Unpopular opinion... I don't think Eric Clapton is very great.

AudioDoctor · October 1, 2021

1 minute ago, Priaptor said:

See you are doing it. You don't like my post in response to Jud's and I am accused of veering off topic? LOL

I knew this would happen. Did it occur to you that I was talking to everyone?

EVERYONE STAY ON TOPIC.

Iving · October 1, 2021

Having pitched in just an hour or two ago, I just read the whole thread for the first time ... I never saw the thread title in the Activity Stream as clickbait.

A thread about whether EC is great or not spent the first dozen or so pages on racism, guns, cars, mask-politics and ECT - before significant raw or comparative discussion about EC's musical output and potential. Great conversation starter then I guess!

I'm 100% for human equality and can prove it. The culture at large was still implicitly racist in the 1970s. Still is by many sensible accounts. Whether EC was more racist than the average - then - who can say. His 1976 rant doesn't look good. How many other performing stars are on record for the same kind of lapses - the answer must be very few. I would take him at his word now - if he has one - I don't believe in condemning people for errors (to which they confess) 40+ years later.

But the lockdown thing ... I have always regarded Van Morrison as a full blown w*nk*r. I hate his whingy, whiney voice and absolutely loathe all of his music. I can't understand how some people adore him. I don't know how he ever earned fame. Not even for 'Astral Weeks' and 'Moondance'. He sounds arrogant and self-satisfied - even when he sings. So it doesn't surprise me to learn he was on an anti-lockdown soapbox. I feel vindicated about him - and am very glad to get all this off my chest. I am genuinely surprised to know EC joined him - including anti-vax etc. I don't read enough news these days. It changes my view of EC as a human being - for the worse. It's likely that the best of EC's music will beguile me less from now on.

My remarks for conversation's sake:

1. Eric's reputation back in the 1960s/1970s - not the "God" thing - was for reviving a musical tradition then considered to have more or less lapsed. Well - I speak as someone in the UK. A lot of people wanted to give him credit for that.

2. I agree that Eric is a pop star more than a Blues musician. If you want the Blues - you need to go retro for it. Everything is of its time - few worthwhile things translate forwards with authenticity. My main point about this is not so much that people can't do good Blues now - but that Blues is more interesting as a fulcrum for progress in pop - when it was that fulcrum.

3. Eric is capable of playing sublime music. The 'Just One Night' 1979/80 tour of Japan and Bobfest 30th Anniv. "My Back Pages" are highlights for me. NB; all Live not studio. I heard Morrisey say in an interview that he is different/at home with himself on stage.

4. Why aren't Albert Lee and even Kenny Vaughan as revered. It can't be just that they're not so "easy on the eye" - even Clapton's not that prepossessing. Does EC have celebrity "je ne sais quoi"? Can't see it myself.