things that strike me as boring.

Simple as that.

I'm fascinated that people still listen to stuff that is boring. The Rolling Stones are about to tour again. The "You Thought We Were Dead But We're Still Making Payments On Our Swiss Ski Chalet Tour." Or, maybe it's the "You're Sucker Enough To Pay That McCartney Bloke $200US A Pop To Bore You, So We Thought We'd Have A Go At It Again Tour." Or, whatever. Are you going to pay $100+ or so to hear the Rolling Stones on tape with 20,000 of your closest boomer friends? I'm fascinated that this stuff is still relevant, and still any fun.

Plus, I just love stirring it up here on my old forum.

If I can one soft mind to avoid buying "AXIS Bold As Love" and instead pop on Deep Purple's "Made In Japan," I will feel like I have done a good deed.

MC

Originally posted by Micah Cohen
Come on. Compared to the original, Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff" has about as much soul as I do.

And I have no soul.

It's a prime example of Clapton at his most boring, most white-bread, most exhausted.

Just listen to the original again, and you'll be like, "Eric, who?"

I'm TELLING you!

MC

I never said it was better than Marley's version. I'm a rastaman at heart.:D

Originally posted by Micah Cohen
Then it can't be one of your "top five covers." It just can't.

Too much else to chose from.

I'm disappointed in you, mon.

MC

It's hard to think about them all, write up a car deal, appraise a car and type at the same time. Not all covers are better than the original, BTW, but that doesn't mean they don't hold water.

I was in the middle of thinking about the covers, when two salespeople came to me to work deals. I haven't had to work two deals at a time in months.

Originally posted by Roy Munson
Well Micah, you and I are in agreement when it comes to the Stones, they should have quit touring long ago and they are in danger of becoming a caricature of themselves which for some has the effect of diminishing what was a great band! What motivates people to spend the big bucks to go see McCartney or the Stones is nostalgia and reliving the past. With age this will becomes more apparent.

+infinity

They should have stopped touring after the Steel Wheels tour.