19 replies to this topic

[Dean Heuke]

dont get me wrong, he is a great guitar player, but as singer not really, or?

[JimmyBooth]

I always felt that, as a singer, you can always tell that he's trying his best. That strained voice that he does (best heard in the original recording of "Layla") shows that he tried to sing, and he's a darn sight better than I. It kinda adds a depth to his music, thus I quite like it

Also, like Clapton, some Blues singers don't need the best voice in the world. As long as you arn't tone deaf, you'll be fine.

[vicious]

it depends on what song it is... he has good ones and bad ones. But most of the time good ones

[Bluesscoot]

Eric Clapton is a freakin legend and i will not sit here and read a bad word against him. The man is pure genius made in human form and given a guitar. He is a genuine blues man. The blues isn't about being the best singer, its about expressing who you are through your music. I'm sure you don't have to listen too closely to the old blues men to realise Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Screamin Jay Hawkins and even Jake Blues weren't exactly the best at actually singing, but that doesn't matter, because what they did, they did with style, attitude and roar emotion.

Long live, and God bless 'Old Slow Hand', and thanks for the music.

Take it easy.

[Dean Heuke]

Bluesscoot said:

I'm sure you don't have to listen too closely to the old blues men to realise Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Screamin Jay Hawkins and even Jake Blues

my dear friend,

i've got a lot of old Blues CD's including: Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B.King and a lot of compilation/best of cds of the "old"(mostly delta blues). I know, what i am talking about. I know how they sang, you have to know that i like more the "fresh chicago sound". And for me, John Belushi sang better than a lot of artists

Danny

[Bluesscoot]

It's a good thing that you have a personal preferance, however my point is that it doesn't seem fair to rag on, or even dislike a fantastic blues legend like Eric Clapton simply because he doesn't have the best singing voice. The man has done so much for music over the last five decades. He has become a true inspiration to many other musicians, as well as worked with so many other musical legends throughout his career such as B.B. King, John Lennon, J J Cale, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and countless others.

[Bluesscoot]

YouTube - B. B. King & Eric Clapton - The Thrill Is Gone

Very cool vid. Check it out.

Take it easy.

[Dean Heuke]

Bluesscoot said:

that it doesn't seem fair to rag on, or even dislike a fantastic blues legend like Eric Clapton simply because he doesn't have the best singing voice.

For me, there are artists(incl. Clapton) which i dont like. I even dont like M.Jackson, and he is the "King of pop" ... I dont like them because they are to famous. And i dont see really a reason for this.

A.Clapton is famous because he is a guy who is ca.1000years on stage. He's like the Mick Jagger for the Blues. I dont see that he's good. When i think of clapton, i see in my head a great guitar player who sings S-H-I-T and looks like he's crying. Whats so good at him EXPECT his guitar player?! People from all over the world know him, because they never saw a guy who can sing better... F.Example i asked a teacher if she knows Clapton. She said yes. But when i would ask her, who is John Popper, Tad Kinchla, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker ... you can name almost everybody blues artist .... she wouldnt know .... and thats sad. There are so much better singer/guitar players of the blues, but people dont see the real good blues boys, and for me, THAT IS SAD!

ahh ... i forgot to talk about M.Jackson--- its the same reason like i have for clapton, but in that case it is the genre of music ... "Populare Music" has much more well known artists ... there are also better artists ... Like Danny Aykroyd would say: "but you know, he's great and nobody can replace him"

i tell you what! I HATE THE SENTENCE "nobody can replace a legend" ...
are you Sh***ing me ...
We had Elvis, We had Jackson, We had Taylor, We had Sinatra, We had Mozart :D ...
Now ... in 2010 ... we have a lot of musicians out there ... doing it way better than the guys who startet with this ...


do you hate me now? :D


Danny

[vicious]

everyone has his own taste of music so Dean doesn't like Clapton. everyone has someone he doesn't like so we don't get make a discussion about it. It's like me hating the belgium cook Piet Huysentruyt

[elizabeth]

He's ok.

[Bluesscoot]

It's great that everyone has their own taste in music. That's what makes us unique and keeps music interesting. However it doesn't seem fair to dismiss an artist for a not so great singing voice when he has contributed so much to music for so very long, and he's still going.
It's alright not to like someone, but you could at least appreciate them.

[Bluesscoot]

YouTube - Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton & Bb King - Live At Rrhof (2005)

YouTube - Eric Clapton & Friends - White Room

YouTube - carlos santana and eric clapton crossroads blues fest- jingo

YouTube - Bob Dylan & Eric Clapton - Crossroads

[Joliet Blues]

Clapton was a good guitarist till Hendrix came along. Though it can't be proven i think Clapton killed Jimi to be number one again. Then on down the road a great man named Stevie Ray Vaughan comes along and blows Clapton's doors off. So to get rid of him, Clapton gives Stevie his seat on the helicopter, that moments later crashed into the side of a mountain.

I don't know if this can be proven but I think its a good theory.

Please tell me if anybody agrees.

[Elwood72]

Joliet Blues said:

Clapton was a good guitarist till Hendrix came along. Though it can't be proven i think Clapton killed Jimi to be number one again. Then on down the road a great man named Stevie Ray Vaughan comes along and blows Clapton's doors off. So to get rid of him, Clapton gives Stevie his seat on the helicopter, that moments later crashed into the side of a mountain.

I don't know if this can be proven but I think its a good theory.

Please tell me if anybody agrees.

Yet again, Duane Allman is overlooked. He was better than Clapton,and Eric knew it.


Duane was right up there with Jimi.



....and is.

[Joliet Blues]

Man, Elwood72. . . You got that right Duane is one of the best that there ever was.

[ChAnOoD_bLuEs]

I wish I could sing like Clapton...

[james cotton]

Maybe Dean's not old enough to get Claptons legend,but he's intitled to his opinon, most of us grew up with Clapton and if you grow up listenin to something, it becomes a part of you , It colors your world, some of the blues you just have to grow up with to really GET IT.
like Mike Bloomfield, guy can't sing,but i grew into it, so I love it,and growin into something like that
also grows respect, and knowing, we can't all know.ya know.

[Bluesscoot]

I'm thirty years old, I grew up with my Dad playing Slim Dusty, The Platters and the Driffters, and my Mum playing John Farnham and Rod Stewart. The blues is something I pretty much discovered for myself and now my favourite musicians are those who were creating music ten to thirty years before I was born. I think "getting it" is simply a matter of how much you appreciate a particular artist or genre of music no matter what age you may be.

[Bluesscoot]

Joliet Blues said:

Clapton was a good guitarist till Hendrix came along. Though it can't be proven i think Clapton killed Jimi to be number one again. Then on down the road a great man named Stevie Ray Vaughan comes along and blows Clapton's doors off. So to get rid of him, Clapton gives Stevie his seat on the helicopter, that moments later crashed into the side of a mountain.

I don't know if this can be proven but I think its a good theory.

Please tell me if anybody agrees.

Sorry but i really can't agree with your "theory". Hendrix and Clapton (as awesome as they both are) play totally different styles of blues and I don't think you can compare the two. Vaughan too was a brilliant blues musician who's stlye was nothing like Clapton's, and has his very own place in blues music history.

[Elwood Jake]

I am still in school. nobody has ever heard of anything I listen to, they have no idea who Tom Petty is or even the Blues Brothers which I was shocked by because in the 80's The Blues Brothers was a household name.

Music nowadays has seemed to broaden my horizons, it is so crap today that anything with any musical talent is something I like now even MJ who I thought most of his songs sucked and only two where okay. However I think all his music is god's work compared the Usher.