Eric Clapton - When You're On A Roll

I basically agree with you here, & have said much the same in another thread a couple of years ago. Having said that, he, more than anyone, was responsible for introducing distortion into guitar playing in the early half of the 60’s & introducing it into the mainstream.

As far as electric blues playing is concerned there are some that now come close but none that have bettered him, as well as none who have sustained it for the best part of 60 years. His phrasing, for me, says so much more than any other big name players for most of the time.

I think the thing that puts him above all others is, as you have alluded to, his ability to arrange others very ordinary material into songs that people want to listen to. On ‘Unplugged’ he turned a load of blues standards that no one cared much for into songs that sold over 20 million copies of the album.

In the mid to late 90’s, big charity concerts became common & EC seemed to turn up as a guest player in various bands, blending in instantly & effortlessly, regardless of the musically style, with little to no effort.

He played rhythm guitar in Dire Straits at Wembley Stadium & they sounded just like Dire Straits. Yet when he appeared in a similar gig in an all star band with all famous guest musicians, including Mark Knopfler, he again played everything effortlessly whereas MK (who I think is a wonderful guitarist & possibly a better technician than EC) looked very uncomfortable with material he was obviously unfamiliar with & was keen to remain in the background, doing very little.

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You’re entitled to your view & I respect this, especially if electric rock/blues guitar is not your thing.

However, I do feel that EC’s huge reputation has been earned over nearly 60 years & is fully deserved. I am referring purely to his abilities as a guitarist & not any personnel views he has expressed in the past. In interviews I have seen with him in neither a drugged or alcoholic state, he comes across as a person with a fairly good brain, capable of expressing his thoughts (whether you agree with them or not) in a cohesive manor. You may, of course, find them boring!

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And that was just the rehearsal!

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You make an excellent point regarding EC’s ability to play with practically anybody and dovetail perfectly into any performance. Over the years his appearances with fellow performers have been a joy, as he seems to know exactly what and when to play and does not revert to overt showboating.

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:scream:

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Great footage that I have on vhs , however I’m lucky to have the audio on cd


My most played EC bootleg.

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There were players I preferred, way back when, but credit to the Eric of Bluesbreakers days, when he really wakened us up to the sound of a flat-out Les Paul into an overdriven Marshall amp.

That sound was unique at the time, and has subsequently been seized upon by blues rock guitarists, ever since.

A well considered post, @Canaryfan, and which sums up the man perfectly.

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Sorry for the late reply it was Mrs Pete’s birthday yesterday and we all know the consequences of lack of attention. :grin:

I never said that he wasn’t a great guitarist, he obviously is. I just think he’s overrated as a solo artist and a miserable soul. But hay it’s only my opinion and I’d fight for your right to disagree.

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He also does a lot of (un noticed) support work, small charity gigs etc. In our neck of the woods he also goes to AA meetings. At the end of a small AA meeting not long ago he was with an AA friend of mine helping to wash up the cups and plates at the end of the evening after everyone else had left.

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His autobiography of about 8/10 years ago (?) mentions that on New Years Eve he always attends the village festivities where he lives & performs with the local musicians who have provided the music for the evening, so your comments would reinforce the truth of this.

Along with the millions he has donated to his Crossroads drug rehabilitation center, a picture of a rather different character to the one championed by his detractors begins to emerge. Like most of us, there is more than one side to him & his happy family life this century has shown him in a pretty good light for most of it.

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His awful racist rant on stage, and then his recent Covid denial unmask his less savoury side for me…

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Despite him being my all time musical hero I would not wish to defend him at any cost.

However, I presume the racist rant you refer to was the one back in the 1970’s when he was clearly under the influence of drink/drugs or both.

The covid comments have since been partially retracted &, I believe, were made after a particularly bad reaction to the vaccine which nearly killed him.

Whilst not intending to entirely exonerate him from the remarks, I do think they need considering in context.

The only thing I can’t forgive EC for is his support of…West Bromwich Albion.

Only time I’ve been to Wembley when I saw them lose to City. Going back a bit.
End of thread drift :no_mouth:

True.
At least he’s never committed his irrational views to his recorded material… unlike VM.

To be fair, the racist rant you refer to was back in the dark days of alcohol and drug abuse. The one I think you’re referring to was when he was completely plastered on stage after probably 2 bottles of brandy and God knows what else. Some context please….

As for the anti Covid vaccine views, fair enough I agree with you, I didn’t understand it either.

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The racist chant he admits is unexplainable, at the time he had a black girlfriend, was championing the great blues musicians, and had gone deep into Southern USA to find Skip James to pay him his royalties for I’m So Glad.

Obviously chemicals do weird things there was Bowie’s national socialist phase but he wasn’t a fascist.

Regards,

Lindsay

EC may well be an imperfect human being, but he’s a bloody good guitarist, which is surely what matters here. Cream were sensational.

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Agreed.

I can forgive him most things, but being a WBA supporter?

I’m very sorry, Ian, I was so busy with the Slowhand discussion that I completely failed to see your post to me.

No, sadly, I’m still banged up, but I’m hoping to make my escape soon. I’ve been saying that, of course, for at least a couple of weeks now!

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You’ll get out eventually …

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