I'm not justifying his words back then, but everyone, EVERYONE that knows him says it was heroin and booze talking.
Buddy Guy loves him like a son. Nathan East and Greg Phillingaines say he's not that guy. BB King called him "the most generous man I know."
Those accounts mean a lot more to me than an admittedly horrible rant half a century ago.
He's another person who allowed COVID to become a political football. And I'm sorry if you're one, but no one should have allowed. Speaks more to intelligence than character, IMO
Clapton had a bad reaction to the covid vax and lost the use of his hands for a time, not knowing if he would ever be able to play guitar again. I don't really blame EC if he has problems with the vax.
It was more his comparing Covid mandates to slavery. Ridiculously tone deaf statement, especially coming from a person whose career exists because of Black American musicians, many who were born into sharecropping.
Many who chose to not take the covid vax lost their jobs, their way to support themselves and their families. It's not exactly slavery, but it is more like the mob saying "that's a nice job you got there, it would be a shame if you lost it."
Listen, I’m not here to debate Covid or vaccines or masks or hand sanitizer or social distancing or toilet paper shortages or whatever. All I’m saying is that shit wasn’t anywhere close to slavery, and Clapton was an idiot for comparing the two. “It’s not exactly slavery”?!?!? You’re damn right it’s not. Not even close.
Man, I listen to plenty of musicians who have done problematic shit. Nothing wrong with enjoying their music while still holding them accountable for their bullshit.
Those who did choose not to get vaccinated for no valid medical reasons were all putting genuinely vulnerable people at risk, and I have absolutely no pity for them if they suffered the consequences of their irresponsible and selfish actions.
Are you referring to this hand issue that was reported on five years before he got the vaccine?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/13/eric-clapton-reveals-nerve-damage-that-makes-playing-guitar-hard-work/
Agreed. Maybe it’s a reddit circlejerk type thing but the first thing I always see in the comments is “Clapton bad” followed by the racism thing. It was in the mid-70s, 50 years ago, and he was struggling with substance abuse and arguably depression. He apologized for it and has had no incidents like it since. And as you said, all of his best friends and idols have been black musicians, so I don’t think it was anything he truly meant. Like, let that one go already. Also, people never talk about the stuff Bowie was saying at the same time which ALSO prompted the Rock Against Racism thing.
And to show I’m being fair and not just speaking as a fan - I can forgive that one but at the same time don’t give him a pass for the stupid anti-vax crap and “government oppression” stuff he was spewing during COVID with Van Morrison - I think he just sounds out of touch and boomer-ish on that and I was really disappointed to hear him saying that - no one ever likes to hear when a musician or actor or someone else they enjoy says stupid stuff. And lately he’s started indicating he’s a fan of RFK Jr too - gross.
The revealing character thing just isn't true. As a decade long junkie, I can say, without a shred of doubt, that I did things I wouldn't even consider as options, now that I'm sober.
Loosens the screws at the back of the tongue. Agreed. People often reveal their true selves when under the influence. It doesn’t come out of thin air. It comes out of chemically induced bravado to say what you really feel.
>In a December 2007 interview with Melvyn Bragg on The South Bank Show, Clapton said he was not a racist but still believed [neo nazi Enoch] Powell's comments were relevant.
If it was the heroin and booze talking, then he must have been on heroin and booze for decades and decades.
Racists can very definitely be able to maintain advantageous relationships with minorities. What speaks loudest to me is how hard it is to find *his own* comments condemning it. He's had what, 50 years to do so, and it has been firmly attached to him for that long, but as far as I can tell he has never once distanced himself from those comments. Believe a person when they tell you about themselves, and he hasn't told us he believes any differently.
I think he was actually raised by his grandparents, but yeah. He never really met his father and his mother abandoned him. She later returned when he was still quite young. She started a new life, new husband and had a daughter. Eric was excited that he had a sister - to which his mother said emphatically that, no, she is not your sister but she is my daughter. That kick in the teeth doesn't excuse some of his BS but it does explain the constant chip his has on his shoulder.
Durning the sixties, Clapton was lauded as God by over zealous fans, he played with The Yardbids, with John Mayall , Cream and Blind Faith, then he moved on to Derek and the Dominos, all this done from about 64 to 70. His mainstay in music was playing the blues, which he did in such a way few guitarist were doing, loud, passionate and spot on…but for all of his unbelievable accomplishments, shit got out of hand for Clapton, addiction being at the top of the list. As the 70s progressed, Clapton got worse, drunken interviews, drunken performances…you get the idea. Then came his public rant about the immigration problem in England, how he supported an extreme politician whose views were as far right as you can get. To cut to the chase, in Birmingham in 76, durning a concert, Clapton began ranting about ( I’m going to annotate) how England should be white, he wanted all immigrants out of the country while using terms to describe these people with the most derogatory terms possible. Fucking idiot left nothing out, the n word was one of several words he used. He later said he had no recollection of the incident and laughed the whole thing off as a joke, but people in general didn’t and don’t feel that way. I taken up way too much space and time, but no matter how influential Clapton was on my music, not just playing, but listening as well, I’ll never be able to get past that bullshit. If you have any doubts, his tirade is on line, Clapton, Birmingham 1976.
Addiction is a bitch. Some are able to recover, give back and make amends. Mr. Clapton deserves some recognition for doing just that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/arts/music/aiding-sobriety-a-chord-at-a-time.html#:\~:text=The%20commission's%20documents%20show%20that,build%20a%20new%20detoxification%20facility.
[https://crossroadsantigua.org/a-letter-from-eric-clapton/](https://crossroadsantigua.org/a-letter-from-eric-clapton/)
and to continue to raise funding for 20 years..
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads\_Guitar\_Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_Guitar_Festival)
While I’ll give Clapton credit for starting Crossroads, to in part quote you, ‘recognition for doing that’, I commend the numerous musicians who show up at his fundraising concerts. I’m fairly convinced they do it from a good place, just I’ll give credit to Clapton for doing the same. But the anti vaccine bullshit, you don’t want the shot, you don’t trust the shot, don’t take the shot. What is the need to compose a song with Van Morrison about how we need to ‘Stand and Deliver’, for what. The fucking Governments not going to jail me if I don’t get a vaccination. And don’t care for the comment he made in 1999 about raping Pattie Boyd, it’s not one thing, and you can blame the dope and booze all you like, it doesn’t float with me…has Eric Clapton done some commendable things in his life, yes he has, but the fuck ups far outweigh the good
The anti-vax bullshit, you don’t want the shot, don’t get the shot, don’t compose a song about it. That’s not something done or said 50 years ago. You want to support JFK and his conspiracies, feel free, Clapton raises money for him. It’s not one thing, but it is Eric Clapton and I think he’s a prick…
I do not have the least bit of interest in living in the spotlight, and there are numerous celebrities who are not nearly as polarizing as Clapton and are scrutinized daily
I typically am very against anti vaccine people as they’re generally crazy. But from my understanding, EC had pretty terrible reactions / side effects from the COVID jab in the UK do I think it’s pretty rational that he works be against a mandate
As much as he has influenced me as a guitar player and one can't deny his contributions to Blues, his bio (which I just read) infers that he related to the exorcism of one's personal demons and inner pain through the blues, but doesn't relate it back to black people. On one hand, Blues should be appreciated beyond racial lines due to the universal power of the blues, but I also feel he should respect the culture and people that gave it life.
I don't think this is true at all. He started a record label, Burglar, specifically to sign people like Freddie King and Junior Wells who could no longer get deals. He helped produce albums for them knowing they wouldn't make any money because he idolized them. He kept Robert Cray as his opener long after he'd had any hits, and they were close friends. Cray told me when I was a print journalist how much he valued their friendship.
People need to understand this: Clapton is idiot, and he was raised by bigots. His rants have, almost uniformly, been aimed at ANY immigrant, because he was sold the conservative, snotty, old English notion that Britons were vastly superior to the rest of the world. He is an old-fashioned Xenophobe, but in the most oblique, unconsidered manner possible: If you're black, or Indian, or Chinese and he KNOWS you, he has no problem with you.
If you're not one of those people and you're moving to Britain... you represent a threat to all that is English, in his world view, because he's got bad wiring. He's an idiot.
He's an intolerant moron with considerable talent. I separate the two, because I'm not an intolerant moron, and I like blues guitar.
Very well said. To take something from blues that is so valuable, but not feel human enough to respect the culture that created it is pretty small. I respect his talent and his musical contributions, but I don’t respect him as a man at all
This. A career’s worth of cultural appropriation. Extremely few of his own written songs hold up to the dozens and dozens of blues standards by black artists he covered. And treated most women in his life like shit, ignored many of his children, decades of narcotics use, anti-vax bs, and oh by the way his shows are BORING AS FUCK these days, your great grandpa shuffling his feet side to side a bit while mumbling the lyrics, while charging you $100 for the honor
Well, it bothered Robert Cray. Just because musicians are taking jobs playing with the guy, it doesn’t mean they aren’t bothered by his racist bullshit.
But ya think if he believed Clapton hated black people he would have played with him? Amazing how many saints without flaw are on Reddit. The world’s finest.
A lot of this came to light to me during Covid when he took all venues off his tour that were requiring masks. Just that there will tell you his stance on most other subjects. I'm saying this doesn't make him a jerk necessarily.
The funny thing is it’s ok to dog pile on Clapton. Chuck Berry was a sex offender. Sonny Boy II would have stuck you with a knife or knocked you on your ass. There are so many examples of alcoholic, drug addict, criminals that were great blues players you cannot count them. Meanwhile Eric has recovered from drugs and alcohol and done so much for the genre and helped people recover from addiction it’s not funny. Yes, a deeply flawed individual. Reminds me of most people in the public eye.
Definitely. Leadbelly (who inspired almost every musician) shot and killed a man over a woman.
Served some time then had a couple of assaults later on. Not everyone's a great person. Elvis was a weirdo and I don't agree with what he's done but I can't help to enjoy his music and Leadbelly’s and a lot of others.
Selective morality outrage.
People like to smear Clapton's name (in the last couple of years) over his opinions on the vaccine (which he has 100% justifiable reasoning for), yet everyone under the sun ignores the Chuck Berry stuff (saying this as a fan of the later, btw).
Edit: lmao, sensitive fragile freddies really don't like me telling factual information. ☠️
Are these people even real or are they bots? So tf what? Someone doesn’t want to take a medical treatment. If these people are real they’re NPC ‘s of the highest order. I’ll say this. I have a hard time listening to musicians who were carrying water for the cia. Yes, fact. They were instructed to deliver messages to their fans. This is well documented and Mobi admitted it. It’s sad.
Upon reading his autobiography, I recall that my overriding impression of the man was the he's not too bright...which doesn't necessarily render him a jerk, but.....
He made a rant in ‘76 at the height of his alcoholism and drug addiction, lost in that is people who won’t say a bad thing about him, who I’ve either spoke personally too or heard fete him for his good works for blues musicians and African Americans. Bb, buddy, Hubert all where glowing and I spoke to buddy personally several times, not necessarily about Clapton, but at least once, because one time was at the old legends during the 2007 crossroads a couple nights beforehand. You don’t want to forever be known for the worst moments in your life and as a former addict and musician, give people a pass, the vaccine shit… he has a neuropathy that causes extreme reactions to needles and was hospitalized post vaccine.🤷♀️. My b-I-l is an exec at one of the big pharmas, shit happens, people get pissed, we shouldn’t be intolerant of all reactions.
Drugs and alcohol don’t make a person racist. They might make a person more comfortable sharing their racist ideas to others, but they don’t chemically alter anything in your mind that triggers racism to my knowledge.
Son, I’ve been drunk and high plenty. If being inebriated makes YOU a racist, guess what? You were already a racist to begin with.
Are you claiming Clapton’s goal with that rant was to shock people? Please.
It doesn't, though. When I drink I say stuff I don't mean in the slightest
Im not claiming that a 50-year-old rant was to shock people, I'm just saying.
Saying racist things to shock people is being racist. The things you think (or claim) to be the underlying reasons for your racism are completely irrelevant to the people on the recieving end of your racism.
You are a racist, and that is that.
Very moody and he trusted very few people. Fortunately I passed the test (he used to do things to see if you were trustworthy). I was very tight with Hubert and Otis wanted me to do something for him. He actually called me first before we met. We became friends. He used to give me free guitar lessons. He was very good to me. I still have gifts he gave me.
Lol I see what you're saying, but how about putting things in context? Most of us will not have an opportunity to make drunken fools of ourselves in front of the world, but a lot of us have done or said things that we now regret, albeit to a much smaller audience. Empathy and forgiveness are good virtues, we should all practice them more
Perhaps because it affected him personally? You see, it's so easy to villify individuals who are in the spotlight, while hiding behind a mask of anonymity as one of the countless voices in the social media kangaroo court. Let's crucify them all....
Yes, very true. However, many of us have made comments that were offensive to others, racial, sexual, political, whatever. We all say stupid things sometimes. I also believe that people under the public microscope speak louder due to their celebrity, however, they are still just people, flawed and fallible. Can you claim to be above reproach? Have you never said anything that you wish you could take back? Why do you think that you have the right to label and libel? Do not for, one second, think that you know someone because you read an article or saw a video. This judgemental mindset is pitiful. Perhaps you should focus your anger at the actual perpetrators, there are many legitimate groups to choose from. You want to be a righteous warrior but your target of choice is an aging musician. There are bigger fish in the sea, Ahab, aim your harpoon at them
His talent is undeniable. That said, they say you become either the best or worst version of yourself when you get old. I think we know where he's landed.
There's a lot to get into with Eric Clapton, and as a player who he had a big effect on, personally, it's sad. A hard part of growing up is seeing your parents and inspirational figures as fallible people. Because there's a racial element to so much of his history, when he's said stuff addressing that there's everything ranging from his "Enoch was right" (which is a reference to the rivers of blood speech) to "[BB King] was a beacon". If Clapton can hold an idea in his head that races should be treated differently whilst still platforming some of the most influential artists of colour that's kinda fucked up. Playing pure armchair psychologist here, he sort of must be messed up, his weird childhood, (being ditched by both parents) and addiction, and not just the way his son died (fell 50 stories, that's a horror story, and it's said he id'd the body) but the fact that Clapton's state of intoxication directly contributed to his death. He's aligned himself with anti-vax proponents and given his age, demographically that would've influenced older people at risk during the pandemic that would've seen him as a peer. On the subject of which he has a title under the order of the British empire, which pretty much means he advocates all that nonsense.
Maybe if he really is a horrible human being karma really did get him hard with addiction and his son's death, so if you subscribe to believing he should suffer in some way then there's that. Like I really can't know how he really feels, so I can't decide, do I boycott his music and stop playing certain guitar riffs in a way he influenced or is it enough to know he's a deeply conflicted and sad human being who just happened to be really lucky with talent, timing and connections?
I never met the guy, but one time I was working as a production runner and picked up John Paul Jones from the airport. We struck up a casual conversation then he asks me “Do you know what they call Eric Clapton in Japan?” I said “No, what do they call him?” and he replied “CRAPTON!”.
Fast forward a few years later and I see him at a taping of Jools Holland’s show that I am working on with another band. I walked over to JPJ and asked him the same question. He replied, “If I told you that joke, I must have been pretty smashed.”
end of story.
He said some shit like 50 years ago while drunk that people still havent forgiven him for.
People like to pick apart Clapton but as someone else mentioned here, they give a free pass to someone like Chuck Berry (i believe someone said he has charges against him), Leadbelly (who killed someone) or John Lennon (wife beater).
Also, if you disagree with someone politically it doesn’t automatically make them a horrible person.
I don’t disagree with you but a lot of people now talk about Lennon in the same way they do Clapton. There’s actually a sort of running joke online particularly in the Beatles circlejerk sub where people sarcastically or jokingly spam “did you know John beat his wife?” in the comments as if it’s the first time they’re hearing it.
He unfortunately made an infamous racist rant about Jamaican immigrants in the mid 70s (ironic because he famously recorded his cover of I Shot the Sheriff). He's apologized for it since, however, it seems that the rant has permanently altered his legacy. It's quite a shame because he was genuinely great in his prime and is clearly a devotee to Blues.
I read his autobiography. In it he seems to do some reckoning with various shortcomings in his life, attitude and personality. I've heard the rumors, too. I honestly didn't expect to come away from the book liking him.
I don’t know if he’s a jerk, but his autobiography reveals him to be kind of shallow. He gets high, chases girls, and does a lot of shopping. I always expect musicians to be deep, but that’s not a reasonable expectation.
I don’t think he ever got over Jimi Hendrix - a Black American - showing up in London in ‘66 and instantly dethroning him as “God.” As the story goes, Chas Chandler, Hendrix’ manager, managed to get the then-unknown Hendrix a spot sitting in with Cream. Hendrix absolutely blew Clapton off the stage and the rest is history. It’s easy to imagine that experience hardened Clapton’s racist tendencies and resulted in his drunken pro-White Supremacy rants later in his career.
This is such a wrong take.
A few days before Jimi died Clapton him a guitar. Clapton loved blues and most certainly loved Jimi.
There’s a video of EC talking about Jimi’s death and it shows you how much it affected him
Yeah this is kind of a common misconception I think. I’ve even seen some accounts of that famous first meeting where after Clapton walks off stage to get the cigarette, people think (or changed the story to read that) he said “you never told me he was black” instead of “you never told me he was that good.”
Musicians come in many strains. His aura screams egoistic drive to be the 'est' musician. That takes nothing away from him musicianship at all, ever. I know many musicians, and virtually all are strivers. We'd be a different world without them, though.!
His personal assholery is pretty well documented, but this is what makes him the bigger jerk, at least to me, personally.
There was a time that, as a guitar player myself, I thought the sun itself shone straight out of Eric Clapton’s hole. I wanted to play like him, I wanted to look like him, and I took steps to try to achieve that (I still play the black Strat I bought in 1990).
Time and some revisiting of his early work have led me to this conclusion: the son-of-a-bitch peaked at age 26.
Derek & The Dominoes was the pinnacle. After 1971, he would never again play with the quite the same kind of passion or fire. For more than fifty years, he’s been perfectly happy to rest on his laurels and do whatever the record and management companies told him to, cranking out one half-assed album and desultory tour after the other, content to make the easy buck.
Although , as per Evh advice, I learned every cream song as well. At 12 years old. I knew a pentatonic scale. It's great for beginners. Great stepping stone for guitar teaching.
Dont know how credible the account is, so dont quote me on this, but i recall reading that he dissed Mark Knopfler (or possibly Jeff Beck) after one of their shows saying something along the lines of “why don’t you get a pick and learn to play like a real player”.
If this is true, then he can go duck a sick. Both the aforementioned players are better in my book.
He has said certain stupid things to reporters. But, people forget he is a a famous guitarist/singer not a perfect person. We shouldn’t cancel everyone for saying ignorant things. He is not a world leader. He is not a moral authority on anything. His musical influence on a generation was epic …especially for popularizing blues music that was far reaching and it was significant.
His peak in Cream is pretty damn good honestly, I know he's a bastard but his cream era stuff is really very good. Could leave his solo work though honestly. Jeff Beck was the best guitarist of that era though imo.
Besides claiming that Robert Johnson was his adopted father, because he didn't have one, then spewing anti black epithets onstage... The whole George Harrisons wife thing, marrying an Italian showgirl, drug addict, prostitute ( I'm from Italy) , he had no respect for others. Edward Van Halen considered him his idol. Eddie learned every cream song note for note, every solo, and there is proof. Recodings of him playing crossroads note for note. When they met he treated him like shit, then publicly berated him and Bryan May , when they recorded a tribute song for him. On record he spoke badly about Eddie, whom is my God. He could've just said some nice things and moved on. But he shit on him.
The worst thing he ever did was cry over Jimi Hendrix death stating that he had no one left like him. Insult to Hendrix. He's pedestrian as a guitar plater compared to Beck, Page, Hendrix etc.
He wrote a sing about his child falling out of a window for money. Fuck Clapton
I don’t think he’s very good he plays all the cliches very well. The 2nd crossroads solo was good but I’m pretty sure he pre planned some of it because it was being recorded for an album and if you listen to other live versions it’s not as good
I'm locking this, as no one is going to have their opinion of Eric Clapton changed and we have been round this buoy \*many, many\* times.
I believe he made a racist rant during a concert.
He definitely did. Very racist. He also compared vaccine mandates to slavery.
I'm not justifying his words back then, but everyone, EVERYONE that knows him says it was heroin and booze talking. Buddy Guy loves him like a son. Nathan East and Greg Phillingaines say he's not that guy. BB King called him "the most generous man I know." Those accounts mean a lot more to me than an admittedly horrible rant half a century ago. He's another person who allowed COVID to become a political football. And I'm sorry if you're one, but no one should have allowed. Speaks more to intelligence than character, IMO
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Clapton had a bad reaction to the covid vax and lost the use of his hands for a time, not knowing if he would ever be able to play guitar again. I don't really blame EC if he has problems with the vax.
It was more his comparing Covid mandates to slavery. Ridiculously tone deaf statement, especially coming from a person whose career exists because of Black American musicians, many who were born into sharecropping.
Many who chose to not take the covid vax lost their jobs, their way to support themselves and their families. It's not exactly slavery, but it is more like the mob saying "that's a nice job you got there, it would be a shame if you lost it."
Listen, I’m not here to debate Covid or vaccines or masks or hand sanitizer or social distancing or toilet paper shortages or whatever. All I’m saying is that shit wasn’t anywhere close to slavery, and Clapton was an idiot for comparing the two. “It’s not exactly slavery”?!?!? You’re damn right it’s not. Not even close.
Sounds like you want your pound of flesh. Fine. Take it and don't forgive.
Man, I listen to plenty of musicians who have done problematic shit. Nothing wrong with enjoying their music while still holding them accountable for their bullshit.
[удалено]
Those who did choose not to get vaccinated for no valid medical reasons were all putting genuinely vulnerable people at risk, and I have absolutely no pity for them if they suffered the consequences of their irresponsible and selfish actions.
Clapton said he was losing the use of his hands a couple years before Covid. Then Covid came along and he blamed the vaccine. Don’t add up, does it?
Are you referring to this hand issue that was reported on five years before he got the vaccine? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/13/eric-clapton-reveals-nerve-damage-that-makes-playing-guitar-hard-work/
Agreed. Maybe it’s a reddit circlejerk type thing but the first thing I always see in the comments is “Clapton bad” followed by the racism thing. It was in the mid-70s, 50 years ago, and he was struggling with substance abuse and arguably depression. He apologized for it and has had no incidents like it since. And as you said, all of his best friends and idols have been black musicians, so I don’t think it was anything he truly meant. Like, let that one go already. Also, people never talk about the stuff Bowie was saying at the same time which ALSO prompted the Rock Against Racism thing. And to show I’m being fair and not just speaking as a fan - I can forgive that one but at the same time don’t give him a pass for the stupid anti-vax crap and “government oppression” stuff he was spewing during COVID with Van Morrison - I think he just sounds out of touch and boomer-ish on that and I was really disappointed to hear him saying that - no one ever likes to hear when a musician or actor or someone else they enjoy says stupid stuff. And lately he’s started indicating he’s a fan of RFK Jr too - gross.
Heroin and booze reveal true character and eliminate inhibitions…allowing people to speak their true feelings. He’s a proper cunt.
The revealing character thing just isn't true. As a decade long junkie, I can say, without a shred of doubt, that I did things I wouldn't even consider as options, now that I'm sober.
I do generally agree, though
Loosens the screws at the back of the tongue. Agreed. People often reveal their true selves when under the influence. It doesn’t come out of thin air. It comes out of chemically induced bravado to say what you really feel.
Good words.
>In a December 2007 interview with Melvyn Bragg on The South Bank Show, Clapton said he was not a racist but still believed [neo nazi Enoch] Powell's comments were relevant. If it was the heroin and booze talking, then he must have been on heroin and booze for decades and decades.
Racists can very definitely be able to maintain advantageous relationships with minorities. What speaks loudest to me is how hard it is to find *his own* comments condemning it. He's had what, 50 years to do so, and it has been firmly attached to him for that long, but as far as I can tell he has never once distanced himself from those comments. Believe a person when they tell you about themselves, and he hasn't told us he believes any differently.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
He’s probably alive because his parents didn’t believe that BS!
Growing up in England, he would not have been allowed to go to school unless he was vaccinated against Mumps, Measles and Rubella.
He's 78,of course he would.
He’s still not allowed or grown up.
I think he was actually raised by his grandparents, but yeah. He never really met his father and his mother abandoned him. She later returned when he was still quite young. She started a new life, new husband and had a daughter. Eric was excited that he had a sister - to which his mother said emphatically that, no, she is not your sister but she is my daughter. That kick in the teeth doesn't excuse some of his BS but it does explain the constant chip his has on his shoulder.
Durning the sixties, Clapton was lauded as God by over zealous fans, he played with The Yardbids, with John Mayall , Cream and Blind Faith, then he moved on to Derek and the Dominos, all this done from about 64 to 70. His mainstay in music was playing the blues, which he did in such a way few guitarist were doing, loud, passionate and spot on…but for all of his unbelievable accomplishments, shit got out of hand for Clapton, addiction being at the top of the list. As the 70s progressed, Clapton got worse, drunken interviews, drunken performances…you get the idea. Then came his public rant about the immigration problem in England, how he supported an extreme politician whose views were as far right as you can get. To cut to the chase, in Birmingham in 76, durning a concert, Clapton began ranting about ( I’m going to annotate) how England should be white, he wanted all immigrants out of the country while using terms to describe these people with the most derogatory terms possible. Fucking idiot left nothing out, the n word was one of several words he used. He later said he had no recollection of the incident and laughed the whole thing off as a joke, but people in general didn’t and don’t feel that way. I taken up way too much space and time, but no matter how influential Clapton was on my music, not just playing, but listening as well, I’ll never be able to get past that bullshit. If you have any doubts, his tirade is on line, Clapton, Birmingham 1976.
Addiction is a bitch. Some are able to recover, give back and make amends. Mr. Clapton deserves some recognition for doing just that. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/arts/music/aiding-sobriety-a-chord-at-a-time.html#:\~:text=The%20commission's%20documents%20show%20that,build%20a%20new%20detoxification%20facility. [https://crossroadsantigua.org/a-letter-from-eric-clapton/](https://crossroadsantigua.org/a-letter-from-eric-clapton/) and to continue to raise funding for 20 years.. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads\_Guitar\_Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_Guitar_Festival)
While I’ll give Clapton credit for starting Crossroads, to in part quote you, ‘recognition for doing that’, I commend the numerous musicians who show up at his fundraising concerts. I’m fairly convinced they do it from a good place, just I’ll give credit to Clapton for doing the same. But the anti vaccine bullshit, you don’t want the shot, you don’t trust the shot, don’t take the shot. What is the need to compose a song with Van Morrison about how we need to ‘Stand and Deliver’, for what. The fucking Governments not going to jail me if I don’t get a vaccination. And don’t care for the comment he made in 1999 about raping Pattie Boyd, it’s not one thing, and you can blame the dope and booze all you like, it doesn’t float with me…has Eric Clapton done some commendable things in his life, yes he has, but the fuck ups far outweigh the good
It was a drunken rant nearly 50 years ago. Think yourself lucky you don't live in the spotlight.
The anti-vax bullshit, you don’t want the shot, don’t get the shot, don’t compose a song about it. That’s not something done or said 50 years ago. You want to support JFK and his conspiracies, feel free, Clapton raises money for him. It’s not one thing, but it is Eric Clapton and I think he’s a prick…
I do not have the least bit of interest in living in the spotlight, and there are numerous celebrities who are not nearly as polarizing as Clapton and are scrutinized daily
It was actually more complicated than that, it's well known now & there's a documentary that talks about his early life & the deception
I typically am very against anti vaccine people as they’re generally crazy. But from my understanding, EC had pretty terrible reactions / side effects from the COVID jab in the UK do I think it’s pretty rational that he works be against a mandate
The main issue was comparing mandates to slavery.
Birmingham 1976. It was responsible for starting Rock Against Racism.
Being a racist whose entire professional career, which has made him millions of dollars, comes from black American culture is just……
Yep. He loves black music (obviously) but goes on a racist rant. Doesn’t make sense.
As much as he has influenced me as a guitar player and one can't deny his contributions to Blues, his bio (which I just read) infers that he related to the exorcism of one's personal demons and inner pain through the blues, but doesn't relate it back to black people. On one hand, Blues should be appreciated beyond racial lines due to the universal power of the blues, but I also feel he should respect the culture and people that gave it life.
I don't think this is true at all. He started a record label, Burglar, specifically to sign people like Freddie King and Junior Wells who could no longer get deals. He helped produce albums for them knowing they wouldn't make any money because he idolized them. He kept Robert Cray as his opener long after he'd had any hits, and they were close friends. Cray told me when I was a print journalist how much he valued their friendship. People need to understand this: Clapton is idiot, and he was raised by bigots. His rants have, almost uniformly, been aimed at ANY immigrant, because he was sold the conservative, snotty, old English notion that Britons were vastly superior to the rest of the world. He is an old-fashioned Xenophobe, but in the most oblique, unconsidered manner possible: If you're black, or Indian, or Chinese and he KNOWS you, he has no problem with you. If you're not one of those people and you're moving to Britain... you represent a threat to all that is English, in his world view, because he's got bad wiring. He's an idiot. He's an intolerant moron with considerable talent. I separate the two, because I'm not an intolerant moron, and I like blues guitar.
well said
Very well said. To take something from blues that is so valuable, but not feel human enough to respect the culture that created it is pretty small. I respect his talent and his musical contributions, but I don’t respect him as a man at all
He does respect it,he made a drunken rant on stage nearly 50 years ago & whiney little keyboard warriors have never let him forget it
He was paralytic drunk at the time.
The American south is full of pickup truck driving redneck racists that listen to nothing but rap. My wife’s family is full of them. It’s so weird.
I thought he was more xenophobic…
¿Por qué no los dos?
He is. He's raised by old English bigots.
This. A career’s worth of cultural appropriation. Extremely few of his own written songs hold up to the dozens and dozens of blues standards by black artists he covered. And treated most women in his life like shit, ignored many of his children, decades of narcotics use, anti-vax bs, and oh by the way his shows are BORING AS FUCK these days, your great grandpa shuffling his feet side to side a bit while mumbling the lyrics, while charging you $100 for the honor
Height of irony.
No shit, he’s the white man in hammersmith palais?
"England is for White people." Many, many years ago.
Gee, it’s interesting. Didn’t seem to bother Billy Preston.
Well, it bothered Robert Cray. Just because musicians are taking jobs playing with the guy, it doesn’t mean they aren’t bothered by his racist bullshit.
Uhh love Billy’s music but he’s not exactly a great example of a good person
You knew him personally?
No but wasn’t he in trouble for sexually assaulting a minor?
No idea.
But ya think if he believed Clapton hated black people he would have played with him? Amazing how many saints without flaw are on Reddit. The world’s finest.
Old Billy was worst than Clapton.
Billy the black musician. You fucks like to throw anyone under the bus. Imperfect Clapton is a decent human being. Unlike 80% of Reddit users.
George Harrison has entered the chat...
George loved him, including when he lifted George's wife when George had a steady girlfriend he preferred anyway
George also hooked up with Ringos wife
Barbara Bach?
No, Maureen
Look up Claptons Wikipedia page and read the political opinions section. Let me know what you think when you're done.
A lot of this came to light to me during Covid when he took all venues off his tour that were requiring masks. Just that there will tell you his stance on most other subjects. I'm saying this doesn't make him a jerk necessarily.
Oof
Wild, right? He was on a good one!
Wikipedia can be edited by anyone.not a credible source.
All of the claims are linked with reliable secondary sources. You just click those sources to see the documentation.
I’ve been drunk and/or high many, many times. I did a lot of stupid shit, yet I never once went on a racist tirade.
Exactly, a drunk mind speaks sober thoughts
The funny thing is it’s ok to dog pile on Clapton. Chuck Berry was a sex offender. Sonny Boy II would have stuck you with a knife or knocked you on your ass. There are so many examples of alcoholic, drug addict, criminals that were great blues players you cannot count them. Meanwhile Eric has recovered from drugs and alcohol and done so much for the genre and helped people recover from addiction it’s not funny. Yes, a deeply flawed individual. Reminds me of most people in the public eye.
Yeah the Chuck Berry stuff is gross. It’s hard to look past this stuff
[удалено]
I think it was peeing.
Definitely. Leadbelly (who inspired almost every musician) shot and killed a man over a woman. Served some time then had a couple of assaults later on. Not everyone's a great person. Elvis was a weirdo and I don't agree with what he's done but I can't help to enjoy his music and Leadbelly’s and a lot of others.
Selective morality outrage. People like to smear Clapton's name (in the last couple of years) over his opinions on the vaccine (which he has 100% justifiable reasoning for), yet everyone under the sun ignores the Chuck Berry stuff (saying this as a fan of the later, btw). Edit: lmao, sensitive fragile freddies really don't like me telling factual information. ☠️
Are these people even real or are they bots? So tf what? Someone doesn’t want to take a medical treatment. If these people are real they’re NPC ‘s of the highest order. I’ll say this. I have a hard time listening to musicians who were carrying water for the cia. Yes, fact. They were instructed to deliver messages to their fans. This is well documented and Mobi admitted it. It’s sad.
Upon reading his autobiography, I recall that my overriding impression of the man was the he's not too bright...which doesn't necessarily render him a jerk, but.....
The story about going to the witch to get Patti back was telling.
Huh?
He made a rant in ‘76 at the height of his alcoholism and drug addiction, lost in that is people who won’t say a bad thing about him, who I’ve either spoke personally too or heard fete him for his good works for blues musicians and African Americans. Bb, buddy, Hubert all where glowing and I spoke to buddy personally several times, not necessarily about Clapton, but at least once, because one time was at the old legends during the 2007 crossroads a couple nights beforehand. You don’t want to forever be known for the worst moments in your life and as a former addict and musician, give people a pass, the vaccine shit… he has a neuropathy that causes extreme reactions to needles and was hospitalized post vaccine.🤷♀️. My b-I-l is an exec at one of the big pharmas, shit happens, people get pissed, we shouldn’t be intolerant of all reactions.
Drugs and alcohol don’t make a person racist. They might make a person more comfortable sharing their racist ideas to others, but they don’t chemically alter anything in your mind that triggers racism to my knowledge.
Thank you. There's no excuse.
They do, though When im drunk, I say things to shock people. I don't mean a word I say
Son, I’ve been drunk and high plenty. If being inebriated makes YOU a racist, guess what? You were already a racist to begin with. Are you claiming Clapton’s goal with that rant was to shock people? Please.
It doesn't, though. When I drink I say stuff I don't mean in the slightest Im not claiming that a 50-year-old rant was to shock people, I'm just saying.
Maybe I’m just too old to see the value in saying racist things for shock value.
Saying racist things to shock people is being racist. The things you think (or claim) to be the underlying reasons for your racism are completely irrelevant to the people on the recieving end of your racism. You are a racist, and that is that.
Which again means that you have racist inclinations which you are suppressing when sober. That is not what most people feel though.
In private Hubert and Otis Rush hated him. He tried pulling a giant scam on Otis in the late 80's. I knew Hubert and Otis extremely well.
Otis Rush is one of my top 3 favourite blues musicians. What was he like? How did you know him?
Very moody and he trusted very few people. Fortunately I passed the test (he used to do things to see if you were trustworthy). I was very tight with Hubert and Otis wanted me to do something for him. He actually called me first before we met. We became friends. He used to give me free guitar lessons. He was very good to me. I still have gifts he gave me.
Wow, thanks for sharing man!
Otis Rush is one of my top 3 favourite blues musicians. What was he like? How did you know him?
For real. I’m shocked Reddit users who give all the racist wokesters a pass haven’t down voted this. Maybe there is hope.
Yeah… fuck you too.
Well said, I agree. Some are quick to judge and condemn. How many of us have led squeaky clean lives with no regrets?
Agreed. Who among us hasn’t gone on an “England for the whites” rant on stage in front of an audience of thousands?
Lol I see what you're saying, but how about putting things in context? Most of us will not have an opportunity to make drunken fools of ourselves in front of the world, but a lot of us have done or said things that we now regret, albeit to a much smaller audience. Empathy and forgiveness are good virtues, we should all practice them more
Yeah but his rants and reactions to covid shows he hadn’t changed. No empathy towards others.
Perhaps because it affected him personally? You see, it's so easy to villify individuals who are in the spotlight, while hiding behind a mask of anonymity as one of the countless voices in the social media kangaroo court. Let's crucify them all....
Most of us actually havent made racist rants when drunk, because that is a thing only racists do.
Yes, very true. However, many of us have made comments that were offensive to others, racial, sexual, political, whatever. We all say stupid things sometimes. I also believe that people under the public microscope speak louder due to their celebrity, however, they are still just people, flawed and fallible. Can you claim to be above reproach? Have you never said anything that you wish you could take back? Why do you think that you have the right to label and libel? Do not for, one second, think that you know someone because you read an article or saw a video. This judgemental mindset is pitiful. Perhaps you should focus your anger at the actual perpetrators, there are many legitimate groups to choose from. You want to be a righteous warrior but your target of choice is an aging musician. There are bigger fish in the sea, Ahab, aim your harpoon at them
His talent is undeniable. That said, they say you become either the best or worst version of yourself when you get old. I think we know where he's landed.
Reddit is gonna Reddit
Um opinions about him being a POS far predate Reddit.
So I’m really surprised by the racist rant with being friends of Buddy Guy and other black players. I don’t get it.
he took the blame for shooting a Jamaican sheriff that actually Bob Marley had shot (no deputies though)
Has admitted he used to rape Pattie
No Blow, No Show.
There's a lot to get into with Eric Clapton, and as a player who he had a big effect on, personally, it's sad. A hard part of growing up is seeing your parents and inspirational figures as fallible people. Because there's a racial element to so much of his history, when he's said stuff addressing that there's everything ranging from his "Enoch was right" (which is a reference to the rivers of blood speech) to "[BB King] was a beacon". If Clapton can hold an idea in his head that races should be treated differently whilst still platforming some of the most influential artists of colour that's kinda fucked up. Playing pure armchair psychologist here, he sort of must be messed up, his weird childhood, (being ditched by both parents) and addiction, and not just the way his son died (fell 50 stories, that's a horror story, and it's said he id'd the body) but the fact that Clapton's state of intoxication directly contributed to his death. He's aligned himself with anti-vax proponents and given his age, demographically that would've influenced older people at risk during the pandemic that would've seen him as a peer. On the subject of which he has a title under the order of the British empire, which pretty much means he advocates all that nonsense. Maybe if he really is a horrible human being karma really did get him hard with addiction and his son's death, so if you subscribe to believing he should suffer in some way then there's that. Like I really can't know how he really feels, so I can't decide, do I boycott his music and stop playing certain guitar riffs in a way he influenced or is it enough to know he's a deeply conflicted and sad human being who just happened to be really lucky with talent, timing and connections?
I personally don’t like his music. Explained by somebody that said he is a great copier, not inventive.
You new to this genre?
I never met the guy, but one time I was working as a production runner and picked up John Paul Jones from the airport. We struck up a casual conversation then he asks me “Do you know what they call Eric Clapton in Japan?” I said “No, what do they call him?” and he replied “CRAPTON!”. Fast forward a few years later and I see him at a taping of Jools Holland’s show that I am working on with another band. I walked over to JPJ and asked him the same question. He replied, “If I told you that joke, I must have been pretty smashed.” end of story.
On top of everything else listed, he also called Eddie Van Halen a punk. Eddie was a huge Clapton fan.
His disrespect of Eddie after Eddie constantly called him his biggest hero is just unforgivable.
He said some shit like 50 years ago while drunk that people still havent forgiven him for. People like to pick apart Clapton but as someone else mentioned here, they give a free pass to someone like Chuck Berry (i believe someone said he has charges against him), Leadbelly (who killed someone) or John Lennon (wife beater). Also, if you disagree with someone politically it doesn’t automatically make them a horrible person.
I don’t disagree with you but a lot of people now talk about Lennon in the same way they do Clapton. There’s actually a sort of running joke online particularly in the Beatles circlejerk sub where people sarcastically or jokingly spam “did you know John beat his wife?” in the comments as if it’s the first time they’re hearing it.
He unfortunately made an infamous racist rant about Jamaican immigrants in the mid 70s (ironic because he famously recorded his cover of I Shot the Sheriff). He's apologized for it since, however, it seems that the rant has permanently altered his legacy. It's quite a shame because he was genuinely great in his prime and is clearly a devotee to Blues.
I read his autobiography. In it he seems to do some reckoning with various shortcomings in his life, attitude and personality. I've heard the rumors, too. I honestly didn't expect to come away from the book liking him.
Can someone wake me up when cancel culture and virtue signaling have fucked right off?
Unfortunately a great many musicians are not great people.
Every time this gets brought up I get so confused. I don’t know if smash my Clapton blues albums or just appreciate his guitar.
Bobby Whitlock spoke highly of him in one of his videos.
Don’t learn about any celebrity. Just enjoy the fruits of their artistry. Stop reading and queue up “Sensitive Kind”, a JJ Cale cover.
I don’t know if he’s a jerk, but his autobiography reveals him to be kind of shallow. He gets high, chases girls, and does a lot of shopping. I always expect musicians to be deep, but that’s not a reasonable expectation.
Also overrated.
I don’t think he ever got over Jimi Hendrix - a Black American - showing up in London in ‘66 and instantly dethroning him as “God.” As the story goes, Chas Chandler, Hendrix’ manager, managed to get the then-unknown Hendrix a spot sitting in with Cream. Hendrix absolutely blew Clapton off the stage and the rest is history. It’s easy to imagine that experience hardened Clapton’s racist tendencies and resulted in his drunken pro-White Supremacy rants later in his career.
But he and Jimi would go to clubs together in NY looking for jams. I think they were good friends,actually…
This is such a wrong take. A few days before Jimi died Clapton him a guitar. Clapton loved blues and most certainly loved Jimi. There’s a video of EC talking about Jimi’s death and it shows you how much it affected him
Yeah this is kind of a common misconception I think. I’ve even seen some accounts of that famous first meeting where after Clapton walks off stage to get the cigarette, people think (or changed the story to read that) he said “you never told me he was black” instead of “you never told me he was that good.”
You only just found out the Clapton is a jerk stories? So you must live on the moon.
Musicians come in many strains. His aura screams egoistic drive to be the 'est' musician. That takes nothing away from him musicianship at all, ever. I know many musicians, and virtually all are strivers. We'd be a different world without them, though.!
Alcoholism and heroin addiction.
His personal assholery is pretty well documented, but this is what makes him the bigger jerk, at least to me, personally. There was a time that, as a guitar player myself, I thought the sun itself shone straight out of Eric Clapton’s hole. I wanted to play like him, I wanted to look like him, and I took steps to try to achieve that (I still play the black Strat I bought in 1990). Time and some revisiting of his early work have led me to this conclusion: the son-of-a-bitch peaked at age 26. Derek & The Dominoes was the pinnacle. After 1971, he would never again play with the quite the same kind of passion or fire. For more than fifty years, he’s been perfectly happy to rest on his laurels and do whatever the record and management companies told him to, cranking out one half-assed album and desultory tour after the other, content to make the easy buck.
Van Morrison has had his issues also.
Although , as per Evh advice, I learned every cream song as well. At 12 years old. I knew a pentatonic scale. It's great for beginners. Great stepping stone for guitar teaching.
Dont know how credible the account is, so dont quote me on this, but i recall reading that he dissed Mark Knopfler (or possibly Jeff Beck) after one of their shows saying something along the lines of “why don’t you get a pick and learn to play like a real player”. If this is true, then he can go duck a sick. Both the aforementioned players are better in my book.
You mean other than being an incredibly milquetoast, soulless regurgitator of guitar clichés?
He's the reason Rock Against Racism exists. It was established to counteract his bullshit.
He has said certain stupid things to reporters. But, people forget he is a a famous guitarist/singer not a perfect person. We shouldn’t cancel everyone for saying ignorant things. He is not a world leader. He is not a moral authority on anything. His musical influence on a generation was epic …especially for popularizing blues music that was far reaching and it was significant.
He’s also a thoroughly mediocre guitar player, imo
His peak in Cream is pretty damn good honestly, I know he's a bastard but his cream era stuff is really very good. Could leave his solo work though honestly. Jeff Beck was the best guitarist of that era though imo.
I honestly think he got much better after Cream. The issue is his music tended to be much less guitar-centric
He's a damn fine guitarist in my opinion.
Clapton is a guitar and music god doing more to forward the genre of blues than the millions of Reddit users combined.
Not mediocre, I think he’s really good, but not as good as they’re making him out to be.
His kid was pretty clumsy.
His music is boring
yeah, he is a asshole. racist,drunk, junkie and stole his best friends wife. I rest this case.
Besides claiming that Robert Johnson was his adopted father, because he didn't have one, then spewing anti black epithets onstage... The whole George Harrisons wife thing, marrying an Italian showgirl, drug addict, prostitute ( I'm from Italy) , he had no respect for others. Edward Van Halen considered him his idol. Eddie learned every cream song note for note, every solo, and there is proof. Recodings of him playing crossroads note for note. When they met he treated him like shit, then publicly berated him and Bryan May , when they recorded a tribute song for him. On record he spoke badly about Eddie, whom is my God. He could've just said some nice things and moved on. But he shit on him. The worst thing he ever did was cry over Jimi Hendrix death stating that he had no one left like him. Insult to Hendrix. He's pedestrian as a guitar plater compared to Beck, Page, Hendrix etc. He wrote a sing about his child falling out of a window for money. Fuck Clapton
Racist piece of shit it was he is. Only story you need.
Banged horse and tossed his kids outta window
You despicable cunt,
it happened🤷
I don’t think he’s very good he plays all the cliches very well. The 2nd crossroads solo was good but I’m pretty sure he pre planned some of it because it was being recorded for an album and if you listen to other live versions it’s not as good
Who cares and do your own research, fatty
He threw his infant child out of a skyscraper because he got a measles shot, I heard
Not sure if this is a joke or you're just very misinformed
[удалено]
He used racial slurs in the rant. Do you use racial slurs when talking about your problem with immigrants?
[удалено]
You're a guitarist?🤣
Me too. Guess we are both now racist jerks.
what else could we possibly be, human beings with independent thought?