[Slowhand] Re: Clapton's Talent

[DeltaNick]

>> I think, that mr. Clapton's genius is his incredible musicality, that
comes out in his singing, guitar playing, songwriting and bandleading. <<

Musicality: sure. Guitar playing: absolutely. Singing: excellent.
Bandleading: hmm, with those musicians, who needs to lead? Also, even they
have better and worse nights. Songwriting: he's written a few, but his
songwriting's not an especially strong point, but it's also not bad. After
all, didn't EC record "Me And Mr. Johnson" because he couldn't come up with
enough original songs for an album?

>> I think, that only Peter Green was somewhere near to EC's lyrical
playing. <<

Well, I'd add one or two more: Mike Bloomfield, Mick Taylor.

>> There's lots of sad examples of 60's heroes, who stayed there playing the
same songs and solos over and over and nobody cares. <<

Exactly: who cares? With the four named above, everyone else is not even on
the list, right? And your list includes just Clapton and Green. Each decade
provides one-hit wonders: singers, guitarists, actors, sports figures ...
take your pick.

>> Guitar playing is just guitar playing, even by Clapton. <<

Here's where we disagree. I think guitar playing by Eric Clapton can be an
especially uplifting affair, at least for me it can be. I don't believe that
there's anyone who ever quite played guitar like Clapton. He's a lot more
conventional nowadays, though.

>> putting his personality to the singing and songwriting, as well as his
guitar, made him unique. <<

Nah, he was already unique. There are plenty of people who sing and play
guitar, good ones too: BB King, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, to name just a
few. Clapton's guitar playing was NOT like that of the others. It was
especially different and unique, and I believe that he was the greatest
influence on electric guitar since Charlie Christian introduced the electric
guitar to millions.

>> I know lots of people, who love Clapton's music, but don't find these
long guitar solos so unbelievable as we do. <<

I'm not interested in the LONG solos, just the GOOD ones. Cream was a band
that probably had to happen. Before Cream, rock'n'roll musicians were
considered greatly inferior to musicians from all other music genres. Cream
sort of put that one to rest. Cream served its purpose, but I believe that
many took away from Cream exactly what Cream did NOT set out to do: we wound
up with heavy metal. It wasn't Cream's intent to generate anything LIKE
heavy metal, but some people couldn't hear the music, just the gigantic
amplifiers. Too bad. There was music there too. However, since Cream seemed
to be a necessary "event" in the history of rock, its demise was just as
inevitable. So, whether we agree on this one or not, it doesn't really
matter.

>> I'm sure he would have made a great career in stained glass design as
well. <<

My wife does stained glass designs, but I still prefer guitar :)

                DeltaNick