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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=362045313-04012005>Friends, The thing that I want most from Eric is
change, and he provides that</SPAN>.<SPAN
class=362045313-04012005> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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class=362045313-04012005></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=362045313-04012005> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> John Broholm
[mailto:jbroholm@sbcglobal.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 03, 2005 5:39
PM<BR><B>To:</B> slowhand@planet-torque.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Slowhand]
Bryan's comment<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
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<DIV>Brian's remark below, to me, is right on the money. Whether EC is or
isn't the wild, flaming guitarist he was in the mid/late '60s (and sometimes
he was darned repetetive back then, too), he's getting paid premium prices in
21st century currency. If I go see him now, I'm not entirely on a nostalgia
trip, nor do I expect him to be anyone other than Eric Clapton. But I do want
him to do what he full-well CAN do, which is rock me back on my heels, take me
by the hand, lead me down a musical path with a guitar solo, and just when I
think I know where he's going, disappear and yell "NO! I'm over HERE!" And I
gladly run to catch up. The blues tour of the mid-'90s did that. The Pilgrim
tour, not so much. The Reptile tour, a bit more. The Hiroshima, Copenhagen and
Belfast shows on CD, more so, especially with the set changes he made after
the Japan leg. He can do it. I regret I didn't get the chance to see him, and
I'm grateful for the trees on this digest that allow me to liste n. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The studio CDs since FTC, to my ear, are just plain bland. He
doesn't always get there. The initial Robert Johnson release is so-so. The
follow-up DVD/CD considerably better. Does this make me somebody who's totally
negative, or whatever the phrase was? I think it's the reaction of somebody
who's heard an awful lot of EC (concerts since 1969) and who listens to an
awful lot of other music, and still finds EC at his best to be THE best. But
he's certainly not at his best consistently, and I saw several shows in the
'70s and early '80s that didn't entirely stink, but they sure didn't meet
standards or expectations. And that's what a musician is supposed to do.
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Honest audience reaction and criticism are fair. To pile on DN for saying
"this isn't up to snuff" misses the point of art-and-audience entirely. Let's
get over it. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>JB (with Lightnin' Hopkins' Aladdin recordings on the player, and
Sessions for RJ coming up)</DIV>
<DIV><BR>---------------------------------------</DIV>Bryan wrote:</DIV>
<DIV>>>>It's his life but once you've shown people what you're
capable of, you can expect criticism when you don't measure up, whether in
concert or recordings. Ditto for selection of musicians to play with, songs,
styles et cetera. Where DeltaNick is coming from is precisely that. If I never
hear 'Lay Down Sally', Wonderful Tonight' or about 30 or 40 other songs of his
again, it would be just fine with me. To call them pop pablum is too kind. To
say that they are an extraordinary waste of his talent is spot on. EC is an
incredibly gifted and talented guitarist but he has made some very poor
choices along the way.<<<</DIV>
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