Eric Clapton/Jeff Beck Observation

[TheCheapGuitarist]

I think it was inspired by Roy Buchanan.
Beck and SRV did tour together.
Stevie Wonder and Beck collaborated on Superstition, but SW wrote it.

The story goes that S.W. wrote it for Jeff Beck, but Capitol Records heard S.W.'s demo and decided it was a hit, so they released demo as the S.W. single. BBA found out later and were pi**ed because everyone thought their version was a cover, but theirs was supposed to be the only one released. J.B. commented that S.W. hated it...

 

[dogmeat]

or, as Becks says in his book, they were working on it for Jeff, then broke for lunch. when they came back Stevie said no,,, he had some ideas, and this one is mine

 

[hopdybob]

That last one struck me tonight - I listened to the Vol. 1 Cream live album, and the BBA live album afterward, and it's pretty much the same freaking sound, engineering, etc. But I will say this, then duck out of the way to avoid things being thrown at me: I think the BBA live album is better....

isn't so strange knowing that equipment wasn't so widely available like now.
and being in the same 'scene' they shared their experiences with all they used.

 

[SuprHtr]

Stevie Wonder and Beck collaborated on Superstition, but SW wrote it.

Another song by Stevie that Jeff played. I like Max Middleton’s piano arrangement better than Stevie’s. I think Max was a better match for Jeff than Jan Hammer. I’m still trying to figure out some of these chords….

 

[Tricone]

I am not a fan of either really. Duane Allman playing with EC on the Derek and the Dominoes' album "Layla" is a great album though.

 

[Flyboy]

Beck's a better guitarist, Eric will be the first to admit. Jeff can DRAW sounds from his Strat that few can mimic.

Jeff is The Man for me.

 

[Flyboy]

beck can do anything. he still sounds fresh today, his playing is truly phenomonal
by comparison-
everything clapton does makes me yawn, and reeks of stale kool cigarettes

I wholeheartedly agree!

 

[blowtorch]

I wholeheartedly agree!

You smell it too, then? Cool. I thought it was just me

 

[rand z]

Clapton does his guitar thing... he's got IT down.

Beck has a number of guitar THINGS... that he does well.

As said above, Beck "draws" sounds from his guitar.

It's very true.

He's more of a "Sonic Adventure" type of guitar player.

Claptons more of a "Plug and Play" guitar player.

Becks not really a Blues player.

Clapton is a Blues player.

Clapton sings and writes/wrote a fair amount of his songs.

Beck does not sing and only writes a minimal amount of his songs.

Each has his own merits.

Comparing the two is like the "apples to oranges" thing.

imo.

 

[effzee]

Here's a Beck/Clapton observation:

Love that one. Eric watching Jeff, thinking, "what on god's green earth is that bloke doing now??? God I hate him"; Jeff watching Eric, thinking, "I could do that but this isn't 1967 anymore".

 

[omahaaudio]

I don't think that Beck has done much since "Loser".

 

[schmee]

I've never been a particular fan of either but Eric certainly has a ton more listenable songs than Beck.
Do we really need to hear Because We Ended... ever again?
Didn't Stevie give that to him?

Me too. Although I would say that JB is possibly a better guitarist... in many ways it's difficult to find him displaying it. JB seems to get more enthused by making 'strange sounds', maybe just to be different, not my thing really.

OTOH Clapton writes good stuff, makes great rearrangments of cover songs and sings well, but is always stuck a little too much in Pentatonic mode. (then again, I suppose you coud say he kinda popularized the heavy use of pentatonics in R&R/Blues)
So... there's that.

 

[coolrene]

Here's a Beck/Clapton observation:

Beck's got a unique technique and vibrato command, but IMO his tone stinks: much too brittle...

 

[BlueTele]

As great as the many are who have offered up awesome tone and technique through the years, there are only two "guitar players', guitar players" (IMHO): Jeff Beck and Robben Ford. And Jeff Beck is quite ahead in that regard, as great and innovative as Robben is. Jeff just keeps creating and pushing through new barriers and walls to give us the next incredible tones and sounds. He has absolutely stunning command of the instrument. He always knows exactly what he is doing, why he is doing it, and how he will do it. The best example of a musician and his instrument...his "tool of his trade" that there ever was. There is something to be said for spontaneity and being on the edge while playing, especially "live", but Beck is always in complete control. Clapton on the other hand, has admitted numerous times, that "during" a song in a "live" performance, he knows that he is just a few bars away from a solo, and he "isn't exactly sure what he will play", because he never plays the same thing twice the same way. It is all spontaneous...he knows that he has "x" number of bars to freewheel a spontaneous solo before returning to the next verse, but what he does during those bars is "in the moment" and spontaneous. There is a lot to be said of that...I am sure that is how Crossroads became the monumental song it did with those two incredible solos...Cream was a jam band, and Clapton was so good, he could just "go there" and be in that moment to produce something like that. But in my mind, Beck prevails as my favorite...someone whose technique and abilities I have always aspired to.

 

[JBurton]

Obviously Beck is much more diverse than Clapton. But EC is a fine style all his own. Great voice to go with his music.
There are very good guitarists, and there are great guitarists. After that the more rare supernatural and divine-like, of which I’d not include either of these two.

 

[fendrguitplayr]

I like Max Middleton’s piano arrangement better than Stevie’s.

Max played that great!

 

[marc2211]

Tricky. I find it very hard to listen to Beck, unlike listening to Page who may be less avant garde, but is more in line to my tastes.

Clapton for me is discounted after the Dominos. I loved Clapton in Cream, BB, Dominos - after this he had left me cold.

Every few years I’ll go through a phase of really trying to like Beck, but I just can’t.

 

[fenderchamp]

/me puts on truth

 

[telebklyn]

I'm not an expert on either musician nor their musical output, but:

1) Both were in the Yardbirds
2) Both played Gibsons through overdriven amps, heavy blues-based (BBA and Cream)
3) Both considered guitar heroes
4) Both switched to Fenders, cleaner amps, and less-heavy music later
5) Both BBA and Cream produced live albums that sound very much alike (bass panned to L, guitar panned to R)

That last one struck me tonight - I listened to the Vol. 1 Cream live album, and the BBA live album afterward, and it's pretty much the same freaking sound, engineering, etc. But I will say this, then duck out of the way to avoid things being thrown at me: I think the BBA live album is better....

Eric is very humble in interviews and will admit that anybody is a better guitar player. Jeff Beck may extract farm animal sounds from his guitar but I don’t know that I want to hear that. Bluesbreakers guitar work is groundbreaking and new. Cream takes it a step further. It’s quite clear Eric was stealing from all of the Kings, then kicking it up a notch and distorting it and making it louder and faster. There’s a lot of crazy anti-Eric stuff out there on the Internet, but you would have to be deaf and/or blinded by politics and wokeness to think he is not groundbreaking and at the top of the pyramid of electric blues guitar players. Beck simply is not as accessible. Regarding the Les Pauls, I do wonder why they all ditch them, except for Jimmy Page obviously, who went in the opposite direction.

 

[ficelles]

Regarding the Les Pauls, I do wonder why they all ditch them, except for Jimmy Page obviously, who went in the opposite direction.

Although famously recorded the Stairway solo on a Tele...