Eric Clapton reveals this week of his declining health

People that knock Clapton for his studio albums are missing the point. His live playing is what made his reputation. Yeah there are lots of players who can play rings around him technically, but fill a stadium full of people bring out a bunch of big name guitar players and Clapton will get the watermelon (Woodstock reference = The hottest guitar player gets a watermelon). And he’s respected by his peers. Who else could get the line-up for his Crossroads Festivals to show up?

For Layla fans, get the Tedeschi Trucks Band - Layla, Live at Lock’n. IMHO, better than the original, It definitely sounds better.

I’ll accept Mike Bloomfield"s opinion of Clapton:

The Rolling Stone Interview: Mike Bloomfield - Rolling Stone

You were telling me that Eric Clapton was a perfect guitarist. What makes you think that?
His attack is flawless, that’s one of the things. A perfect musician is dedicated. He has ideas, attack, touch, ability to transmit emotion and abillity to transmit his ideas. His ability to transmit his ideas and his emotion logically is kineticism; he can build. Eric does all of these about as well as you can do them. It shows in the area that he plays that his attack is perfect. His tone is vocal; his ideas are superb; he plays almost exclusively blues–all the lines he plays in the Cream are blues lines. He plays nothing but blues; he’s a blues guitarist and he’s taken blues guitar to its ultimate thing. In that field he’s B. B. King cum the Freddie King and Ernie Cahill style of guitar playing. Eric is the master in the world. That is why he is a perfect guitarist. Eric plays in bad taste when he wants to. He can play crappy. But, like, Eric plays almost exclusively perfect.

No one is perfect, of course, I think that Bloomfield is talking about Clapton’s schmaltz when he says Clapton plays in bad taste when he wants to, and Clapton played many concerts that were drunken messes in the 70s and snooze fests in the 80s..

Everyone has the right to like or dislike Clapton, of course, but when people say his playing is junk, there are a lot of really good guitarists who disagree.

Again, if you think Layla is a classic album, give the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s version a listen. I think you’ll like it.