[ Closed ] Eric Czar on Youtube (Page 2 of 2)

Deezer, I appreciate your views differ from mine, and should anyone have an appetite for it, I am happy to display my views on a Clapton opinion type thread in the future, as I'm aware we are off topic. I will elaborate though on my thoughts.

First point I’d like to address through is about Peter Green, much of the work that he did even with Fleetwood Mac was not strictly blues. While the first two albums were superb blues rock which had has been highly influential and covered by artists as diverse as Santana, Aerosmith and Gary Moore, his latter work covered a far greater range. Albatross was a superb instrumental which impressed even classical music fans. Need Your Love So Bad was blues with string before BB King recorded The Thrill Has Gone. While Clapton was recording Layla, Green was recording Oh Well, both of which go beyond blues rock. Whilst Layla features nice piano and slide, Oh Well part two is classical acoustic guitar.  Green was recording tracks as mournful as Tears In Heaven back in 1969 with Man Of The World. Green Manalishi was prototype heavy metal. Peter Green’s solo career was blighted by mental illness, yet he still managed to dabble with African and Asian influences, Clapton simply went for a pop rock angle which while more successful, was not particularly distinctive. Wasn't it BB King himself who told Clapton and George Harrison that Peter Green was a better player?

My own view is that whilst his work with Yardbirds, Mayall and Cream in particular was influential and I love most of it, there's little merit to be found in Clapton's solo career which has not been innovative to my ears (maybe he works best with a Mayall or Bruce along side).  I suspect Clapton’s solo career has been a disappointment to even him.  Take a look at the setlist he plays these days, full of blues standards, if he wrote so many timeless songs, why doesn't he play them?

I personally find even Clapton’s blues covers to be disappointing. When he has gone back to the blues he has chosen the well trodden blues standards that you can find on any blues compilation, Hoochie Coochie Man, Reconsider Baby, Five Long Years, Double Trouble.  While back in Cream he recording bang up to date versions of songs such as Crossroads and Spoonful, his recent version of Travelling Riverside Blues from his Robert Johnson album (a well covered artist if there ever was one) takes it forward no further than Muddy Water’s Louisiana Blues.  As Joe himself has said, the covers you record help define you as an artist, Clapton however has chosen to record blues covers easily found elsewhere. Compare that to say Rory Gallagher and you will see a difference, Gallagher was prepared to find obscure tracks by the likes of Blind Boy Fuller, Bo Carter and Tony Joe White and put his own style on them, he would also play celtic and country tunes, even jazz.  Much in the same way a casual blues rock fan may only listen to Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Clapton has not studied hard when it comes to the blues.  My closing statement would probably be that I’d urge those of you who listen regularly to artists such as Clapton and Vaughan to expand your listening tastes to less heralded guys like Green, Gallagher, Kossoff, Beck etc, Joe has and the benefit can be heard in his music.  Happy New Year!

We were talking about influence, not how diverse someone is. As you said, how many bands today say, today we're going to play a Peter Green song? Green can record whatever he wanted to, but the point of the matter is, these "bands" are probably going to play two songs: "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman," and one of them they're probably going to think is by Santana. I love Peter Green quite a bit, but come on, if we're talking influence over the electric guitar, over music in general, it's not even a question. And I believe it is really overgeneralizing to say Clapton just went the pop angle. That's just utter bullcrap. I'm sorry, but how are songs like Let It Grow and Lay Down Sally and Promises pop? Heck, two of them are old-school country!

And I will say that most of your points about Clapton doing blues covers reference two albums: From The Cradle and Me & Mr. Johnson. Two albums where he said explicitly he wanted to pay tribute.

Clapton hasn't studied the blues very hard? My "friend," you know nothing about Eric Clapton. Clapton has forgotten more about the blues than most of us here will ever know. I disagree vehemently with everything you say about Clapton. There is a distinct reason why he's Eric Clapton, and we're sitting here talking about Eric Clapton. In the end, let the haters hate, because he's still THE Eric Clapton, the most influential guitar player right there with Hendrix, Page, Vaughan, Beck, and Van Halen.