Question for all Clapton aficianados

[fbloke]

Hello.

I've just started listening to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers Live at the BBC, some of which was recorded in 1965.  Clapton is on it playing nice but quite polite solos.  What the hell happened between this time and the recording of the "Beano" album?  It's like two different players!  In the space of a year or less he turned into this monster, not just in terms of the Les Paul / Marshall tone (which helps), but the phrasing, the aggression, the vocal quality of the solos just explode.  Was this after he went to Greece?  After he went to his mates house to live and woodshed for 6 months?  I've read the biography but can't remember what was going on in his life for him to make such a leap in his playing.  It's startling.

Cheers,

Mike.

[Tellboy]

What I find even more startling is how quickly he reverted back to his 'nice but quite polite solos' which he has stuck with to the present day.
It must be hard for anybody listening to Clapton today imagining that from 1966-1969 he was a completly different player - he had great tone and phrasing, aggression - at that time I prefered his playing to Hendrix. By the time he started playing with Delaney & Bonnie it all seemed to have gone.
As I've said in another thread, I think Joe Bonamassa has taken Clapton's 1966-69 sound/style and developed/improved it.

[bewithdennis]

Im going shock you all now but i personally find Joe Bonamassa shockingly boring! i recently heard Derek Trucks the other day and was very impressed,,back to clapton though, you are right by the very early 70s all the fire had gone... even on "I aint got you" by the yardbirds.that short solo is fantastic..

[Ian Price]

The difference in Clapton is massive. This is very obvious when you compare footage of 1960s Cream with the reunion concerts at Albert Hall. Polite playing galore on the reunion. So polite in fact that I got bored after 10 minutes of watching.

[hunter]

Talking about Joe & Eric ... Royal Albert Hall recently:

[PPPMAT]

Couldn't agree more with all the above - Clapton is my single biggest influence *but* I'm talking Clapton 66-69 nothing else.

I think the difference is the aggression and fight. You can hear it well on the bluesbreakers album and on the cream recordings where to be fair he needed to do something to keep up with 2 players that were arguably better than him in their respective fields. I think Bruce and Baker wore him out creatively. You listen today and all the technique is still there but none of the REAL passion.

Also, I think Simon MCbride is better than Bonamassa (different style but in terms of feel that guy can play)

[bewithdennis]

sorry guys i know its not the same but heres my band playing "all your love"
its only an exceprt but you get the idea.



http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=45373414

[Plexi Ken]

Talking about Joe & Eric ... Royal Albert Hall recently:

The older Clapton gets, the more he looks like Ronnie Corbett  :lol:

[fbloke]

I think Bruce and Baker wore him out creatively. You listen today and all the technique is still there but none of the REAL passion.

I completely agree, the 20 minute versions of Spoonful just ran him dry of ideas and fire.  However, his very best solo ever is a live, concise one with Cream which shows what may have been possible if he had more time to recover before forming Blind Faith -  Politician from Goodbye.  A perfect guitar solo in every way, it's just builds and builds and is incredibly melodic and free of cliches.  Not fiery like the Bluesbreakers era, but every bit as good. 

[indysmith]

The older Clapton gets, the more he looks like Ronnie Corbett  :lol:

ROFL never noticed before, but in that picture I see where you're coming from!

[TheIronBeast]

I still llove Clapton's style of playing. He has been a big influence on my guitar playing for sure, although he was certainly at his best from the mid to late 60's.

This is still one of the greatest jams that I have seen in recent years though, absolutely brilliant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtmebR-vqNQ&feature=channel_page

I would have given an arm and a leg to see that live!

[CaptainDesslock]

I still llove Clapton's style of playing. He has been a big influence on my guitar playing for sure, although he was certainly at his best from the mid to late 60's.

This is still one of the greatest jams that I have seen in recent years though, absolutely brilliant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtmebR-vqNQ&feature=channel_page

I would have given an arm and a leg to see that live!

They're all very good but half-a-dozen guitarists sharing a stage is kinda silly!

[Johnny Mac]

I thinks I read somewhere that he didn't want to play with that aggression and preferred to be a balladeer. It was something that he had wanted to be from a young age and I suspect getting more chicks has something to do with it, well you can't blame him.
His playing on that Beano album is fantastic and I agree it's nothing like he is now or became. Hendrix was a big fan of his. That album inspired a lot of players, including a certain Mr Van Halen so it has to be one of the most important  albums of the sixtys. We all take it for granted now but can you imagine being into the guitar in those days and then hearing that album for the first time?
I think Joe Bonamassa sounds more like this live than in the studio but my exposure to his music is still pretty limited but the playing on that song he played on Jools Holland a few weeks ago was pie hot.

[fbloke]

I thinks I read somewhere that he didn't want to play with that aggression and preferred to be a balladeer. It was something that he had wanted to be from a young age and I suspect getting more chicks has something to do with it, well you can't blame him.
His playing on that Beano album is fantastic and I agree it's nothing like he is now or became. Hendrix was a big fan of his. That album inspired a lot of players, including a certain Mr Van Halen so it has to be one of the most important  albums of the sixtys. We all take it for granted now but can you imagine being into the guitar in those days and then hearing that album for the first time?
I think Joe Bonamassa sounds more like this live than in the studio but my exposure to his music is still pretty limited but the playing on that song he played on Jools Holland a few weeks ago was pie hot.

Not only do I agree with everything you say Johnny, I think the phrase "pie hot" may be my new favourite thing in the whole wide world. 

[Philly Q]

I pretty much agree with what everyone's said.  I've always been disappointed and a little baffled by the way Clapton lost the fire he had in the late '60s.  I keep hoping he'll get it back, but having said that, I wonder if it's really fair to criticise - he's moved on and apparently doesn't relate to that time of his life any more, so he shouldn't try to be more "rawk" just because (part of) his audience would like him to.  Maybe his whole solo career has been a (40 years long!) reaction to the intense, competitive atmosphere of Cream.

Then again, in some ways, I've always admired him for ageing gracefully, so he can still play music in his sixties without looking like a silly old fool desperately trying to cling on to his youth.  He's become more middle-of-the-road, but he's also matured into a real band leader and a fine singer.   

By pure coincidence, I've just bought Just One Night, because I wanted to hear some Clapton from the time he was still playing Blackie.  It has to be said, a lot of it is pretty bland, despite being a live album.  But there's some good stuff on there too!