Clapton is...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Poll question: Clapton is...

[MorningGlow]

1. Other: Good, and has fans that can't spell n/t

[Tikki]

2. Somewhat over-rated.....

Tikki

[Bake]

14. You obviously are not a guitar player.

Clapton is a player's player.

:hi:

Bake

[Tikki]

19. I play a '75 MusicMaker bass..

His work is not my style..He has what he does down pat and I mean pat.


Tikki

[some guy]

3. God

but Jeff plays better. :)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. Did you happen to read the recent Rolling Stone interview with both of them?

...it was largely a mutual admiration society, both being very humble and respectful of the other guy's accomplishments and talents, with the acknowledgment that Clapton had the hit records and Beck didn't (except for maybe "Cause We've Ended As Lovers," which got FM airplay but really wasn't a "hit single," and his cover of "People Get Ready" with Rod Stewart).

I grew up with ALL the Clapton stuff...I started with Cream and back-tracked to the Yardbirds and Mayall stuff, which I thought was probably groundbreaking at the time (American blues played on a Les Paul blasted through Marshall amps) but in many ways sounds tame to me now.

In 2011, though, on the basis of the way each musician is playing right now, I've gotta give it to Beck. Like Jimi, he crossed over into the realm where he made the guitar do things a guitar normally doesn't do. Clapton's never done that. He's done a guitar god tenure jamming in traditional song structures.

[Bennyboy]

7. Eric never lost the handle.....

he knew where it was going all the time. Other great guitarist stepped oustide and explored the possibilities of the instrument.

[some guy]

12. Nope,

I never read Rolling Stone.

I was aware of Clapton before I was aware of Beck. And I like Clapton quite a bit, though I haven't really paid attention to him in years.

On the other hand, I'm always looking for new JB stuff.

I read some interview with JB once where he talked about "better than" and he said everybody plays differently, so it's really all just a question of personal preference. I agree with that; there are several different levels of ability, but at each level there are numerous players, so it's always just a question of preferences.


Myself, it just amuses me to think of Jeff playing "better than God", so that's why I answer these question as I do.

:hi:

[Kat45]

20. I read the interview and I enjoyed it.

I pretty much agree with what you're saying here. That was also my experience with Clapton, and I agree with your assessment of what they are both playing right now. Though I will add that Clapton's guitar has the ability to get into my heart and soul, and because of that he holds a special place in my heart. I haven't liked much that he put out on record since Derek & the Dominoes, with the possible exception of some blues and live recordings. And that man still can play some amazing blues.

But Jeff has no limits: he goes wherever he wants to go with his guitar. I'm not necessarily into all the styles of music he plays, but he plays it all in such amazing ways. I've seen him live about 5 times, including the past 3 times he was in town, and he is just too amazing. At his concert last summer, I found his guitar mesmerizing. (And I had the good luck to be walking by the venue earlier in the evening while he was doing his soundcheck; it was so cool hearing Jeff play as I was walking down the street!) I have tickets to his Les Paul tribute show next month, which I'm looking forward to.

[pacalo]

4. Very good in his younger days. "Let It Rain" is my favorite.

The original "Layla" was awesome.

[Redstone]

6. Boring.

Redstone

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. I'll never forget a review I once read of his album "Backless"...

...two reviews, actually.

One was a simple one word review..."Lifeless" (maybe the inspiration for the "Shark Sandwich" review in "This Is Spinal Tap?")

:rofl:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tWm-tESq5HE/R-1mNZC8s0I/AAAAAAAAA0E/xBk5tNUkYgc/s320/Eric+Clapton+-+Backless+-+Front.jpg

The other said something like "Hey! Eric! Someone snuck a tape recorder under your bed while you were sleeping...and they've released the tapes!"

:-)

[mix]

9. ...is into cars.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. Not as much as Beck, though...

...Clapton drives them. Beck rebuilds them. He had a L-O-N-G hiatus in his solo career where he did nothing except work on cars.

[here_is_to_hope]

11. wishing he was Page....

Clapton is a good player but always in a box.
Page doesn't know what a box is.
Beck, I liked Freeway Jam but that was about it.

[Bake]

13. To the Clapton-dissers, a pox on your houses.

But you can't help it, I suppose. It's not your fault that you're wrong. Or tone deaf. Or have no taste.

Beck's a great player, no doubt. Page is competent, but that's about it (and I am a huuuuuge Zep fan, so I say that with all due respect).

The Trinity of Guitar Gods: Hendrix. Clapton. SRV.

That's it.

Bake

[JitterbugPerfume]

15. Hendrix, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn

enough said , Bake

[jobycom]

17. And thus ends the discussion.

Or should.

[here_is_to_hope]

21. Music by dead guys...

"Um, I only know the first, fourth and fifth, what do you have there?"
Page competent?

Where is Claptons Kashmir?
SRV? Lols, he only knew three chords!

[MilesColtrane]

16. Other:...so very tired of his hyperbolic fans.

[old mark]

18. Other- this guy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oei5PTADpPM

Live and unplugged in Tokyo, 2009...playing Bill Broonzey's "Key to the Highway"...He's very good, and very knowledgable about a lost - some would say discarded - American art form...the blues.

mark

[mopinko]

24. me and mr johnson, and riding with the king are great

records. i was not a big clapton fan for most of his career, but the blues stuff he does these days is most excellent.

[cbdo2007]

22. All I want to say, is that his guitar work on Cream's Crossroads is....

easily one of the best guitar performances ever recorded.

[Throd]

23. Mayonaisse on Wonder bread

I like his early stuff from the 60's. From the 70's onward his work became increasingly flaccid.

I just never got a "wow" moment from him.