On This Day – EC Takes Over
Oct 5, 2009 On This Day
On this day in 1963 a promising young guitarist replaced Tony Topham in the Yardbirds. Of course that guitarist was Eric Clapton (Known as God to his graffiti writing friends). He was 17 when he left his first band The Roosters to join them.
Reassuringly for us mere mortals, EC found learning the guitar difficult but he stayed with it as fascinated with the blues. The blues was his first love and it was the reason he would leave The Yardbirds a couple of years later. The Yardbirds were moving in a pop direction that did not sit well with him.
From the Yardbirds EC joined John Mayall and released one of the seminal records of the 60s the so called Beano album. From there he formed Cream and then an amazing solo carer with amazing highs and incredible lows (I still have not forgiven him for 461 Ocean Boulevard….)
As a bit of a side note, the guitarist he recommended to the band to take over from him in the Yardbirds was Jimmy Page, but he did not want to stop his successful career as a session player. Later, of course Jimme was in the New Yardbirds a band that quickly changes their name to Led Zep.
This is EC playing second fiddle to one of the GREAT blues guitarists Buddy Guy.
And this is the last straw as far as EC was concerned, The Yardbirds with “For Your Love”. It’s jeff Beck in this performance as EC had already left the Building.
And THIS is EC with John Mayall in 1966. Boy, did he make the right decision!
And again.
Tags: classic rock music, eric clapton, jeff beck, jimmy page, john mayall, love rock music, On This Day, rock and blues, yardbirds
On This day – Cream Rises to The Top.
Jul 16, 2009 On This Day
Cream of the crop.
In an interview with the BBC Jack Bruce once said that EC thought that they were a blues band while Jack and Ginger made him play jazz. The truth is that this was a blues influenced, jazz, rock, beat, teen combo the like of which we had not seen before (no, sorry, that’s The Mothers of Invention).
Cream was a blues rock fusion with a tinge of jazz. What really distinguished Cream from most bands at the time was the level musicianship. EC was well known as a guitarist (over hyped to my mind – but that is an argument for another day). Jack Bruce was ‘classically trained’ and one of the first rock bass guitarists with serious talent. Ginger Baker was a rhythmic genius, one of the few rock drummers who could construct an interesting drum solo – although many tried, and failed sadly….
It is not often remembered that Cream only lasted 2 years or so but had a huge influence on the direction of popular music. Given Baker and Bruce’s volatile history while in the Graham Bond Organisation (Including fights on stage, musical sabotage and threats at knife point), it was not likely that the band would be long lived.
Tags: classic rock music, cream, eric clapton, ginger baker, jack bruce, On This Day, real rock and blues
