The Guitar God turns 60 today! :eek:
What’s your favorite song of his?
Favorite album?
Favorite band/era/style?
I’ve always been partial to Layla. One of my all time favorite albums is the masterpiece he recorded with B.B. King, Riding With the King.
If I could only have one track of his, it’d probably be the 8-minute “Double Trouble” off the live album Just One Night. Or maybe “Lay Down Sally” from the same concert. Both absolutely terrific (as is the whole double CD).
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is one of the best composed albums ever made. The way each track complements the next; the penultimate track (Layla) with it’s Duane Altman-dominated extended coda, followed by the mournful Thorn Tree in the Garden…perfect.
I’m not so fond of Riding with the King, though; King isn’t exactly in his prime, and even so, his voice highlights how weak Clapton’s vocals are in comparison. Good, but not great.
I’m highly partial to Blind Faith too (especially Had To Cry Today and Can’t Find My Way Home) but on the whole I think his Cream period was more influential on rock music as a whole. Neither are just Clapton’s influence, though.
Stranger
If I could only have one track, it would be “Crossroads” from Wheels of Fire by Cream.
If I could only have one album, it would be Layla.
But my favorite Clapton era is his time with the Yardbirds and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.
I’ve seen Clapton perform many times, but my favorite performance was back in 1981. Atlanta promoter Alex Cooley brought EC to town for a show at either the Fox or the Omni. At the same time, he operated a nightclub in Buckhead. The featured performer at Cooley’s club that evening was Asleep at the Wheel. When Asleep at the Wheel came on for their third set, who should join them but Clapton! He was incredible. He didn’t overpower the band at all - it was still Asleep at the Wheel - they just had added a very good guitar player.
Happy birthday, Slowhand!
I love Layla also, but I love the unplugged version. And the Unplugged album is my fave, with a major nod to Blind Faith.
Favorite Clapton work would probably have to be Badge with Unplugged as the album.
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is my favorite album, by quite a large margin.
The live version of “Crossroads” by Cream is my favorite song. The second solo still gives me goosebumps.
Blind Faith has always been underrated, so it’s good to see it mentioned.
In addition to what’s already been mentioned, some of my favorites are “Badge,” “Little Wing,” and “Forever Man.”
Layla. The album and the song. The album is on my short list for greatest albums ever.
I love Old Love from the Unplugged album, among many others of course. At gunpoint, I’d probably take Layla over Unplugged as my favorite total album.
I’m partial to his work with Cream, and thought I heard something on the radio this afternoon about a reunion with Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker.
I find it almost impossible to pick just one song, album, style, although I’m partial to his blues side.
Then again, the Cream version of Crossroads still rocks me, no matter how many times I’ve heard it.
I’d probably pick Unplugged if forced to choose just one album. Hard to select one best track from that, but if I had to it would be Rollin’ & Tumblin’, the last track on the album.
I just have to note that I’m really surprised at the number of people who hold Unplugged as being his best work. It was definitive, in that everybody wanted to follow the trend of putting out acoustic versions of old songs, and Clapton demonstrated that he could still function outside of a studio setting, but I’m pretty blah on it myself. I’m rather fond of his Blues compilation that was released about six years ago, though.
I think his last genuinely good work was Journeyman, and that might possibly have to do with the fact that if followed the most dismal and uncreative period of his career, i.e. those terrible Phil Collins [over]produced albums of which we won’t name.
If he’d stopped in 1971, the world would not be much poorer. But before then? He’s quite justifiably an icon.
Stranger
There are very few albums that I prefer to Layla And… I’m a big Cream fan as well, but let’s not overlook some of the Delaney and Bonnie and Friends stuff. Oh, and Badge is one of my favorite songs by anybody.
Was there a studio version? I only recall the one.
It’s recorded at the BBC and is on The BBC Sessions. It wasn’t released until 2003.
It was actually recorded by the BBC two years before the version that became a hit. The album isn’t very well known but is pretty good - recorded live in the studio but without the self indulgence of some of the generally revered real live albums.
If we’re enumerating his best work, don’t forget the solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, too.
For the record, I vote for Layla as the best album and quite frankly can’t understand why the Cream version of “Crossroads” is considered even good, let alone his peak.
I mean if generic noodling with no emotional center is good, then wouldn’t Yngwie Malmsteen or someone be even better?
Unlike anything I’ve heard by Yngwie or most similar guitarists, at least the playing on Crossroads excites me. Although I heard on these boards that Clapton says he can’t listen to it because he’s not on the beat.