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<DIV>>> It seems from some posts, that people who have followed EC longest, mostly dislike his music nowadays and regard him as washed up. <<</DIV>
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<DIV>1. I do NOT dislike EC's music nowadays. I enjoy it quite a bit. However, I like his guitar playing in the '60s better, although today's vocals are much better, IMO. I also think that EC was "hungry" back then, and today he's lots more satisfied, on a personal level. I think this affects the intensity of his expression. Hence the widely-held opinion that he just coasts along on auto-pilot.</DIV>
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<DIV>2. I do not believe that EC is "washed up," although I used the example of Mickey Mantle being washed up to illustrate contrast, a difference of night and day. There is great and stark difference in EC's guitar playing today compared with that of the '60s. But he's got lots more artistic life left. I would sure like to see more of it.</DIV>
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<DIV>3. EC certainly no longer does some of the the guitar things he used to do back in the '60s. A case in point is what my friend Jeff calls a "stretch vibrato," meaning the application of vibrato to an already bent string. Today he bends strings, and today he applies vibrato, but rarely does he do both at the same time, and not nearly with the sirens-sweetly-singing quality of the earlier EC. This was a signature part of his '60s playing that was both wondrous and beautiful. It was an ingredient of some of his most memorable solos. Very few did it, and nobody as well as EC. He does not do this any more. There are other guitar things he doesn't do any more either.</DIV>
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<DIV>4. I think Bryan Reid and John Broholm hit the nail squarely on the head. I sense few if any differences with what they have written.</DIV>
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<DIV>5. Some folks are attempting to determine MY opinions on other, unmentioned facets of EC's music. Unfortunately, these people are simply wrong. Anyway, the subject here should be EC's music, and not my opinions.</DIV>
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<DIV> DeltaNick</DIV></body></html>