Is Eric Clapton a "Bluesman"?

[Ridgerunner]

butterfield didnt play the flute.....

Paul Butterfield - Wikipedia​

Paul Butterfield - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942 – May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and
...
See more

 

[Canon Shooter]

When you think of that song, what is the first thought that comes into your mind?

Oh, I get that Allman wrote the opening riff, but it's still a Clapton song...

 

[Harry Dresden]

I did!!!! Steve Marriot and Peter Frampton were great live! They were the openers for Traffic and Grand Funk all for $5!!!!!

i could have seen Grand Funk and Black Sabbath around 70 but couldnt get tickets.....there was riot that night outside the Anaheim CC buy those who couldnt get in....

 

[Billo_Really]

Oh, I get that Allman wrote the opening riff, but it's still a Clapton song...

That riff is the song!

 

[Billo_Really]

i could have seen Grand Funk and Black Sabbath around 70 but couldnt get tickets.....there was riot that night outside the Anaheim CC buy those who couldnt get in....

I saw Sabbath twice and there was a riot inside the arena in both concerts!

 

[Canon Shooter]

That riff is the song!

But it's still a Clapton song.

It didn't appear on any of Duane Allman's albums...

 

[Billo_Really]

Paul Butterfield - Wikipedia​

Paul Butterfield - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942 – May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and
...
See more

Best harmonica player ever was Magic Dick!

 

[TeeDub]

Did they do that song, "I don't need no doctor..."?

Oh yeah right before Hot and Nasty!!! Frampton's solo went on for about 20 min. By the way Clapton loved and could play the blues but the crowd wanted the old stuff. I saw him, Stevie Ray and Buddy Guy together, talk about BLUES and yeah it was the night SRV's helicopter crashed, sad, very sad. The irony of that night, he switched copters with Clapton.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

He is not a blues man. Not even that close.
Yes he liked/wrote/played some blues music and "bluesy" influenced music... but Clapton is a particularly talented pop artist.
He quit the Yardbirds because he felt they were getting too much into pop music, only to become a pop artist himself

 

[AMart]

I recently got into an argument (discussion) with a woman at Curley's Cafe in Signal Hill, Ca. I will not mention her name (Lori), but she said Clapton was a rock guitarist who played blues. And that he was not a Bluesman like Paul Butterfield, BB King, Robert Johnson, etc.

I told her she was a taco short of a combo plate!

What say you? Is she right?

He was before and after,
On 20 March 1991, Clapton's 4-year-old son Conor died after falling from the 53rd-floor window of a New York City apartment belonging to Conor's mother's friend. After isolating himself for a period, Clapton began working again, writing music for the film Rush (1991).

 

[Muhammed]

Clapton definitely has blues roots, but so do a lot of people who are known for playing other genres.

Certainly his early stuff, specifically with Cream, was not blues. "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Im So Glad" and "Let It Rain" are straight ahead 60's rock & roll songs. Even "Cocaine", which Clapton didn't release until 1977, isn't blues.

Lori has a very valid point when she says he was not a bluesman like BB King, Robert Johnson or Paul Butterfield. All they played was the blues. Clapton was all over the place...

Yes he did a lot of pop rock.

But whenever he starts jamming lead guitar solos, he usually just jams the pentatonic blues scale.

 

[Canon Shooter]

Yes he did a lot of pop rock.

But whenever he starts jamming lead guitar solos, he usually just jams the pentatonic blues scale.

So do I.

I'm hardly a "bluesman", though...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I got into a pissin match with someone (I forget who) here at USMB because I relentlessly classified the OG Fleetwood Mac, 1967 birth as a band... Peter Green was the Master and Blues backbone of the original group... Mr. Green sometime in the late 60's or early 70's eat one to many hits of LSD and blew bubbles pretty much the rest of his life... The band went pop...

 

[TeeDub]

I saw Sabbath twice and there was a riot inside the arena in both concerts!

Saw Sabbath on their first tour on Halloween in Chicago! It was a STRANGE night, half the crowd was wearing black robes, I think that even stunned Ozzie. Man was he skinny than!

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I would call him more of an ambassador to the blues. He helped to take the Chicago and Delta blues and to introduce them and feed them to the white kids.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I got into a pissin match with someone (I forget who) here at USMB because I relentlessly classified the OG Fleetwood Mac, 1967 birth as a band... Peter Green was the Master and Blues backbone of the original group... Mr. Green sometime in the late 60's or early 70's eat one to many hits of LSD and blew bubbles pretty much the rest of his life... The band went pop...

yep after 1972 the real Fleetwood Mac was no more.....Green was one of the better guitarist of that time period....

 

[dblack]

I would call him more of an ambassador to the blues. He helped to take the Chicago and Delta blues and to introduce them and feed them to the white kids.

Cultural appropriation, that's what that is!

 

[okfine]

I recently got into an argument (discussion) with a woman at Curley's Cafe in Signal Hill, Ca. I will not mention her name (Lori), but she said Clapton was a rock guitarist who played blues. And that he was not a Bluesman like Paul Butterfield, BB King, Robert Johnson, etc.

I told her she was a taco short of a combo plate!

What say you? Is she right?

All I can say is his albums could/can be found in either genre...

Eric Clapton - Son, Songs & Bands

Acclaimed guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric Clapton is known for his contributions to The Yardbirds and Cream, as well as such singles as "Tears in Heaven" as a solo artist.

www.biography.com

 

[Ridgerunner]

yep after 1972 the real Fleetwood Mac was no more.....Green was one of the better guitarist of that time period....

And imho one of the finest Blue's vocalist of a generation...

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

I never thought Clapton could sing a lick.