Will anyone ever get to this level again?

[chabby]

Listen to this cut of 3 (yes, only 3) band mates, all genius level players pushing the Blues envelope making it sound like a brand new genre.

Even today this music sounds like its just been created it's so fresh to me.
It's a combination of literacy, idiosynchrasy, energy and genius all rolled into the blues idiom. What's funny is I'm not sure there has been put forth this kind of effort and soul into ANY genre since.

In terms of music I really think Clapton may have been God, certainly an extension of him for those 3 short years. Because he never again could even come close to this kind of energy again. What must he think listening to it?
He must wonder if he's even the same person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWVg0AoHWE

[chabby]

And if you listen and have any doubts, just try and keep up with Clapton for those 4 odd minutes or however long it is. It's not only the pace by a longshot though, it's the quality at that pace and the ingenuity. You can feel each player playing as if their days are numbered. Clapton couldn't have raised the bar that high without Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker pushing him like that. And hence, never did it again. What's funny is every version of this tune I've heard (at least 4) is fantastic and different. They enever played it the same way twice. Every version I've heard of this tune is live, so I'm not sure if they ever laid it down on vinyl. But good for them if they didn't.

[AirBagTester]

That is indeed swingin'. Makes me remember all of the things I love about that group! I'll have to get the BBC sessions...

[tiskit86]

Just watched the Classic Albums vid for Disraeli Gears after reading your post. Awesome video - in 5 parts on YouTube.

They were indeed really special. There was a lot of really special stuff happening in rock n roll at that time. Makes me wish we could experience something similar now.

[wayloncash]

No just a guitar player.

[Stubee]

Because he never again could even come close to this kind of energy again. What must he think listening to it?

That was darned right some energy but I'd guess after listening to him for years he's pretty happy with some of the later stuff he did.

I thought he gained some feeling, nuance & voice over the years as he started to go back to some of his blues favorites on albums like "Cradle to the Grave".

And the lead to, for instance, "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" on D&TDs is pretty darned inspired.

And yeah, he's a guitar player, but a bit better than me.

[chabby]

Let's just say he was a God of the guitar and not just a guitar player. I think I can qualify that because nobody ever could play like that ever, including even himself within a pretty short span of time. It's really as good as it get's not even taking it genre specific. He had the genius, the tone, the chops and the creative and physical energy that seemed almost limitless. That enery was fueled by such a complexity of personal emotions, that attributes things to his playing that transcnd what could be called "mere guitar playing:.

What he did was never done prior, or ever again with the taste and attributes he brought to the tsble, or I should day "they" brough to the table, because Clapton couldn't have done what he did without Baker and Bruce, of that i have no doubt. They elevated his playing to new heights and brought out what was already his genius.

The only player today that approaches anything similar is Derek Trucks, He's got that same thing going on, but he doesn't have Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. I do believe he has equivelant genius however. His phrasing ans feel in this song below takes thie solos to new heights and guitar playing in generalo to new heights.

Just listen to the solo near the end it even makes Clsapton just shake his head in disbelief - listen particularly to his unique and emotionally powerful charged power.
Of course he also understands dynamics, but the emotion literally drips off his SG.
To me, it's the closest any player in popular music today has to cream type guitar genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwkt...eature=related

[mal paso]

I resisted Clapton forever. Too clean or sterile to me.



And then Cream.



My God, how could it be the same person? What happened? Bruce, Baker, and Clapton, what skill, matched by sheer emotion and creativity and love

Cream kills.

There is nothing that sounds like it. It's impossible!

You can ape the Stones or the Beatles, or even Zep,



But you can't ape Cream



Dunno why, that's just the way it goes

[chabby]

Yap - so appropriately named

[rangercaster]

just listen to some Otis Rush stuff from the late '50s ... wow, he plays just like Clapton !!! what a strange coincidence !!!

[JaysRiff]

Originally Posted by chabby

Listen to this cut of 3 (yes, only 3) band mates, all genius level players pushing the Blues envelope making it sound like a brand new genre.

Even today this music sounds like its just been created it's so fresh to me.
It's a combination of literacy, idiosynchrasy, energy and genius all rolled into the blues idiom. What's funny is I'm not sure there has been put forth this kind of effort and soul into ANY genre since.

In terms of music I really think Clapton may have been God, certainly an extension of him for those 3 short years. Because he never again could even come close to this kind of energy again. What must he think listening to it?
He must wonder if he's even the same person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWVg0AoHWE

From a guitar playing point of view something like Driving South from the Hendrix BBC sessions scorches this.
just an opinion don't kill me

[musicalmartin]

I think dope may have helped the process

[hemingway]

Originally Posted by rangercaster

just listen to some Otis Rush stuff from the late '50s ... wow, he plays just like Clapton !!! what a strange coincidence !!!

Yes, he was influenced by lots of people, including Otis and Freddie King. But he could play them both into a cocked hat.

Coincidentally I've just bought some early Otis Rush, and some early FK. Great tones.

[Astro1176]

I like a lot of Clapton (Slowhand/Ocean Boulevard is my favourite era, Layla comes up next), I love Freddie King as well as the other Kings, I even like Yardbirds and Bluesbreakers and I have tried and tried to appreciate Cream but I just don't get it.

Am I not bluesy enough? Am I the only one?

[hemingway]

Originally Posted by Astro1176

I like a lot of Clapton (Slowhand/Ocean Boulevard is my favourite era, Layla comes up next), I love Freddie King as well as the other Kings, I even like Yardbirds and Bluesbreakers and I have tried and tried to appreciate Cream but I just don't get it.

Am I not bluesy enough? Am I the only one?

To be fair, I think some of the more psychedelic Cream stuff has dated somewhat. But hearing I'm So Glad live still gets me air-guitaring.

[chabby]

No, I can understand why you don't get all of Cream, but certainly you must get this tune I posted. I admit I don't like all their stuff. Their sillier stuff while maybe pushhing the genre envelope, doesn't do much for me musically. But this tune is a masterpiece almost every time they played it. I like this particular version because of it's energy and fluidity. I guess to really get it, try playing exactly what Clapton does on the tune I posted verbatim. If you can do it at all, which I doubt, you will be exhausted and have to sit down for a minute or two.

And you don't get "White Room"? I mean....that's a classic and possibly there most widely accepted tune. I hear ya in terms of their entire body of work, it's not all for everyone. But their masterpieces are without peer in my mind and Clapton's best playing outside the Blues Breakers. I love most of Clapton's work and he's probably the most single influential player in my life when it's all said and done.

I liked his singing as much as his guitar work and even his writing.
So for me he's the most complete guitar player/musician ever.
The man is a treasure and he's done nothing I can actually say I don't like, or hate.
I even understand he left guitar god-dom to pursue more "for the song" and less about the guitar playing, I don't blame him. Nobody could keep the pace he set with Cream without dangerous side effects.

And yes, I'm sure drugs fueled some of his creativity, while at the same time stifling some of it too. He literally stood at the "Crossroads" as coined by the infamous Robert Johnson. I think he went with the Devil for those few years, then decided he'd had enough. Not an easy trip to return from as it's taken many talented people from our midst.

But he's one of the few to actually survive it and come out different from it.
Possibly even improved in some ways, but not really as a guitar player.

[mal paso]

Surely "Sunshine.." is their signature tune, no?

[Big Tony]

Originally Posted by tiskit86

There was a lot of really special stuff happening in rock n roll at that time. Makes me wish we could experience something similar now.

It's happening all the time!

I'm sure the kids are having similar experiances today. When they are middle aged, they are going to be raving about it. Every generation...

Clapton was/is a great musician/guitar player, there's no question about it.

But most of us here at the TDPRI are too old to understand our childrens music. That is how it's supposed to be. We are to them, like our parents were to us. Our experiences are a picture of the past. "Move over, Rover, and let Jimi take over!" The kids are all right!

/ Tony

[lewis]

"White Room" never did anything for me until I saw this version. Now I'm obsessed.

[Boogyman]

These days so many players are trying so hard to come up with new chord progressions, new tunings, "fresh" stuff. And so much of it fails because it soumds so contrived. The fact is, there's nothing new under the sun. Everything has been done before. There's no foundation under all the experimental noodling. Being different just for the sake of being different lacks real heart and soul.

What Cream and so many other bands in that era did was embrace their instincts. They played what felt right and played it with passion, no excuses. They laid their souls down on the foundations of blues, they grew their licks from the roots of rock. And they didn't care if it'd been done before.
If some clueless critic pointed to a Clapton riff and whined about it sounding a lot like a Muddy Waters riff, ol' Slowhand would just laugh in his face and say "Exactly!"