[Slowhand] EC Composer/Arranger

[ToeKneeF]

Occasionally I get to hear something that makes me draw a comparison to 
EC's music either directly or indirectly............usually EC comes out 
pretty well. Paul Anka is arguably one of Amerika's better 
songwriter/arrangers. He recently did an album titled "Rock Swings", 
where he took some rock/pop classics and performed them in swing 
arrangements. There are 14 tracks on the set.......01. Eye Of The Tiger 
/ 02. Jump / 03. Everybody Hurts / 04. Wonderwall / 05. Black Hole Sun / 
06. It’s My Life / 07. It’s A Sin / 08. True / 09. Smells Like Teen 
Spirit / 10. Hello / 11. Eyes Without A Face / 12. Love Cats / 13. The 
Way You Make Me Feel / 14. Tears In Heaven.......surprisingly, it works 
on 13 of the 14 tracks. However, he fails miserably on Tears In Heaven.

Given the inspiration for the song, it would have been very easy and 
quite understandable for the song to end up being maudlin and 
schmaltzy..........in Eric's hands, however, the song manages to convey 
his hurt and loss without being overly sentimental, IMO it is quite a 
beautiful song. In Paul Anka's hands, he fell right into the trap, it 
comes out extremely maudlin and schmaltzy (I wanted to slit my wrists as 
I listened to this track!!).

This made me think about how we take EC's music for granted. It really 
is a great songbook, some moments weaker than others, sure, but always 
very interesting and genuine. Until I had the basis for a direct 
head-to-head comparison I looked upon TIH as just another great Clapton 
song. Given the opportunity to compare what he did with the song to 
another great talent's rendition, I can better appreciate EC's talent, 
not just as a guitarist, but also as a composer/arranger. Yes, we'll 
still criticize him when he gets lazy (from our perspective), as well we 
should...........but let's also recognize the talent he's been gracious 
enough to share with the rest of us for all these 
years.....................T

-- 
"The true danger is, when liberty is nibbled away, for expedients,
and by parts" ..................Edmund Burke