someone acquaint me with Clapton

[threadkiller]

I have to admit, after 20 years of playing, i've never really listened to any Clapton other tham what's on the radio routinely. Someone point me at some good Clapton listening. Is there a "boxed set" or something that is pretty comprehensive from his yardbirds days up through more current stuff?

 

[carlygtr]

There was a Cream boxed set years ago. Check out the Cream LIVE stuff. Off the charts in tone, improv, etc.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

 

[rupe]

There are different sides to Clapton, from his early rock with the Yardbirds and Cream to his blues which extends from the Bluesbreakers through his current work. Then there's his solo pop-rock stuff from the 70's and 80's. Hit Youtube...there's more than enough material there to keep you busy for a while.

 

[Gainzilla]

Clapton is one of those guys that I have nothing but respect for but he just doesnt really appeal to me. I like what he did in Cream better than everything else for the most part but Im not floored or even moved by his tone or improv in the least. He penned some great tunes with some great riffs but thats about where it ends for me.

 

[Ventura]

Clapton is one of those guys that I have nothing but respect for but he just doesnt really appeal to me. I like what he did in Cream better than everything else for the most part but Im not floored or even moved by his tone or improv in the least. He penned some great tunes with some great riffs but thats about where it ends for me.

This.

The songs that got me really excited were the oldies: white room, i feel free, sunshine of your love... These songs made an impact, but after that, can't say it really has me by the boo-boo any more.

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Agreed.

Guy's got great style and tone, but it's not something I die for - to me, Clapton was far from god.

 

[metalmaniac93]

The Cream stuff is his best. Also the John Mayall Bluesbreaker stuff is good. "From the Cradle" is also a good blues based CD.

 

[carlygtr]

Clapton is one of those guys that I have nothing but respect for but he just doesnt really appeal to me. I like what he did in Cream better than everything else for the most part but Im not floored or even moved by his tone or improv in the least. He penned some great tunes with some great riffs but thats about where it ends for me.

This.

The songs that got me really excited were the oldies: white room, i feel free, sunshine of your love... These songs made an impact, but after that, can't say it really has me by the boo-boo any more.

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Agreed.

Guy's got great style and tone, but it's not something I die for - to me, Clapton was far from god.

Well, in Britain, in the 60's he certainly attained that status. His only competition back then was Jimi. We're talking '67-68. Zep, Beck weren't where they would be a few years later.
It's sad cause younger guys just think of the few Cream hits that were played on the radio, but Cream live was a different story. They were encouraged to stretch out and jam and that became what they were known for. They were England's cream of the crop. Each member awesome in his own rite. A blues guy, who never played the same thing twice back then, and two jazz cats. it made for music that nobody, not even them in their 2005 reunion could duplicate.
They had off nights but on the nights they were firing on all cylinders nobody could touch them. EJ and Joe B grab a few old EC licks and try, but it's not in the context EC was churning that stuff out.

YouTube has TONS of live Cream material.

 

[tripstan]

Cream The Royal Albert Hall reunion show is titty too. Ginger Baker is still a beast on the drums.

 

[steve_k]

Wrong board. Check in at TGP....

 

[Digital Jams]

Clapton is one of those guys that I have nothing but respect for but he just doesnt really appeal to me. I like what he did in Cream better than everything else for the most part but Im not floored or even moved by his tone or improv in the least. He penned some great tunes with some great riffs but thats about where it ends for me.

This.

The songs that got me really excited were the oldies: white room, i feel free, sunshine of your love... These songs made an impact, but after that, can't say it really has me by the boo-boo any more.

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Agreed.

Guy's got great style and tone, but it's not something I die for - to me, Clapton was far from god.

Well, in Britain, in the 60's he certainly attained that status. His only competition back then was Jimi. We're talking '67-68. Zep, Beck weren't where they would be a few years later.
It's sad cause younger guys just think of the few Cream hits that were played on the radio, but Cream live was a different story. They were encouraged to stretch out and jam and that became what they were known for. They were England's cream of the crop. Each member awesome in his own rite. A blues guy, who never played the same thing twice back then, and two jazz cats. it made for music that nobody, not even them in their 2005 reunion could duplicate.
They had off nights but on the nights they were firing on all cylinders nobody could touch them. EJ and Joe B grab a few old EC licks and try, but it's not in the context EC was churning that stuff out.

YouTube has TONS of live Cream material.

I have learned more and more lately that England back in the late 60s had some huge jumps in guitar playing and what was being played from the yardbirds with Page and beck and the huge open jams of Cream. Been listening to that stuff and 70s players more and more and I know where you have been coming from all these years regarding your view of most 80s players.

 

[threadkiller]

Wrong board. Check in at TGP....

Fair enough. I've found myself posting over there more lately as well. WTF is wrong with me

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Boring is how I've felt about a lot of what I've heard to. Never really listened to any of the Bluesbreakers stuff. I familiar with the more popular Cream stuff. The Journeyman era stuff i've heard a few bits and pieces and nothing really caught my attention. I just figured I was missing something.

 

[Heritage Softail]

It seemed to me that Gilmour took off from where Clapton hit a fork in the road.

But for the EC stuff, I would hit YT. Def no need to buy a box set. But some worship him, just does not do it for me.

 

[D-Rock]

Wrong board. Check in at TGP....

Fair enough. I've found myself posting over there more lately as well. WTF is wrong with me

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Boring is how I've felt about a lot of what I've heard to. Never really listened to any of the Bluesbreakers stuff. I familiar with the more popular Cream stuff. The Journeyman era stuff i've heard a few bits and pieces and nothing really caught my attention. I just figured I was missing something.

Nah, he's a former SLO user so EC should fit in just fine here at RT.
I prefer his Cream days though myself. Loud 60's Marshall tone FTW!

 

[thiswaythatway]

Wrong board. Check in at TGP....

Fair enough. I've found myself posting over there more lately as well. WTF is wrong with me

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Boring is how I've felt about a lot of what I've heard to. Never really listened to any of the Bluesbreakers stuff. I familiar with the more popular Cream stuff. The Journeyman era stuff i've heard a few bits and pieces and nothing really caught my attention. I just figured I was missing something.

Yeah, I really dislike most of his solo stuff even though he's got millions of fans from just that material. You listen to Cream and wonder what happened.

Think of it like this. Imagine it's the late 60's and you went and saw Cream live. What sounded like that back then besides Hendrix?

 

[Zap]

Clapton was one of my first influences at 19 when I heard "Layla" for the first time. I've listened to nearly everything he has done at least once. There's a lot of awesomeness, but there are also some less than stellar moments.

I would go in chronological order and leave the solo stuff on the backburner.

The Beano album (Clapton's reading a comic book on the front because he hated having his picture taken)
All Cream albums
Blind Faith (surprised no one has mentioned this yet)
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

There's some good solo stuff later one, but start with this because I feel this is where he was at his best.

Clapton is one of those guys that I have nothing but respect for but he just doesnt really appeal to me. I like what he did in Cream better than everything else for the most part but Im not floored or even moved by his tone or improv in the least. He penned some great tunes with some great riffs but thats about where it ends for me.

This.

The songs that got me really excited were the oldies: white room, i feel free, sunshine of your love... These songs made an impact, but after that, can't say it really has me by the boo-boo any more.

Listen to the Cream stuff and you hear where Eric Johnson gets a lot of inspriration from. Most of his solo stuff I find boring, especially his playing. But I liked all the other guys that came from England in the late 60's early 70's more than him, Page, Beck, Gilmour, Iommi, May.

Agreed.

Guy's got great style and tone, but it's not something I die for - to me, Clapton was far from god.

Well, in Britain, in the 60's he certainly attained that status. His only competition back then was Jimi. We're talking '67-68. Zep, Beck weren't where they would be a few years later.
It's sad cause younger guys just think of the few Cream hits that were played on the radio, but Cream live was a different story. They were encouraged to stretch out and jam and that became what they were known for. They were England's cream of the crop. Each member awesome in his own rite. A blues guy, who never played the same thing twice back then, and two jazz cats. it made for music that nobody, not even them in their 2005 reunion could duplicate.
They had off nights but on the nights they were firing on all cylinders nobody could touch them. EJ and Joe B grab a few old EC licks and try, but it's not in the context EC was churning that stuff out.

YouTube has TONS of live Cream material.

Right. You really have to look at it from a historical perspective. Clapton may not seem like much today, but he was the shit (even if it was a relatively short period of time) for a few years in the 60s. I wouldn't say Beck wasn't where he would be until a few years later, though. Clapton was butthurt when the The Yardbirds replaced him with Beck, and they went on to have more hits with him than with Clapton and Page combined. Beck was still a monster player then, even if the music was different. Just check out "Jeff's Boogie". Truth was also released in '68 with "Bolero" cut in '66.

 

[Ventura]

My take on the whole UK Clapton worship thing is this: They didn't have access to black blues music in those days. Clapton himself has said the god thing was a bit off the deep end as he was copping licks and the like from shit he'd heard from the delta mississippi scene... He was a white guy, British, who played guitar. An innovator in a genre that existed well before him, but not brought mainstream into an otherwise staunch society of high-brow English folk.

When Jimi appeared on the scene, Clapton said it was over. Beck said the same thing. These guys had the scene by the balls and next thing you know an American comes over, a BLACK American at that, and just filets the set with completely unorthodox playing AND stage presence.

I'm not saying Jimi was god, but he was dialed into that guitar more than many, many others. It truly was an extension of his physique and psyche. I think Page was incredible too - and here's a guy who, like many, studied and worked with the older styles and blues and folk music, and morphed it into a fresh scene, and added a great vocalist, an equally as talented bassist/keyboardist, and a loose-cannon drummer. History in the making.

But slo-hand never did it for me. Cocaine, Layla, etc etc etc - sure, GREAT songs, but it never left me jaw-dropped like, say, McLaughlin or Rhoads or Page or Hendrix or.....................

 

[blackba]

Check out the crossroads box set, has all the Clapton eras pretty well covered. I think its out of print, but you should be able to find one used.

As far as my favorite albums, most are from the Cream era.
Cream - Disereli Gears
Cream - Wheels of fire
Cream - Live Cream vol 1 and 2
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton
Blind Faith
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and other asorted love songs
Eric Clapton - Journeyman
Eric Clapton - unplugged

 

[ratter]

Agree - the crossroads box set is a pretty good starting point.

If none of that turns your crank, you're not missing anything, it's just not for you. No harm in that.

For me, Clapton can do no wrong. He's laid a couple of eggs along the way, sure, but you'll have that when you are talking about somebody that prolific.

Even modern-day tweed-amps-and-loafers Clapton is great to me. His singing has gotten better and better with age. And I like the fact that he is still out there working and isn't always just cashing in on Layla. He also has let go of the ego a bit and isn't afraid to do something like hire Doyle Bramhall as a sideman. Lots of guys of EC's stature would not want to risk getting upstaged.

 

[Gainzilla]

If none of that turns your crank, you're not missing anything, it's just not for you. No harm in that.

For me, Clapton can do no wrong. He's laid a couple of eggs along the way, sure, but you'll have that when you are talking about somebody that prolific.

I think that both of these sentiments sum up EC for me; Its not for me and he can do no wrong. He's Eric Clapton for crying out loud..