Eric Clapton Blogs
(31 views)Governor Bill Bredeson of Tennesse feels confident that he has enough votes to override a bill that would have allowed handgun carry permit holders to take their weapons in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. representative Curry Todd, who sponsored the guns-in -restaurants bill will attempt to override Bredeson's veto and send it to the House of Representatives next week. The House will need 50 votes from it's 99 members to override the veto and send it to the senate, where 17 of the 33 senators will have to approve the override.
Keep your anti- gun fingers crossed!
Tags: Eric Clapton
(50 views)Just back from Clapton's gig at the RAH.
The guy is awesome!!! As well as playing like no one else can and making it seem effortless, he lifted the roof with the sheer brilliance of a man at the peak of his craft.
Credit crunch!! Clapton beats the **** out of it!!!!
Tags: Eric Clapton Bob Marley Cream
(89 views)Who said this? "I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet" - Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell. See the answer on tomorrows blog.
Yesterdays quote: “We shall never tour America again. It’s very hard work, and one bring down after another. You have no idea how terrible it is" Keith Richards – 1967.
This Day in Music:
2001, Peter Blake, who designed The Beatles’ classic Sgt. Pepper album cover sued the group’s record company for more money. Blake was paid £200 ($340) for the famous figures in 1967, but was now “cheesed off” that EMI have never offered to pay more money.
1995, with the release of 'Me Against the World' Tupac Shakur became the first male solo artist to have a No.1 album on the Billboard chart while in prison.
1990, Flea and Chad Smith from The Red Hot Chili Peppers were arrested for sexually harassing a woman on Daytona Beach, Florida. They were each fined $1,000 (£588).
1981, Eric Clapton was hospitalised with bleeding ulcers causing a US tour to be cancelled. He was back in hospital five weeks later after being involved in a car crash.
1968, the promotional film for ‘Lady Madonna’ was broadcast in black and white on Top of the Pops on UK television. The video portion of the film clip was shot while The Beatles were performing the song ‘Hey Bulldog’, but the ‘Lady Madonna’ audio track was paired with the video for the promo release.
1955, CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey turned down the chance to sign Elvis Presley, instead at the same audition he signed singer Pat Boone.
Tags: Eric Clapton The Beatles Elvis Presley
(93 views)
Who said this? “We shall never tour America again. It’s very hard work, and one bring down after another. You have no idea how terrible it is"
Pete Townshend, Keith Richards or Robert Plant.
See the answer on tomorrows blog.
Yesterdays quote: "Sometimes it feels a little undignified but I never seem to get tired of getting drunk. I've tried going on stage sober and it wasn't much fun.”
Norman Cook.
This Day in Music:
2008, Michael Jackson refinanced his Neverland ranch to save it from being auctioned off, after being told that if he failed to pay $25m (£12.5m) he owed on the California property, it would be auctioned within a week. Jackson bought Neverland in 1987 intending to create a fantasy land for children naming it after an island in the story Peter Pan, where children never grow up.
2006, The Sex Pistols refused to attend their own induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City. Blondie, Herb Alpert and Black Sabbath were all inducted but the Pistols posted a handwritten note on their website, calling the institution "urine in wine", adding "We're not your monkeys, we're not coming. You're not paying attention".
1977, Iggy Pop and David Bowie kicked off a 22 date tour at Le Plateau Theatre, Montreal, Canada, support act was Blondie.
1965, Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds due to musical differences with the other band members. Clapton wanted to continue in a blues type vein, while the rest of the band preferred the more commercial style of their first pop hit, ‘For Your Love’.
1964, Billboard reported that sales of Beatles singles currently accounted for 60 percent of the US singles market and The Beatles album Meet the Beatles had reached a record 3.5 million copies sold.
Tags: David Bowie Eric Clapton The Beatles
(87 views)Here we are again. The weekend. Time to let go, unwind, and have fun. Make it a good one.
And what better way is there to kick off the weekend than with great old-school rock!!
Derek and the Dominos was a group formed by guitarist/singer Eric Clapton with other former members of Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, in the spring of 1970. The rest of the lineup was Bobby Whitlock (keyboards and vocals), Carl Radle (bass), and Jim Gordon (drums). The group debuted at the Lyceum Ballroom in London on June 14 and undertook a summer tour of England. From late August to early October, they recorded the celebrated double album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" (November 1970) with guitarist Duane Allman sitting in. They then returned to touring in England and the US, playing their final date on December 6.
The "Layla" album was successful in the US, where "Bell Bottom Blues" and the title song charted as singles in abbreviated versions, but it did not chart in the UK. The Dominos reconvened to record a second album in May 1971, but split up without completing it. Clapton then retired from the music business, nursing a heroin addiction.
In his absence, and in the wake of Allman's death in a motorcycle accident, the Dominos and "Layla" gained in stature. Re-released as a single at its full, seven-minute length in connection with the compilation album "History of Eric Clapton" (March 1972), "Layla" hit the Top Ten in the US and the UK in the summer of 1972. (It would return to the UK Top Ten in 1982.) A live album, "Derek and the Dominos in Concert" (January 1973), taken from the 1970 US tour, was also a strong seller.
Time has only added to the renown of the group, which is now rated among Eric Clapton's most outstanding achievements. The 1988 Eric Clapton box set retrospective "Crossroads" featured material from the abortive second album sessions. "The Layla Sessions" was a 1990 box set expanding that album across three CDs/cassettes. "Live at the Fillmore" (1994) offered an expanded version of the "In Concert" album.
From their 1970 album, "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs", it's Derek and the Dominos with "I Looked Away"....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ruy3dLT5ss
Tags: Eric Clapton Derek And The Dominos
(158 views)Over Christmas and the New Year I have spent a lot of time listening to some really good blues music, from the greats both established and contemporary. In doing so I have come across a terrific new British blues talent by the name of OLI BROWN, remember that name as this guy is going to make headlines and at present he is only 18 years of age.
His debut album 'Open Road' has recently been released on Ruff Rough records and it is a top notch collection of songs that goes beyond the blues spectrum. I picked up on this new talent through Classic Rock mag a couple of months ago where they ran a short feature on him. What struck me at first was how modest he is despite being taken under the wing of the likes of John Mayall, Watler Trout and Robben Ford. In the interview Brown says he left school to pursue his music career and he believes he can learn all he needs to know on the road. I would say after a good few listens to the album that young Mr Brown has already graduated from the Blues Academy with 1st Class Honours!
Brown writes most of his own original material, if not alone, with band mates Fred Hollis and Simon Dring, although his heritage shows through clearly enough. Brown has a terrific voice and one that has a maturity way beyond his years.
I am no musician, neither an expert on the Blues but when it comes to Brown's own playing style. I would say he has easily mastered that short sharp plucking technique that at the same time holds the note until the bridge is created to the next one. However don't for one minute think Open Road is a journey through traditional Blues. Brown is confident enough to be expansive and incorporate some funk and blatant rock riffing, whilst writing about life in today's world.
So to the album itself; Album opener Psycho displays the aforesaid funk sound, set around the very modern issue of a love that turns to an infatuation. Three tracks in and up comes 'Stone Cold' (Roxanne), a great driving sound that chugs along, interspersed with Brown's 'prowling licks.' This track put me in mind of Dr Feelgood at the height of their powers. From this it is straight into another standout track; 'Can't Get Next To You, which demonstrates Brown's ability to take a simple arrangement and just decorate it with flowing runs that to me are almost 'Claptonesque!'
Track 6, 'All the Kings Horses,' is perhaps the most traditional Blues song. One that gives this hotshot licence to demonstrate his dexterity to work from one end of the fretboard to the other. To my untrained ear it comes across as moving from chopping out languid short chords to intricate runs where he squeezes out every bit of every note. There is also an interesting cover of the famed 'Black Betty' whch gets some edgy pacey chord work following on behind.
The album also includes a laid back love song, 'Missing You,' where the young Brown uses his guitar as an instrument on one hand and as an emotional release on the other to convey his pain, real or perceived.
Put together the eleven tracks make for an interesting and vibrant listen and make me imagine how good this boy and his music must sound in a live setting.
I have always said music is one of God's greatest gifts to us and I genuinely believe it. Loving music and having as much of it as I do, I also believe I have become more discerning. Accordingly it takes something pretty special to get me waxing lyrical about a new talent.
Take my word for it Oli Brown is a special talent and he is going places. I just hope the media and the music industry gives him the time and space to develop in the direction that he wants too and that the purists do not dismiss him because he incorporates other playing styles. If you don't believe me, or even if you do, check out the album for yourself.
I conclude by thanking you for reading my first album review of 2009.
Nigel
Tags: Eric Clapton John Mayall
(82 views)Eric Clapton has announced a tour for next March.
Slowhand will play eight dates in England and one show in Dublin, although six of the gigs are at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where in 1991 he played 24 sold out shows. He’s described the experience as like “playing in my living room.”
Tickets go on sale on Monday at 9am.
Here’s the tour schedule:
11 May - O2, Dublin
13 May - Echo Arena, Liverpool
14 May - Manchester Evening News Arena
16 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
17 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
19 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
20 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
22 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
23 May - Royal Albert Hall, London
Tags: Eric Clapton
(177 views)The Bible has become banal and rock songs are often more effective in expressing Christianity, a leading bishop has claimed.
The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has urged churches to use hits by bands such as U2 and the Beatles in their services.
In a book backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he argues that pop music writers can convey deep theological concepts in a way that is more accessible to the younger generation.
Hundreds of evangelical churches have already turned to guitar-based songs instead of traditional hymns, but the bishop suggests that clergy still need to be more creative in appealing to non-churchgoers.
Artists highlighted for exploring Christian themes in their music include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, who famously claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus.
"For many people the language of the Bible has become inaccessible and yet pop song writers can make a connection with people because their language is fresh," he said.
"They are able to open our imagination to a way of thinking about God that we've become deaf to in church language.
"The Bible is an amazing collection of books that we've allowed to become banal. For many people it is a closed book and asking them to read it is a lost cause, which is a tragedy.
Bishop Baines said that music is influential in challenging people to think of some of life's big questions.
"Songs get more into the soul than simply reading an ancient book," he added. "I hope that they would be awoken to God and it would lead them to want to read some of the stories in the Bible."
The bishop said that churches should offer "a menu to people from different backgrounds" and should not be afraid of criticism.
"When Mozart was around people called it trivial pop music, but few would do that now," he said.
"The Wesleys took pop and folk tunes and put a Christian story to the music. We must be more creative and adventurous."
In the book, called Finding Faith and described by Dr Williams as "profound and challenging", he reveals the impact that pop songs have had on his Christian belief.
"I have read the Bible through many times and I have enjoyed art all over the world... But it was a simple song from [Bruce] Cockburn's early period that gave me the words to hang all this together and provide me with a vocabulary for connecting the bigness of the universe with the smallness of men in a language of worship."
In another passage, the bishop tells how the U2 song, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, helped define his faith.
"What I can't quite understand is why it took a song by an Irish rock band to make me identify what I actually felt about being a Christian in a complicated world," he said.
The BBC recently broadcast alternative versions of the Passion – the Easter story – and the Nativity using pop performers to dramatise the biblical events with lyrics from bands such as Oasis and The Smiths.
Phil Andrew, vicar of St Mary's Reigate, Surrey, said he used pop songs from bands such as Coldplay in his evening services to stimulate discussion.
"The lyrics of pop tunes often vocalise the questions people are asking today and help people find a way into the message of the Bible," he said.
"The Bible tells a great story, but it is not as accessible as it used to be for a generation that hasn't been brought up with it."
But mixing popular culture with religious teaching has upset some traditionalists, who are also likely to be bemused by the bishop's comments.
Fr Geoffrey Kirk, national secretary of the Anglo-Catholic group Forward in Faith, said that it was important to maintain a high quality of worship.
"If God intended us to have pop music heard, would he have given us Mozart? Most happy clappy worship songs contain no doctrine and are empty of content," he said.
Tags: Eric Clapton Oasis U2 The Beatles John Lennon The Smiths Bob Dylan
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