I have been wrong about Eric Clapton

[gwEm]

Or maybe Jimi himself was very good at telling people what he thought they wanted to hear.

I like that idea :)

[Johnny Mac]

That's all well and good, but i never said he didn't dress flamboyant at one point in his career. i think you're missing the point of our debate. My point is that he is not remembered for his life back in the day and that everyone looks at him as the dull person he became later on in his career.

As i said Cream was only about 2 years of his whole career. That's not enough time span to be remembered as a crazy dressing psychedelic guy. He spent the best part of his career dressing normally and playing the blues. Hendrix spent his whole career like that which is why he gets remembered the way he does (whether or not he would have changed his style later on in his career we will never know but he died before he could)

No your saying he isn't remembered for his work back in the day, not anyone else. Dull? His life and lifestyle are hardly dull mate, he owns country piles, Ferraris, exotic clothes 
guitars, private yacht, his own rehab centre and tradgically lost his only son in terrible accident. Plus beaten Heroin, Cocaine, Alcohol and fags.

Dressing normally? Well very in vogue as opposed to abnormally. Hendrix played the blues too and Clapton loves playing the blues. He wouldn't really suit much else and he has made and spent enough money to clear most 3rd world debts playing the blues so if it ain't broke don't fix it. As to comparisons to Hendrix, as much as I love his music too, they're very different. Plus everyone loves you when your dead.

[AndyR]

Not sure where I stand on this one.

Over the years when non-guitarists went on about "Clapton", my reaction was always "he's a good guitarist, but I think he's a little over-rated". In a way, I still feel that - he's far more well known and revered than other guitarists I'd much rather see play. And he's actually one of those I've seen more than once.

I love the Beano album, I absolutely adore "Just One Night", and I quite like "From the Cradle", but the other EC albums I have I just don't listen to.

I have to admit I like Cream because of Jack Bruce, not because of the guitar playing. However, when I saw EC play Badge and White Room in the Albert Hall quite a few years ago, it was stunning - but I think that's because the songs are so good. And by the way, the very best playing that night was when he finally got his rhythm guitarist (a Mr Mark Knopfler) to actually take a solo in Same Old Blues - I can't remember anything at all of EC except the songs, but I can still hear the sound of the first half of Knopfler's solo (and it must be nearly 20 years ago now...)

I think he's a good musician, a passable singer (not top drawer though) and probably a far better guitarist than I give him credit for. However, I have seen much better "singer/guitarist" performers playing in pubs over the years - it's just there's no way they were ever going to get famous or make a decent living doing it. My gut feeling is that he's "Eric Clapton" now because he was the first one who got famous doing what he does. And because of that he has an influence on all of us that play electric blues-based stuff, even if we don't think enough of his playing to acknowledge it!!

[badgermark]

Boring, old man blues played by a boring, white old man. There we go, discussion over.

[Johnny Mac]

Boring, old man blues played by a boring, white old man. There we go, discussion over.

Fool

[Philly Q]

I have to admit I like Cream because of Jack Bruce, not because of the guitar playing.

I do kind of agree with that.  I love Jack's playing and - especially - his singing.

Which isn't meant as a put-down to Clapton in any way.

[gwEm]

more than any other thread i see an older/younger generation split going off...

[Elliot]

older/younger in terms of mental ages more like  :D

I'm not sure - few of us EC proponents here are that old - I was a teenager when Guns and Roses where at their height, not when the Beano album came out, so its not like I'm of the Clapton is God generation. 

[gwEm]

older/younger in terms of mental ages more like  :D

I'm not sure - few of us EC proponents here are that old - I was a teenager when Guns and Roses where at their height, not when the Beano album came out, so its not like I'm of the Clapton is God generation. 

as a result of this thread i've checked out alot of his later solo stuff, some of it is really well crafted and much better than i remembered. but he'll never have me as a hardened fan with that sound. it hardly counts as his solo period, but layla is particularly notable, though i strongly dislike the chilled out bit at the end.

this live version is really good: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D2sfelvHAlU his grin at the start of the video seems to be really from the heart, and his solo is very measured and musical.

[Crazy_Joe]

It doesn't matter if he owns exotic clothes or has had drug addictions, fact is aside from blues guitarists and maybe a few others the rest of the population knows him as a boring blues player who looks like someones dad.

[Elliot]

'the rest of the population' is not really a good barometer of taste when it comes to music - unless you are now admitting you like Britney, Beyonce, Leona, Katy and the other plastic creations are currently in the top 10 (the Killers aside). 

[Johnny Mac]

It doesn't matter if he owns exotic clothes or has had drug addictions, fact is aside from blues guitarists and maybe a few others the rest of the population knows him as a boring blues player who looks like someones dad.

All part of the lifestyle.

The rest of your last post is ridiculous! Your seeing him now as a 63 year old. I got into his music around 1987. He was someones dad back then too albeit a 42 year old. I was 22 back then and thought his playing was great and got into the 60's/70's era of music more than than what was contemporary back then.
All I'm saying is look a bit further than the end of your nose, broaden your horizons!
EVH is a Dad,  Vai, Zakk, Jimi, Jimmy, Hendrix, this list could go on and on and on..................zzzzzzzzz

[tomjackson]

It doesn't matter if he owns exotic clothes or has had drug addictions, fact is aside from blues guitarists and maybe a few others the rest of the population knows him as a boring blues player who looks like someones dad.

Would Clapton not be probably the most popular guitarist ever with the 'rest of the population'?
I mean most people not into guitar wouldn't know much about EVH / Satriani / Paul Gilbert (or whoever), but most of the poulation would or could have a Cream or Clapton Album.  Or EC unplugged, that was massive and appealed to guitarists and non-guitarists alike of all ages. 

I've not posted to stick up for Clapton, It's just I think at least the rest of the poulation do know him and probably not for Blues.  More for unplugged etc....