[Slowhand] First EC Record

[DeltaNick]

When the Beatles arrived in the US for the first time, in February 1964, New 
York disc jockey Murray The K became the unofficial "Fifth Beatle," having 
unprecedented access to the band during their 3-week visit. While in NY, 
they stayed in the Plaza Hotel, and Murray had daily interviews with them. 
Various topics were discussed, including the music scene in Britain, and 
contemporary artists and bands. Although I can't say for sure, my 
recollection is that one of the British bands discussed was the Yardbirds. 
At the time, Eric Clapton was guitarist in the band. He may also have been 
mentioned by name.



As a 14-year-old smitten by the Beatles -- and their introduction of the 
self-contained music group to the rock scene (What a neat idea!) -- I 
listened intently. Within weeks, British rock bands visited these shores and 
appeared on American radio, TV, and in concert. I remember the Dave Clark 
Five and the Seekers as the first British bands to followed the Beatles. By 
June, the Rolling Stones were on the charts, and other British bands had 
made their presence known. Although the Yardbirds had released records in 
the US, they didn't have a major hit record until March 1965, with "For Your 
Love." However, I remember hearing about them, owning a few of their 45-RPM 
records, and hearing rumors about their guitarist quitting. Why would anyone 
do this? It seemed crazy to me at the time. Nobody seemed to want to discuss 
it either, as it was sensed this indicated failure. Ultimately, it was not a 
failure, and the Yardbirds went on to have a number of hits worldwide.



I believe that one of the Yardbirds singles was credited to "The Yardbirds 
Featuring Eric Clapton." However, there were two hot guitarists associated 
with the band and confusion about them. Was the guy pictured on record 
sleeves the old guitarist, or the new one? The Yardbirds first visited the 
US with Jeff Beck., appearing on ABC's "Shindig" TV show. As we all know, 
Jeff Beck is no slouch guitarist either, having joined the band just as the 
Yardbirds' first major hit, "For Your Love," began to climb on the charts in 
March 1965. I specifically remember Beck playing a white Telecaster on 
"Shindig," and rubbing the strings against a microphone stand (a la slide 
guitar) on the Bo Diddley song "I'm A Man." A Yardbirds album was cobbled 
together by the US Epic label. It included some tracks from "Five Live 
Yardbirds," but Beck was pictured on the cover of the album, further 
contributing to the confusion. And "Five Live Yardbirds" wasn't released in 
the US (until the 1970s).



By 1966, the buzz among musicians in the US, such as guitarist Mike 
Bloomfield, was that Clapton was one helluva guitarist. His reputation 
preceded him until "What's Shakin'" was released in the US in either June or 
July 1966. Hearing it was an eye opener. It also clarified the situation, as 
far as "Eric Clapton" was concerned: he didn't look like Jeff Beck at all. 
"Clapton's work has long been the object of a cult of both avid fans and 
imitators on both sides of the Atlantic, for although to my knowledge he has 
never appeared in this country, several records featuring his guitar playing 
have managed to sneak into release here" (David Harris, "The Powerhouse 
Guitar Of Eric Clapton," "Mojo-Navigator Rock & Roll News," August 1967 
[Volume 2, Number 2], pp. 31-35).



Then, on 22 July 1966, "Blues Breakers," aka "Beano," was released in 
Britain. Although the album wasn't released in the US until February 1967, 
its reverberations were greatly felt. Jimi Hendrix, then known as Jimi 
James, was familiar with the album in August or September 1966, prior to 
going to Britain in late September. And Mike Bloomfield, who had known and 
played with Hendrix, returned from a Butterfield Blues Band tour of the UK, 
in October-November 1966, raving about Clapton. Bloomfield, a great 
guitarist himself, simply pronounced Clapton the best. Referring to "Beano," 
"E.C. himself immodestly claimed it would never be topped and Mike 
Bloomfield concurred" (David Rubin, "A Most Remarkable Trio Of British Blues 
Music Recordings," Guitar One, October 2001, p. 92).



"His attack is flawless, that's one of the things. A perfect musician is 
dedicated. He has ideas, attack, touch. His ability to transmit his ideas 
and his emotion logically is kineticism; he can build. Eric does all of 
these about as well as you can do them. It shows in the area that he plays 
that his attack is perfect. His tone is vocal; his ideas are superb; he 
plays almost exclusively blues -- all the lines he plays in the Cream are 
blues lines. He plays nothing but blues; he's a blues guitarist and he's 
taken blues guitar to its ultimate thing. In that field he's B.B. King cum 
the Freddie King and Ernie Cahill style of guitar playing. Eric is master in 
the world. That is why he is the perfect guitarist. Eric plays in bad taste 
when he wants to. He can play crappy. But, like Eric plays almost 
exclusively perfect" (Mike Bloomfield as quoted in Harry Shapiro, Slowhand: 
The Story Of Eric Clapton, 1984, p. 131).



"Fresh Cream" was released in Britain in December 1966, but not until March 
1967 in the US. However, the rock underground press ("Rolling Stone" and 
"Crawdaddy") and the then-new rock underground FM radio (WOR-FM, 98.7, in 
New York, with the aforementioned Murray The K) had picked up on "Beano" and 
Cream immediately. So, I had heard of EC's reputation in 1964 and 1965, with 
the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse, and John Mayall And The 
Bluesbreakers: all before Cream. And I had, and still have, most of the 
records I mentioned above. I even found imported British albums, with their 
shiny, "Celanese" covers. I had, and still own, "Five Live Yardbirds" on the 
British Columbia label years before it was released here in the US.



What's funny about the rock history books, is that Murray The K is pictured 
as someone who had no idea who Cream were when they were featured in his 
March-April NY 1967 show, which first brought Eric Clapton and Cream to the 
US. The truth of the matter is that Murray (real name Kaufman) knew quite 
well who Cream and Eric Clapton were, since he was pushing their UK 
recordings -- and "Beano" -- before they were ever released here in the US. 
And he spoke quite highly of EC, with words like "the best guitarist in the 
world."



The Animals' bassist, Chas Chandler, saw Hendrix in NY in August 1966. By 
September, he had nearly convinced Hendrix to go to London with him, to 
start a new career. According to Chandler, what finally convinced Hendrix to 
go were two questions:



          1. Can I meet Eric Clapton?



          2. Do they have good amplifiers in England?



Bottom Line: When "Beano" made waves in the UK, they were felt over here.



In addition, a friend had imported Cream singles that were unreleased in the 
US until several years later: "The Coffee Song" and "Wrapping Paper." I 
bought them both myself in 1967. They were on a blue Reaction label. He also 
had a Mayall single: "I'm Your Witchdoctor"/"Bernard Jenkins." These 
appeared on "Raw Blues," which was released in January 1967. It was another 
import that I was able to find at Record World, a shop at Roosevelt Field 
when it was not yet an enclosed shopping mall.



One more thing. In June 1967, as I graduated high school, my father took the 
family (I lived on Long Island, within the NY radio/TV broadcast area) to 
"Expo '67" in Montreal. While there, my kid brother and I took a trip 
downtown to "Ed Archambault's Records." I found the UK release of "Fresh 
Cream" on Reaction (distributed by Polydor, the first time I heard of 
Polydor, which had not yet broken into the US market, which happened about 2 
years later) and bought it. "I Feel Free" was not on the album, but the 
studio version of "Spoonful" was. When I got home and played it, I nearly 
flipped.



                                                                             
  DeltaNick