Wrong.
Let's start with the blues. So much of what Eric Clapton is and plays comes from the 8 and 12 bar blues. My uncle Stallion Cornell once said about the blues something that has stuck with me - "The blues, like jazz, sounds like a lot of fun to play, but generally sounds like boring drivel to all those listening". In many respects I agree. Repeating the same three chords over and over again would tend to bore me, but there is something in the blues that resonates in me. I think it all started when I told my Pandora station that I liked Muddy Waters and it proceeded to play nothing but Chicago and Louisiana blues from old 1950's African-American artists....for three days. Needless to say I came out of that experience crooning like Howlin' Wolf, and looking for more.
I grew up listening to Clapton Unplugged in the backseat of Dr. Jimmy Senior's Subaru Impreza, to which I'm eternally grateful (unlike Dr. Jimmy Senior's love for all things Andrea Bocelli, which I hope is just a 10 year passing phase). When I purchased my first iPod and began putting all the music on it that I could get my hands on I found the Clapton Unplugged CD buried far back in our family's CD collection. I dusted off the case and decided to put it on my newly purchased mp3 playing device, thinking that I should have some sort of Clapton on my iPod and promptly forgot that it was ever there. Then something amazing happened to me - I discovered the shuffle setting of my iPod. Walking to and from campus at the university where I teach/attend/am the dean of students, my shuffle kept spewing Clapton Unplugged at me and I kept skipping the songs, considering them relics from the archives of my iTunes. Then I gave up - I listened to a song off the album - probably the first time since I was about 8 - and it was "Running on Faith". I was hooked.
Eric Clapton is the King of Blues for a lot of reasons that are all apparent on this album. He doesn't play the guitar, he never plays the guitar - it is merely another appendage that does exactly as he pleases. His voice is not just smooth, its creamy like the first scoop of perfect temperature ice cream. Some songs are just pure blues - "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Walkin' Blues", "Malted Milk", these songs sound like the only friend this man has left is his delightful Martin Co. guitar. The lyrics are so good :
"Baby, fix me one more drink and hug your daddy one more time, keep on stirring my malted milk, mama, until I change my mind"
"I ain't got a nickel and I ain't got a lousy dime. She don't come back, think I'm going to lose my mind. If she ever gets back to stay, it's going to be another brand new day, Walking with my baby down by the San Francisco Bay".
There are some Clapton classics on it as well - Layla, Before You Accuse Me, Tears in Heaven, etc. which he adapts to acoustics perfectly. The transition is made easier by the fact that he has an awesome band backing him up (like always), especially the piano player who he refers to a few times as "Chuck". The blues come through so pure on these tracks, and it converted me forever.
I came out of college understanding a little more about the blues, but it wasn't until this Eric Clapton week that I became aware that he is the best. The best.
If you have ever wanted to play a guitar, have listened to a guitar, or have a vague idea of what a guitar looks like - stop whatever silly thing you are doing and purchase this album. You can thank me with monetary donations (just put "Dr. Jimmy" on the envelope, the mailman will know where it is to go).
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