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+--- Thread: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? (/showthread.php?tid=25064)
Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - CRAZY-HORSE - 08-05-2025
ive been reading a lot lately in articles and comments from music fans and people seem to be divided about how great (or average) Eric Clapton is as a guitarist,
theres no denying his influence on rock music nor his influence on getting a million teenagers out there learning to play BUT is Eric Clapton in your opinion a great guitarist, one who had a 'feel' for his instrument, or someone who hacked and blatantly copied every black blues player that came before him??
i do own half a dozen of his albums and i like them, i have also seen him in concert around 2000-ish and he put on a very good show.
but now i am going to listen to his 4cd anthology "crossroads", a 73 track career spanning set released in 1988 and sort of get a better overview of his career.
thoughts and opinions please...
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - JeromeD - 08-05-2025
I don't know if he is a genius or not but in my book he's one of the greats. If you ever get the chance watch the whole of his live DVD '24 Nigthts' - fantastic guitar work. All guitarists copy other players at one time or another. Even the 'geniuses'. The people who think he is average are not really listening to what the man does on his instrument. Their loss.
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - CRAZY-HORSE - 08-05-2025
thanks Jerome, i happen to agree with you actually.
and to me, yes, he copied the blues guys who came before him but then as he improved he instilled his own style into what he was doing and developed his own sound.
and when you get the so called great blues guys like BB King and Buddy Guy thinking he is great then that says it all IMO
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - Music Head - 08-05-2025
he can play guitar better than me so he's a genius
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - CRAZY-HORSE - 08-05-2025
^^
LOL
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - Ruby - 08-05-2025
Led Zep and the Rolling Stones also drew on and emulated the influences you mention CH - many others too, as you know - it's the nature of things. 461 Ocean Boulevard would probably make it on to my non-existent list of 100 all-time favourite albums!
You don't get the reputation he has acquired over time by being second rate - IMHO.
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - CRAZY-HORSE - 09-05-2025
exactly Ruby, glad we are ALL on the same page (i knew we were but just had to ask)
after reading more of those comments on the internet i truly believe that the people writing a lot of them are part of the whole
"cancel culture" mob, (the ones who find something in someone's deep dark history and hold it against them for eternity), and on this occasion i think its about those drunken drug fueled comments about immigration Clapton made in the mid 1970s whilst on stage one night.
thanks for participating,
oops sorry, i should have waited for Mellope to put his thoughts in to
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - JeromeD - 13-05-2025
The 'cancel culture' mob are obsessed with putting everyone down. The reason? They are basically just uptight wannabees because they have done sweet fuck-all all their lives except complain.
RE: Eric Clapton: guitar fraud or absolute genius? - CRAZY-HORSE - 13-05-2025
^^
couldnt have said it better myself J-Man