Albrecht Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 On 3/3/2021 at 6:22 PM, AudioDoctor said: In fact, I find him boring, I don't hear anything special in his guitar playing, I have no idea why he is so famous, and his music is easy listening for aging boomers... He took a superior art form, polished all its rough edges, packaged it for middle america, and IMO, ruined every blues song he ever sang. I don’t really disagree... But speaking as a songwriter, - there’s a big difference between writing music and cramming notes into a measure. He has written some powerful, and beautiful melodies. Also, he is not a singer, - so not sure where that comes from. I also regard Joe Satriani as a “not-very-good” guitar player, - whereas Frank Zappa is a great guitar player. For me, (Clapton) he’s just another part of a late 60s songwriting “team” that lost their muse. (I exclude Ginger Baker from that statement). But then, (as a matter of opinion), i don’t expect anyone to agree with me, - speed is always going to take a backseat to songwriting: a great guitar player, like a great horn player, has the confidence to hold just one note, or not play at all, when it’s needed/required. Bill Brown 1 Link to comment
Albrecht Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 17 hours ago, AudioDoctor said: I assumed that the people who populate this forum are smart enough to figure that out. Additionally, in the very title I stated that "I don't think EC is very great." I did not say that EC sucks, or EC is objectively bad and if you think he's good, you suck too. I merely stated my opinion. True that, - this is all art... and defined by, what “artists” say it is: that is no real universalizable definition. One can derive objective statements to subjective areas: “John McLaughlin can play more distinct notes per a given time measure of musical phrases than Eric Clapton.” Of course, - many people might not value that at all, and say “so what.” I can’t understand why people do this with classifications as well. In the past the record labels told the record stores where to put their releases in what bins, in what section, of the store. I never found Frank Zappa records in the Jazz section, or Hugh Masekela either. A lot of say, - “that’s not jazz” Which translates as: “I don’t like it, so it’s not good jazz to me.” Link to comment
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