Exact moment in which Eric Clapton jumped the shark

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Poll question: Exact moment in which Eric Clapton jumped the shark

[LeftyMom]

1. Why'd you post a picture of Oedi on this thread?

:shrug:

Oh, and the answer is "tears in heaven" 'cause it's not a very good song and was inescapable for a while there, and generally making a big production of one's private pain is never a good idea.

edit: typo

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. I had a certain level of respect-slash-discomfort with that song.

I wouldn't wish what happened to him on my worst enemy. I had very mixed feelings on his writing a song about it.

:toast:

[blockhead]

5. Wow.

writing a song is a "big production"? The blues are all about one's pain.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. ...

:rofl:



Don't I wish.

:hug:

[JVS]

16. Yup. Tears in heaven was the creepiest career comeback ever.

I was talking to a friend once about how I would always hate clapton because my first knowledge of him was based on seeing him turning the death of his kid into a smash hit. My friend (who was the same age but grew up in a household where clapton was played) responded that he understood my feeling, but that his first impression was of a guy running around singing about cocaine, which is way cooler than cashing in on your kid's death.

[Iggo]

3. Other

When he auctioned off Blackie.

[Mendocino]

4. four words

"I Shot The Sheriff"

dishonorable mention "Lay Down Sally"

[Robeson]

6. Everything after 461 Ocean Boulevard...

...with few exceptions, pretty much jumped the shark.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

19. All of those albums build a supreme case for a "Mix CD"...

...which makes me laugh in light of the recent stories about the recording industry suing individuals who ripped MP3s of tracks from CDs they had purchased.

I wasn't a fan of 461 Ocean Boulevard when it was released. For me, it really sounded like the work of a guy who'd just gotten out of rehab. It felt too lightweight and laid back after the Derek & The Dominos / Blind Faith / Cream years, but I've read the interviews and I know why he took that path.

I own pretty much every album Clapton's recorded, in bands and as a solo artist, and the conclusion I come to is that some days it's easier to be a Clapton fan than others.

:toast:

[pink-o]

34. I agree! That LP would've been my shark-jumping moment.

Riddle me this, Batman: why is it when brilliant 70s musicians got off the junk their music took a nose dive?? Notice Keith Richards--Exile on Main St has probably the most amazing Stones Songs found anywhere, then Keith gets clean (well, clean for him!) and we get "Emotional Rescue":puke: . Same with Claption and Ocean Blvd. Also Pete Townshend had some brilliant cuts on "Empty Glass (Albeit, by hindsight REALLY creepy lyrics!) gets clean and starts sucking.

I played music in an all-girl's band in the 80s, did my fare share of interesting substances (tho never junk) and whenever we were altered, we sucked worse than when we were sober! What do you think? Maybe you just have to be great and not suck at all to have drugs work for you.

PS I did the world no disservice when I put down the guitar 12 years ago!

[CreekDog]

8. When he had an affair and then married George Harrison's wife

but he un-jumps the shark from time to time.

"Change the world", "My father's eyes" and "It's in the way that you use it" are examples of un-jumping.

[Danger Mouse]

9. Unplugged Layla = Shitacular.

[regnaD kciN]

21. Agreed...

Richard Cheese has done better remakes of classic songs, and with greater reverence. The Layla Shuffle basically rips away everything good about the original, and takes it from a cry of pain to an apathetic shrug.

:spank:

[MilesColtrane]

10. When he got clean.

In the words of Bryan Griffin, "no junk, no soul".

[graywarrior]

11. He keeps fooling me back into liking him again over and over

I hate him for that.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

20. What a cool, unique way of putting that...you're RIGHT!

Just when I suffer through one of the really pop-y tracks like "She's Waiting" or "It's In The Way That You Use It," I'll listen to something like his version of Bob Dylan's "Love Minus Zero No Limit" from the 30th Anniversary Concert. Or maybe I'll pull out the first Stephen Stills album with the insane Clapton solo on "Go Back Home."

You're right...he's a CRAFTY bastard.

:evilgrin:

:toast:

[devilgrrl]

12. When Cream split up

:popcorn:

He's an over-rated hack. :boring:

[mitchum]

13. When he got that ridiculous whiteboy 'fro after seeing Hendrix

sorry Derek
that's not going to help at all

[JVS]

14. When he made a career comeback off the death of his kid

The exploitation was too crass

[cutlassmama]

28. For a long time, I couldn't even listen to that song.

I think that is how he chronicled his life...through his songs.

[Kat45]

15. After Derek & the Dominoes, all his recordings sucked except

for his blues stuff. And even after D&D, he still had (has?) it in concert, depending on what songs he does, of course. He's still got it as a guitarist, it's just that his nonblues choice of material has sucked since the D&D breakup.

[murielm99]

17. I don't like his blues.

You have to have the blues before you can play the blues. I don't think he has the blues.

If he had the blues, he would not have exploited his son's death with that horrid song, as other people upthread have mentioned. That song would not have been necessary. He would have simply sung and played the blues.

He is pretentious.

[Bake]

24. Read his autobiography.

He KNOWS the blues. He's HAD the blues.

Bake

[Radical Activist]

18. He was always over rated

The white boys in England writing "clapton is god" just hadn't heard good blues before.

I think Unplugged was his best album in at least a decade. I'm surprised to see people here bashing it. His 80's work SUCKED.

[Perry Logan]

22. Let him who hath never jumped the shark throw the first stone.

[lizziegrace]

23. When he married a 25 year old from Columbus (He was 56)

"British guitar legend Eric Clapton has secretly married 25-year-old American Melia McEnery, the mother of his baby daughter, a British newspaper reported. Clapton, 56, tied the knot with McEnery, from Columbus, Ohio, in a low-key ceremony at a church near his home in Surrey, southern England, on New Year's Day"

[Bake]

25. To everyone on this thread who has dissed The Clapton

"shitacular" "over-rated" etc. etc. ad infinitum ad nauseum.

You are all going to hell. Soon.

That is all.

Do not diss The Clapton.

Bake

[PeaceNikki]

26. Season 3 when he sued Stan for sexual harassment.

Oooooo. You said CLAPTON. Never mind.

[Bennyboy]

27. "Clapton is God" Did it for me.....

Uh, no.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

29. You're forcing me to tell the "Eric, Jerry & The Cannibals" joke...

Eric Clapton and Jerry Garcia were captured by cannibals. As they sat simmering in the giant stew pot, they were granted one last wish.

Jerry said "Please hand me my guitar so I can play "Truckin'" one more time and enjoy its beautiful melody."

The head cannibal turned to Clapton and said "And your wish?"

Clapton replied "Eat me first so I die in peace without hearing that f**king song again."

:hide:

:rofl:

[Bennyboy]

30. ha ha ha......

There are tapes of EC, Peter Greene, Jerry, Phil Lesh,Mick Fleetwood, Steve Windwood all jamming at the Aiplane house in 67 or so.

BTW< my fave EC show was with Derek and the Dominoes (sans Duane) back in High school. he was so fucked up, and was just awesome.

Seen him maybe 20 times or so if you include ARMS, The last Waltz and that type of event. Love the guy but he has never been among my favorite guitar players. he never went "outside" the music in the way that others did. Plus his pop shit was just that, shit.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

32. You're probably familiar with the Rolling Stone review of Cream and what it did to him...

...short version is that Rolling Stone reviewed Cream in concert and called them wankers, and Clapton's ego took a broadside. Meanwhile, he was introduced to The Band's "Music From Big Pink" and gained an affinity for the shorter, more tightly constructed songs. Those were the seeds that resulted in the RSO albums like "4612 Ocean Boulevard."

The only Clapton stuff I really "dislike" is the ridiculously over-produced stuff he did with Phil Collins and the hard-core pop stuff. "Clapton Chronicles" is a pretty good representation of what I consider to be his worst material, just empty and shallow and lifeless AM radio fodder, no matter how popular it might have been:



1. Blue Eyes Blue (Album Version)
2. Change The World (Album Version)
3. My Father's Eyes (Album Version)
4. Tears In Heaven (Album Version)
5. Layla Unplugged Version
6. Pretending (Album Version)
7. Bad Love (Album Version)
8. Before You Accuse Me (Album Version)
L9. It's In The Way That You Use It (Album Version)
10. Forever Man (Album Version) 3:12
11. Running On Faith (Album Version)
12. She's Waiting (Album Version)
13. River Of Tears (Album Version)
14. (I) Get Lost (Album Version)

[triguy46]

31. "Unplugged" is anathema.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

33. what do Clapton and coffee have in common? stop me if youve heard this one.

they both suck without cream.

[Bennyboy]

35. Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy show in here....

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CC83YVP6 From Royal Albert Hall

[Bennyboy]

36. Crossroads 07 in here

Eric Clapton 7-28-07
Crossroads Guitar Festival
Bridgeview, IL

http://www.sendspace.com/file/a98t5d (1 of 1)

http://www.sendspace.com/file/e1k1g7 (2 of 2)

Disc 1 -
Intro
Tell The Truth
Key To The Highway
Got To Get Better In A Little While
Isn't It A Pity
Why Does Love Got to Feel So Bad
Little Queen OF Spades
Who Do You Love w/Robbie Robertson
Further On Up The Road w/ Robbie Robertson
Pearly Queen w/Steve Winwood

Disc 2 -
Presence Of The Lord w/Steve Winwood
Can't Find My Way Home w/Steve Winwood
Had To Cry Today w/Steve Winwood
Dear Mr. Fantasy w/Steve Winwood, No Clapton
Cocaine w/Steve Winwood
Crossroads w/Steve Winwood