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Re-Loving Clapton

rialcnis

Active member
Joined
Jul 5, 2019
Messages
221
My only quibble with Clapton, was his condescending, "Blues Purist" routine and leaving The Yardbirds when they recorded "For Your Love," who were wanting to try to make some money with something more commercial. It was still cosmic commercial. They invented the Rave Up. Of course I am glad Eric left and Jeff Beck took over, although how cool could that have been had they started the dual lead phenomena. In a perfect world Clapton, Beck and Page could have stayed doing three-Lead guitar symphonies.

The Yardbirds never left the Blues, they just weren't stuck in it and were creating a new kind of cosmic music, still the Blues--- but a different kind-- -- and Eric was phenomenal with the Bluesbreakers, but the Irony I saw, was how Eric himself, started doing cosmic rock like the Yardbirds, with The Cream-- which I loved also. Eric heard Jeff's tone and started cranking up his amplifier, jettisoning his thin sound heard on Five Live or the Sonny Boy album.

It was Jeff Beck that started the experimental, cosmic rock tone that spawned heavy metal and all those redundant sounds in the 70's and 80's and still today. Five Live Yardbirds was a fantastic album, but not until the Jeff Beck experimental sounds, did the guitar enter new dimensions, just like Les Paul himself had done years earlier.

After Cream and Blind Faith, Eric went real commercial--much more "commercial" than The Yardbirds ever did. Layla and I shot the Sheriff, etc. was totally commercial.

That being said, I agreed with Clapton when he created the more recent controversy and whatever sins he committed with his Blues Purist "Clapton is God ego," is long forgiven by me. My three favorite Guitarists were all in the Yardbirds. I attribute their cosmic sounds to Keith Relf's single-minded aura and his Harmonica fanfares that took Blues Harp into uncharted and unbounded directions. It was Relf that was the "GOD," not Clapton. His morpho-genetic field, drew those three guitarist out from the Mystic ether. The "call and response" of the Yardbirds and early Zep, was never bettered. Jim McCartney's cadences and Paul Samwell Smith's Rave Up basslines boggles minds.

:)

(If you want to read more of my crazed gushing over the Yardbirds, see my liner notes on the back of the Shrine Auditorium "Last Rave Up in LA" three record Bootleg I recorded---terrible sound needing listening on headphones.)

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garywright

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
Messages
15,585
fwiw, played at a different rhythm/timing ECs Let it Grow opening borrows from Disneys chim-chimney …standing in the crossroads/chim-chimney chim-chimney haha
 

gmann

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2003
Messages
6,147
fwiw, played at a different rhythm/timing ECs Let it Grow opening borrows from Disneys chim-chimney …standing in the crossroads/chim-chimney chim-chimney haha
He’s said in interviews that he nicked fm Stairway
 

Amp360

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
852
It's sad that I log into forums less and less because there's always some political nonsense, no matter the topic. Exhausting.
 

ourmaninthenorth

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
7,119
I think Eric's a great player.

All the other "stuff " barely interests me enough to have an opinion on...glass houses and all that shit.
 
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