[Slowhand] A Civil Debate, Part 6

[DeltaNick]

I disagree furthermore because of Clapton's solo architecture: the structure of his solos. If you compare his solo architecture from the earlier days, it was perfect or near-perfect. Today's solos, while still good, are somewhat more disorganized or less "on task" than during his earlier career. And they all sound much more alike. In his early days, Clapton's solos were mostly of the "song within a song" variety. Yes, they sounded well-thought-out, well-planned. But he did this in a live setting, it was natural. Bottom Line: He played that way naturally back then; today's solos simply don't compare, and when they do, it happens WAY less often.
 

Clapton played BETTER than textbook examples of improvisational solos back then. In my opinion, he doesn't do so today. Although this skill -- this extraordinary gift -- seemed to come automatically back then, it no longer does. Yes, he can play an adequate blues solo any time. He's said so himself. But Clapton is and has done WAY more than simply adequate in the past, and this is what I mean. Yes, he's got to squeeze every ounce of creative energy available out of each and every solo that's noteworthy, I don't think he does it today, except in the rarest of circumstances. He seems too lazy.

 

That architecture, with Clapton's ability to express levels of ascending or descending tension and release, relaxation, further intensity, rest, negative space verses excess, climax, and finally resolve was unsurpassed. Clapton transcended everyone in solo architecture with his ability to slowly build, with weaving beautifully constructed modal riffs and occasional small triad clusters, to a blazing climax, lifting the listener to an apogee, with either perfectly, (and emotionally intense) executed stretch vibratos or bends with just the right amount of speed to exhilarate the audience. This was normally achieved without pyrotechnics and gimmickry. It was no accident that Jimi Hendrix asked to meet Clapton as one of the prerequisites for his first trip to England. Hendrix understood immediately what he heard when Clapton's recorded notes -- from the Yardbirds, to Eric Clapton And The Powerhouse, to "Beano" -- reached his ears for the first time. And Hendrix understood quite well that what Clapton played far exceeded what he heard from other guitarists in the blues-rock genre.

 

Clapton's style of playing guitar has, no doubt, changed since the 1960s. But I really don't think it's changed appreciably since the '70s or '80s. In studio recordings today, Clapton plays far fewer solos altogether, relegating the guitar to third or fourth place in importance, when it was at the top of the heap earlier in his career. Yes, he sings more and better today, but is playing guitar a sin? Other well-respected guitarists and musicians play their instruments their whole careers, without EVER singing a note: Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane, Chet Atkins, we can go on and on. Why does playing good guitar have to be considered passé or "retro"? And calling Clapton a "guitar god" is simply insulting, as it denigrates a true artist. Does anyone refer to Segovia as a "guitar god," or Coltrane as a "sax god"?

 


>> I mostly agree here. I do think "Pilgrim" is an outstanding album, but overproduced. "Reptile" is okay, as are "Back Home" and "Me & Mr. Johnson." "Sessions for Robert J," I find quite enjoyable. Some of the acoustic work he does there is easily as impressive as anything else he's ever done, though perhaps less flashy. <<


 

We're in general agreement here, but I don't really see too much of a difference in the two Robert Johnson albums. They pretty much sound as if they were recorded at the same time, although the second one seems a bit more relaxed. They are really BOTH quite relaxed, maybe even TOO relaxed, and the relaxation has somewhat eliminated the intensity that Johnson gave these songs initially, the intensity with which Clapton played "Crossroads" on "Wheels Of Fire." It sounds like the old Clapton is definitely gone, and the newer Clapton is a bit tired, as he states unequivocally on "Back Home." Clapton's intensity -- his ability to improvise passionately -- seems partly gone, the burning hunger seems now, finally, sated. Simply compare the instrumental "Hideaway" on both "Beano" and "70th Birthday Concert."

 

To paraphrase Bryan Reid quoting Walter Yetnikoff in a recent Slowhand Digest, Clapton is a man standing in his own shadow, and that shadow was cast way back during the 1960s.

 

                                                                              DeltaNick

 
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