Clapton is a bastard

[Rastafari]

I'm down on Clapton right now, man. Still like Jack Bruce, though :).

and I'll tell you exactly why I think Clapton is a bastard.
1.) Layla is an overhyped album with about 6 or 7 decent tracks. The rest is pointless whining between him and Bobby. The "Little Wing" cover makes me want to blow up a school.

2.)Enter 1968 Rolling Stone interview:

Interviewer: What do you think about Jimi Hendrix?

Clapton: I don't really want to be critical about it. I think Jimi
can sing very well; he just puts it around that he
can't sing and everyone accepts it. I think he can
sing very well. I don't think he's a great guitarist. I
don't like to watch him too much 'cause I prefer to
listen to him.

When he first came to England, you know English
people have a very big thing towards a spade. They
really love that magic thing, the sexual thing. They
all fall for that sort of thing. Everybody and his
brother in England still sort of think that spades have
big dicks. And Jimi came over and exploited that to
the limit, the fucking tee. Everybody fell for it. Shit.

I fell for it. After a while I began to suspect it. Having
gotten to know him, I found out that's not where he's
at, not where he's at all. That stuff he does onstage,
when he does that he's testing the audience. He'll do
a lot of things, like fool around with his tongue and
play his guitar behind his back and rub it up and
down his crotch. And he'll look at the audience, and
if they're digging it, he won't like the audience. He'll
keep on doing it, putting them on. Play less music.
If they don't dig it, then he'll play straight 'cause he
knows he has to. It's funny. I heard that here he
came on and put on all that shit in his first set and
people were just dead towards it. And in his second
set he just played, which is great.

He had the whole combination in England. It was
just what the market wanted, a psychedelic pop star
who looked freaky, and they're also still hung up
about spades and the blues thing was there. So Jimi
walked in, put on all the gear, and made it straight
away. It was a perfect formula. Underneath it all,
he's got an incredible musical talent. He is really
one of the finest musicians around on the Western
scene. If you just scrape away all the bullshit he
carries around you'll find a fantastically talented guy
and a beautiful guitar player for his age. I just can't
take it all, all the plastic things.

3.) I read in a biography that Eric Clapton was jamming somewhere in England, and Jimi had the gumption to sit down with him and strum (which nobody did, since EC was the perceived king of the Blues Guitar over there). About 20 minutes later, Clapton just got up and left, cursing and shit.


now, while a lot of this is pretty cool, some of it is just plain jealousy shining through. This was hard for me to see, too, because I own about 10 Clapton-related albums (Slowhand, 461 Ocean Boulevard, Layla and other assorted Love Songs, Fresh Cream, Live Cream I, Live Cream II, Disreali Gears, Wheels of Fire, and Goodbye.)

I am definately going on a break from him for a while, though.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I don't know about it all being jelousy, but some of those things are pretty silly.
Yeah, he makes some good points, but lot's of it crap. I wouldn't be so quick to call it jelousy, though. Who know why he said some of that stuff?

I disagree about Layla. It's an excellent album with no fillers and track after track of great talent. Some songs are better than others, sure, but no fillers.

I like his cover of Little Wing. I don't think it's nearly as good as Jimi's. I agree with you that it doesn't deserve all the attention it gets. I personaly don't see why it gets so much more praise than some of his other stuff.

I'm probably not gonna buy anything else by Clapton for a while, because I just bought abought 5 Clapton albums in the past few weeks. To buy more right now would be ridiculous considering the relatively small size of my music collection.

I don't think I'll take a break from Clapton, though. I'll certainly continue to listen to the discs I already have which are really great stuff. I think.

[Rastafari]

bezounds! gadzooks!
my thread has been hijacked!


regardless, I wasn't too impressed with him overall after this interview.

The first five tracks and Layla are really all the album has to offer. The rest is Whining.

oh well, though. To each his own. A week ago, I would have stoically defended him as much as everyone else.


just outa curiousity, what 5 albums did you buy?


oh, and to remind everybody, Toots and the Maytals (backed by The Roots and Bootsie Collins) are on SNL tonight.

[atlanticche]

now i hate him even more than i did before

[Hampton]

I knew there was a reason why liked Stevie Ray Vaughan better.

One question I ask is what's up with that perm Eric Clapton had in the 60's?

But seriously, Jimi would have been a fool not to exploit all that shit to the limit, that's what he went to England for, to get famous. And I think at the same time you can look from where Eric is coming from, he's the reighing king of blues in England, this guy comes over and blows up and all the attention goes on him and his band, he's flashy and plays with his teeth and isn't slowhand like he is.

I'm sure there was some jealously there, and the comments reflect that, I wonder what he would say about Jimmy James now, 34 years after he died. If he was alive do you think he'd do an album like he did with B.B. called Grinding with the King or something similar.

[canikickit]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 06:14 PM
my thread has been hijacked!
What are you talking about? My thread has been unhijacked!

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

If he was alive do you think he'd do an album like he did with B.B. called Grinding with the King or something similar.

:lol:
Nice!

About a month ago the only Clapton albums I had were The Best of Cream, Unplugged, Fresh Cream, Riding with the King, and Layla. I've recently bought Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire, Slowhand, 461 Ocean Boulevard, and his Rainbow Concert.

Oh, and to remind everyone, the Pensacola Jazz Fest is today and tomorow at Seville Square.

[celtopunk]

Jimi was a performer and a musician and was extremely talented at both.

Clapton is only one of those (a musician) and is overated at that.

It is fucking rock n roll Eric lighten up. He should go and do an album with Phil Collins or something (he probably already has, and don't go telling me how you like Phil Collins Victor aka RZ ). What an uptight asshole Clapton is, now I hate him more than before. The only thing worth a shit that he did was Cream and you can thank the other members just as much for that.


Yes Clapton is a bastard, now where's that picture with the dog pissing on the Clapton is God graffiti?

[canikickit]

Come on!
That interview was from 1968, 36 years ago.

Clapton has recorded lots of great, great music, that's all I care about.

I suspect he was very jealous of Jimi's success.

I like the version of Sunshine of your Love that Jimi did onn the BBC sessions CD. On Lula's show, or whatever it was. Great.

[Ortega]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 05:14 PM
oh, and to remind everybody, Toots and the Maytals (backed by The Roots and Bootsie Collins) are on SNL tonight.
Holy shit!

I'm getting this one on tape.

[canikickit]

Somebody get it on tape and then digitise it for my viewing pleasure. Please.

[Ortega]

If I knew how to digitize anything, I would. I'll try to figure it out, I think I might have VHS-to-DVD transfer equipment somewhere.

[Hate Is Art]

Clapton is very over rated!

anything he did post cream was awful, his cream stuff is just about bearable, AND HE IS A RACIST!

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I can agree that all the "Clapton is god" stuff is too much. He really isn't that much better than his counter parts. Perhaps if this was the popular view of Clapton you'd be right in saying he's over rated, but it isn't. Most people do not think he is god.

Even his less appreciated stuff like 461 Ocean Boulervard has very amazing guitar.

The fact that you think Layla, Cocaine, and Tears in Heaven are awful songs has just caused me to loose any respect I ever had for anything you ever said.

[Rastafari]

Tears in Heaven is an awful song.

All of Slowhand is great, though.

And Cream rocks.




Sorry Cani, I'm not hip to putting it on tape.

They did Pressure Drop and (with Boots and the Roots) Funky Kingston.
SNL has a legendarilly bad sound system, but they were pretty cool.

[Hate Is Art]

Tears in heave in AWFUL!!!!!

probs his worst song!

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Ok, maybe it isn't among his best work. The guitar certainly isn't the most inspired thing in the world.


Tears in heave in AWFUL!!!!!

probs his worst song!

Have you ever heard anything by Eric Clapton, because I'm starting to think you haven't.

Tears in Heaven won a grammy, by the way.
Lot's of critics would probably say that it's his best work.

Not that that's much indication, but to say it's his worst suggests that you probably haven't heard many of his songs. :unsure:

[Rastafari]

he's taken the song out of his concert lineup, by the way, because it doesn't mean as much to him anymore.

[Hate Is Art]

I have heard lot's of Cream's stuff and a bit of Clapton's solo work.

I just find it totaly un-inspiring and boring. Sunshine of you Love is ok, nothing special. Crossroads is his best song IMO, nice kinda blues thing going on their, bit repetitive though.

And tears in heaven, jeez it's boring and so soppy, anything after cream he did was a load of crap.

Cream were alright though. Good Drummer.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

:huh:
His music is unispired and boring?

I Feel Fine, n.s.u., Politician, Tales of Brave Ulysees...
all of these merely bareable?

Layla is an awaful song?
Cocaine is an awful song?
Boring???!!

Wonderful Tonight, Badge, Bell Bottom Blues, I Shot the Sheriff.....
all a load of crap??

Give you albums another listen, man.
Clapton is a great guitarist, pay attention to the guitar stuff. It may not really capture you at first, but give it a chance. It's amazing shit, you dig?

[Hate Is Art]

I forgot about cocaine! Probs my fav song by him actually.

I feel fine, haven't heard it, probs just a shit beatles cover. It seems impossible to cover beatles songs and make them any better than the near perfection they reached with them.

Layla, average song, "you got on my knees layla, yadda, yadda, yadda" *YAWN*

I shot the sheriff, another cover, another atrocity.

and main reason for detesting Clappers, is he's a racist!

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

I Feel Fine by Cream is an absolutely different song than I Feel Fine by the Beatles.
It's really damn good too.

I Shot the Sheriff I think is also really good, and so is Layla.
The guitar riff in that song is fucking briliant!

And if you found out that whatever band you liked was racist, you'd still like their music, wouldn't you?

What he thinks of immigrants who come into the UK has nothing to do with his guitar-playing and songwritting skills.

Obviously I don't admire the man as a political thinker, but as a musician.

Do you rate all musicians on their political affiliations?

[7189]

What a stupid wanker!

Jimi Hendrix is the king!

How dare he insult him!

Stupid git.

[Hate Is Art]

I wouldn't buy any of their CD's!

The Layla riff while being famous isn't that great, I could name 10 riff's far superior in quality and musical technique than it.

Fair enough about I Feel Fine, I haven't heard that song so I wouldn't know.
I Shot . . . while being an OK song, is nothing to Bob's version.

I'm not saying that Clappers isn't a good guitarist, cos he is, i just don't buy into whole wanky classic rock guitar music.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

:unsure:
So none of the guitar riffs you think are superior to Clapton's Layla happen to be Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Randy Rhoads, Steve Howe, Peter Green, Frank Zappa, Keith Richards, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Steve Morse, Angus Young, Robin Trower, George Harrison, Pete Townshend or any of the classic rock legends?

You don't like the Experience, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, the Mothers, the Beatles, the Who, the Allman Brothers, Van Halen, Santana, the Stones, AC/DC? How can you say you dislike such a vast genre that covers so many different styles and bands?

[Rastafari]

bu-bu-bu-b-bum-bum
I feel free.



How can somebody listen to any of their live tunes "esp. their live versions of "Toad," "I'm So Glad," and "Sitting on Top of the World," and deny them there place of greatness?

I think what we have here is a sequestered point of view, but its cool I guess.


Cream is my 2nd favorite rock band, right after Hendrix and the boys