Comments on: Clapton/Layla - 41 years

Clapton/Layla - 41 years

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:04:21 -0800

Layla, written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon has survived over 40 years (wiki), and matured nicely. For your listening pleasure "Layla" - 1970 Derek and the Dominoes, 1992 MTV Unplugged, 2011 Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis.

By: davebush

davebush — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:10:18 -0800

The original version is splendid. The unplugged version is absolutely wretched.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:12:18 -0800

The song has far outlived the love that inspired it. As the best songs do.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:13:26 -0800

When I was a kid - like 8-12 years old, I used to sit in the living room with the Derek & The Dominos record on the record player just listening to that intro over and over again forever - the part before the drums come in was my favorite part, but the rest is great, too. I became obsessed with the rhythm guitar sound of the chords under the melody. I'm still obsessed with it, decades later. I seek it out in other music and I try to get similar tonalities in most of the music I make, whether with a guitar or with synths or other instruments. (And, like davebush, I can do without the unplugged version. It doesn't have that electric rhythm part, so what good is it?)

By: escabeche

escabeche — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:14:59 -0800

I rarely use the word "rock" as an abstract noun, but dammit, the slow version of "Layla" is a crime against rock.

By: Egg Shen

Egg Shen — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:18:12 -0800

The unplugged version is absolutely wretched. I refer to it as "Eric Clapton's Sleepytime Favorites".

By: clvrmnky

clvrmnky — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:24:00 -0800

I was really, really expecting to hate these. The original, I've heard a million times, and the first half-million in 1970. We will never speak of that terrible inplugged version. But that New Orleans funeral band treatment by Marsalis is /inspired/.

By: zooropa

zooropa — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:24:25 -0800

Let's be fair. The Unplugged album and the "Layla" single completely revived Clapton's career. People who had never bought a Clapton album -- or even heard of the man -- were now listening and buying. He later admitted that the success of Unplugged is what led him to feel he had earned the right to make pure blues albums like From the Cradle and Me and Mr. Johnson. Revile it if you must. But give credit where credit is due. Without Unplugged -- and the gargantuan success of the "Layla" single -- Eric Clapton would've faded into obscurity by now.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:24:25 -0800

the slow version of "Layla" is a crime against rock., because, of course, it isn't "rock"... :)

By: item

item — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:24:57 -0800

One could totally candyflip to this stuff.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:25:57 -0800

damn, item, make me look that up AGAIN????

By: stevil

stevil — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:26:07 -0800

> Eric Clapton would've faded into obscurity by now. You say that like it's a bad thing?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:27:26 -0800

Whoa. I knew the sad story of Jim Gordon, his mom, and his imprisonment but I always assumed he was just this guy that used to drum in some band once. I had no idea what an A-Lister he was.

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:29:52 -0800

So is Gordon still imprisoned?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:30:44 -0800

I wondered that too.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:31:52 -0800

Yeah, that Marsalis version is better than the song ever was before. Wow. Presumably Clapton has no problem with Marsalis so long as Marsalis stays in New York; we've got to "keep Britain white," after all. Even so, it was good to hear that rendition. Thanks, HuronBob.

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:33:39 -0800

According to the inmate locator, there is a James Beck Gordon imprisoned in California. Sad.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:34:10 -0800

Evidently Gordon is still in prison.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:37:31 -0800

For those of you that like the version with Wynton, you might enjoy Joe Turner's Blues.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:40:02 -0800

There's a name not yet entered into this thread, and it's a travesty. Duane fucking Allman.

By: davebush

davebush — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:45:39 -0800

Remember

By: nicebookrack

nicebookrack — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:45:42 -0800

My first year of college, my dorm's second-floor resident advisor was named Leila. One of my best memories of that year is on her birthday, the entire hall serenading Leila--on our knees.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:53:21 -0800

I'm mainly blown away by Duane's slide playing during the piano outro bit, but apparently, he wrote the opening riff. That's the bit that pushes the song over the edge from just good to utterly sublime. He really was amazing.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:54:22 -0800

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is almost a perfect album. I can't even count how many times I've listened to in at least five different media formats over the last forty years. Everything on that album "just works": the song writing, the harmonies, the rhythm section and most importantly, the duel guitar attack of Clapton and Allman. I just started playing it right now after reading this thread and it still thrills me. I love how effortless and organic it all sounds without ever being sloppy or noodly. Just gorgeous stuff.

By: jontyjago

jontyjago — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:55:26 -0800

In 1993, for a very strange yet wonderful musical week, John Peel stood in for some long-forgotten daytime DJ on the lunchtime Radio 1 show. One of his duties was to read the album charts. I can still hear him saying "and at number 8, Eric Clapton Unplugged", followed by the shortest of pauses, "If only."

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:58:01 -0800

Oh and that terrible unplugged version won the Grammy for Best Rock Song of 1993 (beating out "Smells Like Teen Spirit").

By: capricorn

capricorn — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:08:51 -0800

The original version is splendid. The unplugged version is absolutely wretched. I always just tell people I love "Layla" by Derek and the Dominoes, but I'm not a big fan of that Eric Clapton guy's cover version.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:09:16 -0800

(beating out "Smells Like Teen Spirit"). Which to be fair, is not a very good song either.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:20:14 -0800

And, one last link, Just a Closer Walk With Thee (Clapton and Wynton).

By: Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:20:16 -0800

What Devils Rancher said. Duane Allman is what made that song magic, and many others besides (my vote goes to the second side of "Mountain Jam" on "Eat A Peach -- the first guitar break after the bass solo. OH MY GOD). Clapton? He's yet another flashy lead guitarist. There are fifteen-year-olds on YouTube who play as well as him.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:27:26 -0800

An honest question here... I knew up front that when I posted this, there would be comments that were sort of anti-Clapton, no problem with that, I thought the third link made the post worthwhile anyway, and, to each their own and all that... but, does anyone have any thoughts as to why, if Clapton wasn't the icon he was made out to be, why he earned the status he did?

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:36:51 -0800

He was the icon he was made out to be. But really good live recordings of him didn't start cropping up until he had passed those years when he really was God. By the time it was possible to get an idea of what Clapton sounded like without having to be there to see him live, he was in his meandering testing the waters of different genres phase, which is where most people who don't like him picked him up and figured there wasn't much there. In short, people who don't think Clapton was ever all he's cracked up to be have never watched this or simply don't get it. And, with all due respect, people who say "there are fifteen-year-olds on YouTube who play as well as him" just have no idea.

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:44:53 -0800

Here's Mr. Clapton doing another very different variation on Layla in 1996 with Dr. John

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:45:06 -0800

I'm not anti-Clapton at all. I cut my teeth as a musician playing along to Wheels of Fire in my bedroom, age 12. In fact, I just sat down and played along with Layla for the first time ever (interesting that the coda is about 1/4 tone sharp from the main body of the song) and the verse is a really great chord progression. The lyrics are obviously passionate, I love his vocals on the track, he put the whole thing together, and credit where credit's due. Clapton is/was an amazing guitarist. His vocabulary at times seems a tad limited, but no slight on the guy overall. He's had a great run, from Cream to Derek to holy shit, Blind Faith -- what an album! The acoustic guitar on Can't Find My Way Home? WOW. Clapton's solo career kinda floundered direction-wise in the late 70's, and I think he made some poor production & song choices in that era, and I would probably not hold his later work in great regard, except that he really redeemed himself with From The Cradle, which catches the old Bluesbreakers magic, and then some. Wonderful record, full of blistering guitar. But Duane... Duane was from another planet.

By: chimaera

chimaera — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:02:22 -0800

At this rate, in 2030, when Clapton is very, very old, they're gonna play a version that's only 20 beats per minute, will last 27 minutes, and except for the band and recording engineer, no other human being will bother listening to the whole thing.

By: Fnarf

Fnarf — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:04:33 -0800

I talk trash about Clapton a lot, but I don't hate him. It's just that I don't think flashy lead guitar is very interesting. And I find his Delta-blues fetishism tiresome and ahistorical; but then I find almost everything that seventy-something boomer musicians do tiresome. I'd probably find Allman tiresome if he was still alive! But Clapton was and is a skilled guitar player and good middle-level rock'n'roller of the classic period. So are a lot of people. It's true that many of those people came after him; that's where the "icon" status came from. But ultimately, for me, guitar soloing is just boring. Contrary to what is stated above, I DO have an idea -- I've heard all the records more times than you have, I know all the riffs and leads (not as a player), and I just am not interested. When I was a youth I actually got into a fistfight over Clapton vs. Beck vs. Page. Now, I'd be happy to never hear a note of any of them again. Duane Allman is in a different category.

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:09:45 -0800

Clapton was never really God. But he was always good. His guitar playing is melodic and full of energy and drama and precision. He has been in the music business for 50 years now. That's a long career. There are big patches of that career that are almost unlistenable (the late 70s and early 80s for example -- blame the booze), but there are also those performances and recordings that pop up every once in a while and prove that he really is all he's cracked up to be. Among these career high points: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - The Beano Album Cream While My Guitar Gently Weeps Blind Faith All Things Must Pass Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs From The Cradle and its accompanying tour (seek out any bootlegs from this tour you can find... it's well worth it) Riding With The King Sessions For Robert J (NOT Me and Mr. Johnson) The Crossroads Guitar Festival The recent Clapton and Winwood tour Wynton and Clapton at Lincoln Center I'd also like to mention that Clapton has always been very supportive of his musical heroes, from Big Bill Broonzy to Muddy Waters to BB King. He said some really misguided stuff about Enoch Powell in the late 70s that folks like to point to and say "RACIST", but that was a long time ago and he was not exactly in his right mind back then. I think we ought to move past it now, especially since it's pretty hard to point to anything the man has actually done since then as an example of racism. Layla is one of my favorite songs, and I've probably listened to it nearly a thousand times and I've never managed to get tired of it. It is sublime. Thanks for the post. Here's one more live version from 1986 with Phil Collins on drums which contains what I think is one of his best solos ever.

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:16:45 -0800

OK. Here we go. I have to defend "MTV's Unplugged." 1) In the late 80's, you had pop, which was awful, you had hair metal, which was worse, you had Classic Rock, which was and is awesome, and you had college radio, and then deep college radio, which where awesomer and awesomest, respectively. (Deep breath) MJ - Poison - Derek and the Dominoes - REM - Pixies. That was the late '80s on the radio. Nota Bene: WHITE radio 2) You have no idea how huge pop was, how immense "Metal" was, and how marginalized everything else was. Then comes Grunge! Grunge is all fuzzy guitars, right? Lotsa feedback and amp gimmicks, right? 3) MTV, in its last gasp as a legitimate musical arbiter, says to popular acts... "You are more than the sum of your electronic effects." It is the anti-1965-Dylan-controversy. Can electronic acts survive without the electronics? Nirvana? Hells yes. Rapper L.L. Cool J? An out-of-the-park yes. The best electric guitarist of all time? The one Jimmi Hendrix relied upon to play in tune? The man who built a career on electric guitar effects? The old and outdated brit-rocker who cut his teeth on illicit imports of legendary bluesmen? Just after his toddler crawled to his death from a fancy high-rise apartment? Yeah.

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:15:31 -0800

I'd also like to mention that Clapton has always been very supportive of his musical heroes, from Big Bill Broonzy to Muddy Waters to BB King. He said some really misguided stuff about Enoch Powell in the late 70s that folks like to point to and say "RACIST", but that was a long time ago and he was not exactly in his right mind back then. I think we ought to move past it now, especially since it's pretty hard to point to anything the man has actually done since then as an example of racism. Except in 2004 and 2007 (among other times) when he publicly reaffirmed his admiration of Enoch Powell,mcalling him a "great" man and openly stating that he still holds the same views. (This *after* stating he keeps his opinions to himself, which makes me wonder howcawful they must be if a pro-Powell stance is something he considers okay.) Is he still not in his right mind? Or racist? Or just an idiot? I ask this rhetorically, as he's one very famous musician credited with achieving it via musicianship rather than flash or luckor good looks) but whose music never moved me, plus you could easily find his records in communist Yugoslavia, which implied even the authorities realized he didn't have much to say. Consequently, it's been easy for me to cast him aside - more time for better stuff.

By: cmoj

cmoj — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:26:08 -0800

If you discount any of these versions, you don't deserve the one you like.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:27:30 -0800

Hey there Dee, nice to se ya back! I knew nothing about Clapton's politics--that's depressing.

By: archagon

archagon — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:08:24 -0800

"In short, people who don't think Clapton was ever all he's cracked up to be have never watched this or simply don't get it. And, with all due respect, people who say "there are fifteen-year-olds on YouTube who play as well as him" just have no idea." I'm honestly not being snarky or dismissive here -- could somebody explain to me why this clip is great? Nothing in it really catches my ear: all I hear is sort of tame-sounding proggy noodling. And although I like a number of Clapton's solos, some of his more famous works make me feel like this clip does. I'd love nothing more than to understand the brilliance of his playing, especially given that so many of my favorite guitarists cite him as a major influence. What am I missing?

By: Talez

Talez — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:09:06 -0800

I rarely use the word "rock" as an abstract noun, but dammit, the slow version of "Layla" is a crime against rock. The biggest problem about this abomination is that most AC stations play the MTV Unplugged version of Layla instead of the '70s version. So not only does it exist but you get reminded that it exists on a regular basis listening to AC radio.

By: Xoc

Xoc — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:32:28 -0800

Some Clapton you may not have heard...he's lead guitar on Roger Water's "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking".

By: colie

colie — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 01:53:34 -0800

In short, people who don't think Clapton was ever all he's cracked up to be have never watched this Clapton on a Telecaster! I've loved his playing for years and I've never seen that before! And, with all due respect, people who say "there are fifteen-year-olds on YouTube who play as well as him" just have no idea. "I could play Stairway to Heaven at the age of 18. Jimmy Page didn't even write it till he was 26. I think that says a lot."

By: colie

colie — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:34:11 -0800

Wait, that Telecaster Clapton plays in the Blind Faith clip has a Strat neck! The acid really was stronger in those days.

By: noaccident

noaccident — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:41:55 -0800

"In short, people who don't think Clapton was ever all he's cracked up to be have never watched this or simply don't get it. And, with all due respect, people who say "there are fifteen-year-olds on YouTube who play as well as him" just have no idea." I too have "no idea." I think his playing (linked above) was rather meandering and unoriginal. My favorite Clapton riff was his second solo on Crossroads. Now that is a great solo, full of energy, building to a crescendo that gets a bit out of control - in a good way. Clapton said that he didn't really like it because it was too sloppy. To me, that's the problem with his playing: it can sound too perfect, precise and predictable causing it to emotionally suffer. Duane Allman was from another planet. My God.

By: WPW

WPW — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:16:51 -0800

A friend of mine when I was about 12 or so was called Layla, after this song. I remember thinking how lucky she was to be called after such a thrilling song.

By: WPW

WPW — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:19:36 -0800

I had never heard the song until she mentioned that it was why she was called Layla. She played it for me. It was a memorable introduction to it.

By: colie

colie — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 05:03:29 -0800

I'm honestly not being snarky or dismissive here -- could somebody explain to me why this clip is great? I'll have a go: - The song is about being lost and so the meandering feel suits it - Clapton's vibrato on most of the bends is extreme without feeling flashy - He shows his light and varied touch with the plectrum - His tone around this time was always great - the bass turned up and treble down etc - His phrasing, while not his best, is still loose yet builds tension - The opening lick could only have been him or Hendrix - The song is a bit like 'While my guitar gently weeps' and this solo is a like a festival-drugged out version of Clapton's solo on that track - There are few licks (e.g. at 2.43) where he descends the blues scale in a crab-like way that he gets by barring the top 3 strings, but clearly sounds each note beautifully

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:11:14 -0800

Clapton wrote the song about his then-unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, who was married to Clapton's friend George Harrison at the time. They divorced in 1974 and she married Clapton in 1979. Clapton also wrote "Wonderful Tonight" and several other love songs about her, and George Harrison wrote "Something" about her. Harrison later claimed he wrote "Something" about Ray Charles, but come on.

By: Enron Hubbard

Enron Hubbard — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:34:04 -0800

My favorite Clapton riff was his second solo on Crossroads. Now that is a great solo, full of energy, building to a crescendo that gets a bit out of control - in a good way. That solo is perhaps the best mainstream recorded example of the fire in his playing that I felt he never consistently recaptured after leaving Cream. I have often thought his being the 22 years old lone arbiter between two egocentric madmen is what fueled that fire. His career since then is admirable, but something important was never quite the same.

By: NolanRyanHatesMatches

NolanRyanHatesMatches — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:43:25 -0800

I'm fairly certain that the radio edit of "Layla" lops off the last four minutes of the song, so this bit of memorable soundtracking was probably the first time I'd heard anything from the song's second half.

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:44:42 -0800

I once made the mistake of reading Clapton's autobiography.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 06:48:23 -0800

his being the 22 years old lone arbiter between two egocentric madmen is what fueled that fire. I'm just gonna drop this little rabbit hole right here.

By: Gygesringtone

Gygesringtone — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:55:09 -0800

That whole album at The Lincoln Center Jazz Center is great. Taj Mahal even pops in for a track or two. I've always liked Clapton better when he was playing the blues than he was rocking out. Clapton's solo sticks out a little on Ice Cream and Just a Closer Walk, but as a whole I think he does a better job fitting in stylistically than Willie Nelson did on his goes with Wynton and company. I was really impressed with that, it would be pretty easy to sort of loose the musical flexibility and sensitivity to pull that off, if you've been a legend for the bulk of your career. I was actually listening to that version of Layla last night, and my favorite part is when the crowd figures out what song it is. It's like a distorted mirror image of when the crowd for the MTV version figures it out.

By: starman

starman — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:58:33 -0800

I love the unplugged version of Layla, and that whole album.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:01:46 -0800

The slow acoustic version is a decent song, or at least would be if anyone could evaluate it on its own merit. If it seems wretched, that's only because it's impossible to avoid comparing it to one of the greatest rock songs ever.

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:13:39 -0800

And now for something completely different: Layla covered by The Charlie Daniels Band.

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:18:43 -0800

Was going to post the Goodfellas clip; was beaten to the punch by NolanRyanHatesMatches. I cannot listen to the piano outro of "Layla" without thinking of all those wise guys getting plugged. Also, if Clapton is God, then which deity is Richard Thompson?

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:19:02 -0800

The only live recording that exists of Derek and the Dominoes playing Layla with Duane Allman

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:21:55 -0800

Live in 2009 with the Allman Brothers Band with Derek Trucks demonstrating once again his singular awesomeness.

By: uberchet

uberchet — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:15:42 -0800

I really don't get the hate for the "Unplugged" version. I agree it doesn't have the legs of the original, which remains one of the best rock songs ever in my personal canon, but it was an interesting take on a song that Clapton had been playing nightly for twenty years at that point. Good Lord, who wouldn't want to mix it up a little? He may or may not have thought it would be a hit, but once it was who can blame him for running with it? Clapton at his best is fucking iconic. His trouble, or the trouble people have with him (I guess) is that his output has been a little uneven, and that his experiments haven't always borne fruit. For example, I happen to love "Behind the Sun," but plenty of folks just hated the over-synthy over-processed "eighties-ness" of it. But put on either version of "Crossroads," or "Further On Up The Road," the stuff from Blind Faith (great link uptopic), or nearly any track on "Journeyman" (if you prefer later work), and you'll find some real genius. I saw him last a couple times on that Journeyman tour, and they were some of the best live music experiences of my life, no joke.

By: Cookiebastard

Cookiebastard — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:32:10 -0800

I wonder, if Jimi Hendrix were alive right now, would he be putting out slowed-down acoustic MOR versions of Purple Haze and Crosstown Traffic, sans feedback pyrotechnics and kazoos? Or simply clawing desperately at the inside of his coffin?

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:39:46 -0800

If Jimi Hendrix were alive today he and Clapton would've probably done an album together by now. And there'd probably also be a YouTube video out there of him covering Layla in an offhand and imaginative way, playing all the guitar parts himself. I'd like to visit that alternate universe.

By: zoog

zoog — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:50:54 -0800

I actually liked the Unplugged version the first time I saw that show. I admired the man for trying to find a fresh take on something that he'd been playing for a couple of decades in that setting, and it worked pretty well. But by about a month later, I was so sick of hearing it... Never did get sick of the original though, because, you know, Duane Allman. And Cookiebastard, I've long wondered what we would have been hearing from Hendrix if he hadn't checked out early. I kind of think that he would have taken a bit more of a jazz direction somewhere along the line, but who knows?

By: archagon

archagon — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:52:29 -0800

colie, thank you for the reply! I love hearing the reasons for why people like music, and I'll definitely give the video a few more listens with those bullet points in mind.

By: archagon

archagon — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:53:35 -0800

By the way, I really love the vocals in the Wynton Marsalis video. And I learned from this thread that apparently I really need to check out Duane Allman's music.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:15:15 -0800

I too have "no idea." I think his playing (linked above) was rather meandering and unoriginal. It is certainly meandering. When you say it was "unoriginal," what prior guitarist are you thinking of it calling to mind? I agree that there were several guitarists at the time who were reaching for essentially the same mark. I think Clapton came closer to that mark than most, but that he was not the best. But when you say "unoriginal," I'm just curious as to who you think the original was in the context of that particular performance.

By: clvrmnky

clvrmnky — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:49:56 -0800

"He said some really misguided stuff about Enoch Powell in the late 70s that folks like to point to and say "RACIST", but that was a long time ago and he was not exactly in his right mind back then. I think we ought to move past it now, especially since it's pretty hard to point to anything the man has actually done since then as an example of racism. " I'm sorry, but his own statements about this rant since then have been dissembling and excuse-making of the highest order. His main argument is that "I don't see colour and I don't care about race, so it doesn't matter; and anyway I was out of my head and just making a bad joke and who was listening anyway?" which is nearly as racist as you can get. Stating that race doesn't matter to you is not an excuse for bad behaviour, especially since race matters a *whole* *lot* to the people on the receiving end of racist behaviour. And sweeping aside concerns based on the "but I was joking" defence is something I'd expect from a child, not a grown man who should know better. Let's be clear here: Clapton used language, in public, from a position of relative power (a rock show, with a microphone and thousands of watts) that was not much different from someone in the US using the word "nigger" under the same circumstances. He should be a little more contrite and apologetic about that.

By: therealadam

therealadam — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:58:25 -0800

Clapton kinda Mingus'd "Layla". I dig.

By: colie

colie — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:18:00 -0800

More on the Blind Faith solo linked above: This one isn't his best, but it makes it more interesting as a result to discuss his style, like a note in the margin kind of thing. I think the 'meandering' is very much part of something EC did in his best solos. There is so much casual nuance and delicate use of the instrument. Only he and Hendrix were so devoted to that feel around this time. I also have read that he was very keen to incorporate the audience's 'feel' into his solos around this time. Like many things around 1969, this must have started out as a good idea, but I have also read that at some Cream gigs EC was so out of his mind on acid that he thought he could physically transform the audience into good or evil creatures based on the licks he was playing. (And he might well be a racist arsehole but you can't hear that in the playing).

By: colie

colie — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:27:43 -0800

I once made the mistake of reading Clapton's autobiography. I had his 80s biography, 'Survivor', in hardback. When I moved house around 1990 or so, I packed it with all my other books, and all my vinyl, into the back of my car. The car was broken into and all my books and vinyl were stolen (including stuff like first-pressing edition of Rubber Soul with my dad's name written on the label). The thief left me with nothing except the Eric Clapton biography. So, you know, a sense of humour can unite even a thief and the thieved-from guy in these moments.

By: clvrmnky

clvrmnky — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:29:19 -0800

By the way, I'm certainly not advocating we stop listening to Clapton based on his dumb politics; this is precisely why I steer clear of biographies of the famous. But excusing the behaviour is just not on. This is not a one-off comment that he made. We all have regrets, but Clapton has time after time refused to recognize the idiocy of his little "joke" and has essentially refused to take responsibility for it. While at the same time make excuses about his best friends being etc., etc., etc. And he has done this well into an age where he should fucking know better. He is a flawed and talented person. It's ok that I still dig Cream, but I'm not going to minimize or brush aside public comments he's made simply because of some notion of the statute of limitations on stupidity. Especially not since he keeps giving the original comments credence by not recognizing how utterly stupid he is being.

By: wabbittwax

wabbittwax — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:58:13 -0800

Your point is well taken clvrmnky. I have to say its been so long I had forgotten what he actually said and went to look it up. Ugh. It's much worse than I had remembered. It's frustrating that he has never acknowledged how awful the things he said were. It's doubly frustrating because to me it just doesn't square with the way he's behaved in his life. He's been a strong advocate for black musicians. He's worked side by side with them for years. It's a shocking kind of cognitive dissonance. /derail

By: Lone_Wolf

Lone_Wolf — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:20:02 -0800

I have seen Clapton many times over the years. When the rest of the band shuts up and he closes his eyes and takes off on a solo . . . well, it is just friggin' magical. If you have never seen him live, you have no idea of his talent.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:28:00 -0800

The Layla sequence from Goodfellas

By: nicebookrack

nicebookrack — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:14:25 -0800

Can electronic acts survive without the electronics? Nirvana? Hells yes. Rapper L.L. Cool J? An out-of-the-park yes. I remember at a point when I listened mostly to country, flipping through channels to hit on an Unplugged rerun of LL Cool J rocking out to that jangly piano, and I thought OH MY GOD THIS THIS THIS I AM A RAP FAN. Then I investigated most of MTV's rap offerings and it was not...so...much...similar, after all. But I haven't sneered at rap since, even if the ones I like would still be 300% better rapping to live piano going nuts.

By: Katjusa Roquette

Katjusa Roquette — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 02:49:14 -0800

First, nice to see you on the Blue again DeX! Now to subject at hand, I love the song Layla still, but did not know about Clapton's politics. How could he hang with guys like Hendrix and still be like that? That's bad and wrong! How did he avoid getting beat up over it?

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 19:03:10 -0800

From what I've read, Clapton did get beat up (at least in the press) over it. I think the arc of his reputation never recovered its trajectory, at least in Britain. In America, Enoch Powell seems pretty unknown and possibly no one cared. As far as hanging with Hendrix and other people of African descent, I immediately jump to the what they used to say about Nazis - every one of them had his own "special" Jew. That's probably a little harsh, but I'm not apologetic about my dislike of racists - I think they deserve all the crap that can be thrown at them. In my own world, I know plenty of Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs who rail on and on about the horrors of an "other" group even after marrying one of that other group's members. (In other words, as when a Croatian who hates Serbs marries a Serb and still carries on about how awful the Serbs are, or any other permutation like that.) Makes no sense to me, but people have a weird capacity to make exceptions to an otherwise absolutist world view. I tend to think of these people as close-minded idiots, which is precisely how I feel about Eric Clapton.