Eric Clapton

Eddie was a better guitar player.

Eddie may be the best ever.

Manky should start a HOF thread just for Eddie.

Eddie.

 

Knew what song that was before I clicked on it.

It's a great one.

 

Clapton's catalogue reminds me of the autobiography he released a few years ago: when it's on, it's awesome, but more often than not it gets bogged down by laziness, his disastrous personal life and his many struggles with drugs and booze.

To me, Layla (just dusted in a page or two in his book) is the masterwork of his career and one of the greatest albums the rock era has ever seen. It still sounds as great and vital as the day it was released. But the rest of his career has been really hit or miss. Love the Cream stuff but a lot of the solo stuff he has released is just product (unplugged "Layla" is an abomination).

Some solid albums - many of them full of blues covers or collaborations with guys like B.B. King, Steve Winwood and Wynton Marsalis - and some decent singles and deep album tracks like "After midnight", "Cocaine", "Tulsa Time" (from Just One Night), "Let It Rain", "Promises", "I Can't Stand It", "Pretending" and "No Alibis". Saw him once live years ago and was underwhelmed.

 

He's absolutely capable.
Page was a great player. I'm not knocking him, but even in his prime he was a sloppy player.
Page has a broader creative palette for composition. He a brilliant producer, and his layering of guitar tracks was foten genius.

But as an actual player, Clapton's better.

 

Clapton was cleaner than Page, but that sloppiness is half Page's magic. Jimi Hendrix was sloppier than either. And better than either.

"Achilles' Last Stand" requires a degree of sloppy, improvisational genius.

 

I thought the album he did with BB King was wonderful.

 

Also, the fact that Cream didn't stay together longer and that Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes were one-off projects is a specious criticism.

I can understand not liking his later repertiore. I'm not a big fan of much of it.
But at 67, he's still a very fine player.

 

Three bands that produced great material, and didn't last. One common thread.

 

Three groups of musicians that produced great material - one common thread.

You're attempting to imply that every time musicians get together to record and tour, they have to stay together.

 

I'll never forgive Clapton for bailing on the Traveling Wilburys after playing that one concert with them. How many groups must he abandon?

 

matter of fact it was the legendary, gone -too-soon duane allman who did the most mind-blowingt lead guitar work on 'layla,' though clapton ain't no slouch. spent many hours staring at the ol' larva lamp and passing 'round the bong over-analyzing that classic diddy.

and he gets mad props from me for 'tears in heaven,' which drives me to tears. a tragedy that it took his 3-year-old son's unthinkable death to draw out clapton's best work in a couple of decades or so... :'( :'( :'(

 

Page is/was the king of slop. And he wasn't just sloppy live. There's times where his slop enhances or fits within the context of a song's vibe, and others where it just plain sounds like shit. To me he mostly sounds like a big pile of shit. But I love Zep.