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From: Pat Missin
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2036 06:29:18 GMT
Subject: Re: Clapton

>I love this list, by the way...finally, a place where people do nothing
>but talk about harmonica!
>

I wish! Dear fellow harp-l'ers - you're a touchy lot! As far as I remember,
all I said was that I could understand what Lee Oskar meant by a couple of
things he said in in of his workshops. The popint I was trying to make was
that you can't really call the blues a minority interest, when Eric Clapton
sell his blues album by the truckload - I think that's a fairly
straightforward point. The next thing I know, I'm accused of inverted
rascism! At least now we're getting to the crux of the matter - I happen not
to like Clapton's music for one simple reason - neither his singing, nor his
guitar playing move me emotionally. That's just how I feel. I've nothing
against him as a human being and I never accused him of being unqualified to
play the blues - I just don't like the way he plays them. He probably
wouldn't like the way I play 'em, either. And that would be his opinion and
he'd be just as entitled to it.

However, there are cetain points I would like to reply to.

>
>First of all, if what Missin heard was anything by Clapton in the
>seventies, especially a live perfomance, it's quite possible the man was
>not up to par. He went through a world of trouble, knocking on heaven's
>door and almost being welcomed in at one point. His triumph through blues
>music proves his passion, and the power of most of our passions. With
>songs like Layla and Tears in Heaven, I hope Missin
>will reconsider his notion of an overrated musician - Clapton's had his
>down time, but when put to the test he has always proven himself.
>
>

You make me sound like some kid who made up his mind after listening to noe
song. I'm a musician who lives in England. I've been exposed to Clapton for
as long as I can remember, both his records and his life as reported in our
daily newspapers. Anyway, I can think of lots of people who've experienced
life as fully as him, but this hasn't made them the world's greatest
guitarist.... and, as I said, I never said that he wasn't entitled to play
the blues. As far as I'm concerned, he can play whatever the hell he wants.
And when he plays something I enjoy, I will rise up and tell the world.


>Second of all, Missin may be turned off by Clapton's almost minimalist
>approach to some of his music. Now, this is derivative of the blues -
>while rockers like Hendrix have infinite freedom, blues-rockers usually
>maintained a certain twelve-bar structure. Besides, were not SonnyBoyII
>and LW 'simple' musicians - by no means in their ability, but in their
>absence of extraneous, ego-boosting showboating. The one note philosophy:
>if you can express your emotion in one note, why the hell would you screw
>it up with a showy scale??
>

Who said I have anything against minimalism? And who says I enjoy things
that are screwed up with "a showy scale", whatever that is? If we want to
talk about minimalism, listen to Albert King: an obvious influence on
Clapton, but I've never heard him come close to the emotional content Albert
could put into his playing and singing.

>Lastly, if you know anything about guitar, you can only stand in awe at
>Clapton's mastery. Some of his music was simple, some even bad - but I
>dare you to name a musician who hadn't gone through tough periods (don't
>mention Hendrix, the man killed himself after only three or four records,
>all in a very short time span). I thought I could play LW the first time
>I heard him, because it did sound simple and easy... I think you can
>guess the end result of that ASSumption :)
>
>And that's all I have to say about that...
>
>Jason
>

And lastly, if you knew anything about me, you'd know that I've played the
guitar for nearly twenty years. You should be very careful about
assumptions...
Oh no, there's more...


- - >Ronnie, you struck a deep nerve...
>

Who's Ronnie? Did I miss something?


>Your take on Eric Clapton's From the Cradle as a 'yuppie-package' is
>both insulting and ignorant. Perhaps if you knew Clapton's life, you
>would realize he is most qualified to sing the blues. Along with Portnoy,
>Clapton too played with Muddy Waters - now how can that be watered down??
>
>I don't want this to be personal, and I hope you don't take it as such.
>But as a young man who considers Clapton to be an intangible mentor, and
>even a bit heroic, I really take heart at your demeaning his near-perfect
>understanding of Blues music, and even more importantly his passion.
>
>Jivin' Jason
>

Oh no, now there's another one after me...

>>songs like Layla and Tears in Heaven, I hope Missin
>>will reconsider his notion of an overrated musician - Clapton's had his
>>down time, but when put to the test he has always proven himself.
>
>If I may be forgiven one harp-less response, I, too, think Clapton has
>produced some amazing work, along with a fair amount of drek. Layla,
>IMNSDHO, falls in the latter category. Tears In Heaven, on the other hand,
>is precisely what the blues is all about, a song wrenched straight from a
>broken heart. How he can perform the song and keep it together is beyond
>me. There are relatively few songs that speak so powerfully as that one and
>we can only hope to catch a part of the emotion they contain when we choose
>to play them.
>
>

OK. I want everyone to witness this - I did not use the words "bad", "down
time" and "drek", I am quoting from others! (Come to think of it, I did
start the "watered down blues" subject line, either.) I will just ask this
question - should I enjoy someone's "bad" music and "drek" from his "down
time", just because he's had a lot of trouble in his life? Muddy Waters is
one of my biggest heros: he lived a life I can only imagine, but I think
"Electric Mud" is a lousy album and if anyone suggested that I really
*should* enjoy it... Anyone out there see the point I am trying to make. And
does anyone out there have anything nice to say about me...?

> Pat Missin gets the ferret for providing WM Kratts info! I'm gonna try
>one and see if the Aristo-Kratt is in the "toy" realm or not.
>
> Thanks Pat!
>
>
You're welcome, although we've just gone from guitarists to ferrets.

Anyway, this is absolutely my LAST word on the subject - if you really think
I need serious help to improve my Slowhand appreciation, send your
counselling by private email (or better still, just leave me alone!) - this
is supposed to be about the harmonica...

PS: How come all the people who agreed with me (yes, there were quite a few)
sent me a private message, whilst those who didn't agree posted it on harp-l?

Pat Missin.

"...my music's a lot better than it sounds!" (with apologies to Mark Twain)
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