What we know about Eric Clapton, is that he must be the
biggest fan of all the great blues legends that ever lived. He is not only a
Blues fan; his recordings also reflect that how much he was influenced by Rock,
Reggae, Country and Bluegrass too. There are lots of old artists, even artists
of his own time who inspired him, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall, George Harrison
being the perfect examples. In reality, Eric Clapton himself was an inspiration
to other artists of his time and now he is a role model for hundreds of new
artists and of course the millions of Blues and Rock fans across the globe. If
you listen to Eric Clapton for a day then you will be attracted to Blues-Rock
music within an hour, after a day when you will end up listening to his covers
of Robert Johnson’s songs in Sessions of Robert Johnsons and few old
Delta Blues songs in his Unplugged album, you will fall in love with the
Blues. For last 60 years and more Eric Clapton has been a guitarist, singer,
songwriter and composer and he has devoted all his life to music and guitars by
hosting Crossroads Festivals, releasing compilation and studio albums
continuously, not only his songs but also songs originally composed by J.J
Cale, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Bronzy and so many of the
Delta Blues and Chicago Blues legends. His last released album consisted of him
and his guitar buddies Mark Knopfler, Don White, Tom Petty, John Mayer, Willie
Nelson who covered songs of the late J.J Cale, the album was titled, “The
Breeze: An Appreciation To J.J Cale” by Eric Clapton & Friends in
2014. He also released his compilation album Forever Man in 2015
followed by a film of his live album Slowhand at 70 – Live @ Royal Albert Hall
the same year. Recently, Clapton released his 23rd solo studio
album named I Still Do in May 20 of this year 2016. The album was highly
publicized this year, mainly due to the rumor that George Harrison will be on
the album. This misconception immersed because in this album the Harrison’s old
pseudonym L'Angelo Misterioso appeared as a bandmate in Clapton’s band.
The nickname was preliminarily used by Harrison way back in the 60s when he
recorded with the Cream (Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce & Eric Clapton). Clapton
or his associates hasn’t revealed the true identity of the man named L’Angelo
Misterioso due to some legal issues. Another theory suggests that Ed Sheeran
might be the mysterious L'Angelo Misterioso , prior to the release of
the album when Clapton performed I Will Be There (which featured the
mysterious bandmate’s voice and guitar in the album), he performed it in Budakon
Hall, Tokyo in April 13, 2015 (a month before the release of the album) during
his tour and the young star Ed Sheeran came to the stage to sing alongside the
legend, after the track was released in the album, it sounded a little like Ed,
but then again he did three more songs with him including Cypress Grove. It
was really exciting to watch Ed jamming alongside Eric Clapton for the fans.
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| Glyn Johns & Eric Clapton in 2016 |
The major objective of this album was to keep the tradition
alive. This might be Eric’s last studio album but in this album he teamed up
with some of his old pals, Glyn Johns was one of them. In the music industry
Glyn Johns has a huge reputation as a producer who produced many epic albums
with many epic bands like Desperado by Eagles, Led Zeppelin by
Led Zeppelin (in which he was the audio engineer), Sticky Fingers by
Rolling Stones, Who’s Next by The Who. With Eric, Glyn goes way back
during the time when Eric was trying to release his famous album Slowhand in
1977. Through this album Eric earned his nickname Slowhand. Slowhand was
a great hit as it contained J.J Cale’s Cocaine which was covered by Eric
Clapton in the album, it also contained Big Bill Bronzy’s Mean Old Frisco which
was also covered by Eric. And other hits like Next Time You See Her and one
of his greatest composition: Wonderful Tonight were also available in
the album. After the huge success of the album which he credited to Glyn John’s
record producing, Johns also produced his next album Backless in 1978.
That was the last album Glyn Johns produced for Eric. Now after these many
years, I Still Do turned out to be a lot better than the fans expected.
The album contains lots of cover songs like Skip James’ Cypress Grove. Robert
Johnson’s Stones In My Passway , Dylan’s I Dream I Saw St. Augustine.
It had many Blues music, Clapton was back in his blues roots and for the
young audience it was their opportunity to discover more blues music.
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| Eric Clapton in Japan 1977. Photo By: Akihiko Fuko |
Many people criticize British blues artists like Eric
Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and others for covering old Delta Blues or
Chicago Blues records and improvising it and using amplifiers, but if you are a
true blues fan then you know how important it was to improvise those records.
It is true that majority of those songs didn’t had that Delta music vibe but it
was a tribute, a culture that influenced many of young artists to discover more
blues and do what they did, improvise songs and keep the blues alive, though it
wasn’t the authentic blues but it was Blues-Rock, a fusion that inspired so
many young artists to pick up their guitars and play the blues. Eric Clapton
contributed his whole life to spreading music, not just only blues, but old
folk songs, jazz music or songs that were getting lost. We must be glad that a
guy like Clapton exists. Also, there are so many others who had contributed to
keep the blues alive, in the 60s, Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Cream,
Derek & Domino, Led Zeppelin, they inspired the whole world and took Rock
music to a whole new heights. It was a tribute to the legends and due to these
musicians, the legacy of these legends still remains. Clapton has recently
launched a video for Stones In My Passway which shows the recording of
the song inside the recording studio. "I Still Do" is available on iTunes.
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