Clapton Overrated ?

[CajunBlues]

Just want your opinion on him as a guitar player. I am not saying either way how I feel. I just want the opinion of guitar players.

[Fumblyfingers]

Overrated as what? Singer, songwriter, guitarist. performer, all around good guy?

 

I take it you mean guitar player....I loved his early work and feel I should have liked him to really develop into something more than he is today as a player. For me he seems to stay within a safe zone and just do what he does.....but then he is entitled to do that and as a business move it is way smart...he cranks out successful albums.

 

But what a great all around musician he is...performer, singer, songwriter, player etc etc etc..so overall for me the answer is no, he is not overrated. I hate polls so I am jotting my answer down longform.

[Rampdog]

Why would you even pose a question like that???

[picker]

I think he's a good guitarist who has had a long career. I'm not sure that it's all because of his playing, but he has consistently played well, and has done a lot to popularize the guitar. He's gotten a lot of attention, deservedly I think. He was one of my original influences on guitar, and I couldn't be happier about that.

[Bluesape]

He oozes greatness, both on and offstage. He is a treasure.

[Billster]

This discussion (from 7 years ago!) should defuse the subject

[CajunBlues]

This discussion (from 7 years ago!) should defuse the subject

Billster. Thanks for that. Good thread.

[CajunBlues]

Why would you even pose a question like that???

Because I am writing a book on the subject .

[The Geoff]

I think that if Clapton had been born in the USA, everyone would have thought he was wonderful!!!

 

<>>

 

 

G.

[Eric Iverson]

Yes, Americans have an almost pathological fear and loathing of British rockers, such as the Beatles and the Stones, oh, and a few thousand others.. and Hendrix didn't catch our mass attention until he went to England.

 

Seriously, I wonder, had the Beatles been American, would they have had the phenomenal popularity they did? Did the "cute" foreign accent play a factor?

 

Reminding me of a friend back in the '60s who was from Iowa, along with the rest of us. For a while there he affected a British accent, until the rest of us teased him out of it!

[Bejeeber]

I think that if Clapton had been born in the USA, everyone would have thought he was wonderful!!!

 

<>>

 

 

G.

 

Everyone did think that english bloke was wonderful before he lost the spirit 35+ years ago.

 

Now a lot of folks believe he's still a great player, but some of us feel the emperor has lost his clothes, and why sit there and pretend he's still got them on? His playing is no longer so wonderful (tonight).

 

Hey it can happen to anybody, probably a nice guy though. He had his run.

[Billster]

Hey Bejeeber, I don't know if you've been lurking that other thread, but Clapton is a good example of turning away from raw chops and exercising a different level of expertise. He freely admits that he spent the 1970's deliberately avoiding guitar hero stuff.

 

Because you prefer listening to Cream over and over again, it doesn't mean the groove oriented stuff is any less an expression of EC's vision.

[desertbluesman]

I think he neither under or overrated, he forgot more about guitar than many in the biz today actually know.

 

I like his work. I was a big fan during the Cream and Layla Days.

 

But more than as a guitar player, I hear that he is a nice person and not at all puffed up with self importance like Sting or other "superstars"

[Bejeeber]

Hey Bejeeber, I don't know if you've been lurking that other thread, but Clapton is a good example of turning away from raw chops and exercising a different level of expertise. He freely admits that he spent the 1970's deliberately avoiding guitar hero stuff.

 

Because you prefer listening to Cream over and over again, it doesn't mean the groove oriented stuff is any less an expression of EC's vision.

 

I'm not talking about what kind of groove his producer du jour decides to record. I'm talking about his lead guitar playing, which he still flaunts, and whenever I see him on TV lately it has been the exact opposite of what you describe. He'll sit there doing these cliche repetitious weedly deedly 16th note things for God knows what reason, like someone's going to be impressed with the chops (???) which are clocking in at a fraction of the speed of any 80's shredder.

 

Then when it comes time to play more melodically or bluesy or whatever he just doesn't have that fire and authenticity that made him legendary when he was a top player on the scene.

 

That may be "expressing his vision", fine, but if that's the case, his vision sure doesn't appeal to me.

 

As far as your crack about me listening to Cream records over and over again, I haven't been doing that. I definitely suggest you do so though to get a taste of what lead guitar playing with spirit sounds like!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Billster]

OK, Eric is coasting a lot with his playing these days. He took a lot of heat for stuff like 461 Ocean Blvd. and Slowhand, which are not bad records - just different from Layla. But he would have gotten slagged for doing Layla II if he had tried that in 1974.

 

I still think I prefer the Mayall album overall though.

[Terrell]

I haven't listened to him since:

 

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/product/8b81eaf377bfbc5c40d741515daedfd4.jpg

[CajunBlues]

Terrell...

What is that.. Is that Clapton's SG from the 60's

[miroslav]

I still like Clapton....but I really liked him when he played humbucker-based guitars...or that's just how it lays out for me.

 

Not sure if his playing really changed along with his tone when he went to Strats...but he just seemed to get methodical in his playing and too clean after the switch (or there about).

In the early days...he played with grit...and his tone was real ballsy.

 

[Terrell]

Terrell...

What is that.. Is that Clapton's SG from the 60's

 

Yes - Strange Brew...

[Chad Thorne]

IMO, when Clapton is playing the blues - especially when he's playing with somebody like Buddy Guy to give him a kick in the pants - there's no one on earth who can touch him.

 

Case in point, check him out starting at about 1:26:

Stick around for Jimmie Vaughan's solo, too, it'll be worth it.

 

All the other non-blues stuff Clapton's done, much of which I believe was done to fulfil contractual obligations and/or make some money - meh.

[Scott Fraser]

Terrell...

What is that.. Is that Clapton's SG from the 60's

 

It's pictured in the collage on the cover of Disraeli Gears. Paint job by The Fool, the Dutch art collective who painted the Beatles' Apple store in London. I've heard various stories that the SG was stolen and/or destroyed. Didn't Gibson put out a reissue version with that paint job?

 

Scott Fraser

[Mortal Engines]

Both Crossroads Guitar Fest DVDs are pretty amazing....when he is with the right people he definitely catches the fire. He does some really good pickin' in the Last Waltz as well....I think we can all forgive him for most of his 80's and 90's output...he certainly didn't suck any worse than his contemporaries at the time.

[Bejeeber]

....I think we can all forgive him for most of his 80's and 90's output...he certainly didn't suck any worse than his contemporaries at the time.

 

I can sum up my disagreement with that in 2 words:

 

Jeff Beck

 

(plus that was the era when other players such as SRV were also killing)

 

 

 

 

[Bluesape]

EC freely admits to being in awe of Buddy, as have BB and SRV in the past. I think he gets way too much criticism for skills most of us would dearly love to have. At the risk of inciting flames, I'll go on record opining that EC is the original guitar god, who more than anyone before him put the guitar at the forefront of rock. We all owe him one.

[picker]

The Ape has it right. EC has said at numerous times he was in awe of several of his contemporaries, including Hendrix and Beck, and has deprecated his own playing. That does nothing to diminish his own contribution to our instrument and it's popularization.

[Eric Iverson]

A lot of this "overrated" nonsense is based on the "star" mentality, to where a handful of talented players are granted superhero status beyond reality, and other equally talented players are neglected.

 

Clapton has said that there was a time when he let all the praise go to his head, and almost had a nervous breakdown when a critic wrote that he was "the master of the cliche".

 

When I see him onstage nowadays, I see him as being very gracious and respectful to his colleagues. He didn't set up his Crossroads shows as being focused solely on HIM!

 

A lot of it also is due to paying too much attention to mainstream media, where they mostly know nothing about music in general or guitar playing in particular. Who cares what they think, if they don't know anything about the subject?

[CajunBlues]

....I think we can all forgive him for most of his 80's and 90's output...he certainly didn't suck any worse than his contemporaries at the time.

 

I can sum up my disagreement with that in 2 words:

 

Jeff Beck

 

(plus that was the era when other players such as SRV were also killing)

 

 

 

 

I agree... Well said !!

[bennyguitfiddle]

I didn't know how I felt about him till I

saw him in Omaha wiht Robert Randolf!

WOW!! He is the real deal if you question it

go see him play!

[CajunBlues]

I didn't know how I felt about him till I

saw him in Omaha wiht Robert Randolf!

WOW!! He is the real deal if you question it

go see him play!

I saw him in 1988. Probably the most boring unimpressive vanilla concert I have ever been to. I guess I just don't understand the attraction to his music/playing. And I don't think I ever will. But I will say I respect all musical opinions (Benny). Whether you like Weird Al, Tupac Shakur, Warrant, etc... Because that is all they are --- opinions. By no means does the musical preference of a person indicate intelligence or character.

[MILLO]

A lot of this "overrated" nonsense is based on the "star" mentality, to where a handful of talented players are granted superhero status beyond reality, and other equally talented players are neglected.

 

Clapton has said that there was a time when he let all the praise go to his head, and almost had a nervous breakdown when a critic wrote that he was "the master of the cliche".

 

When I see him onstage nowadays, I see him as being very gracious and respectful to his colleagues. He didn't set up his Crossroads shows as being focused solely on HIM!

 

A lot of it also is due to paying too much attention to mainstream media, where they mostly know nothing about music in general or guitar playing in particular. Who cares what they think, if they don't know anything about the subject?

If most people really think Clapton is GOD then he's over-rated, obviously, LOL!!!... I've always said that when people say this or that guy is best player ever what they really mean is he/she is their FAVORITE player. Those are two different things... yet music is so subjective any status of guitar-super-hero is pretty much impossible to confirm or deny. To be honest I've never cared for him b/c of his music and his voice. But let's say he had started his career in the mid-70's and hadn't been a rock star AT THE BEGINNING of rock music, when everything/anything was pretty much ground-breaking: would that dude that wrote "Clapton is God" still feel like writing it? I bet you he wouldn't have. I've really LISTENED to some of his solos and have really liked some of them, plus I liked his approach to sound at the beginning of his career, pre-Strat. I have a great deal of respect for all those early-rock players, though, and that's the category where he falls in my view.... DEFINITELY NOT as a GUITAR-PLAYING MARVEL. Joe Pass was a great guitarist. So is Guthrie Govan. I haven't heard anything by Clapton that would lead me to think he's ANYWHERE near those leagues as a guitar player and/or overall musician. In the interviews I've read or heard w/ him, he seems to know this all-too-well, so I actually LIKE the guy and I think it's awesome he's being realistic. All in all, I think he's a GOOD PLAYER and there's a lot I could learn from him, but there's also a lot of ground between being "good" and the pedestal where lots of people put him. It's all those stuck-in-the-past-former-hippie-who-did-too-much-drugs-music-connoiseur-wanna-be fanboys that really irritate me.