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Best Clapton Solo?

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(@rip-this-joint)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 110
Topic starter  

I'm working on the Sunshine of your Love solo atm and wondering what are your favorite Clapton solos? I like the way his solos progress in ideas and have a clear beginning and ending. Tell me your favorite and why.

Later


   
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(@jimh2)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 80
 

I like the long version solo on Cocaine.

Music is the universal language, love is the key.


   
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(@jocko)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 39
 

Blues Power from Just One Night album.

45 years playing and still rubbish.


   
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(@dcmarshall)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 41
 

Let It Rain


   
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(@maxrumble)
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Layla is my fav

Cheers,

Max


   
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(@bennett)
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Joined: 19 years ago
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Layla is my fav
Same. Reason: Goosebumps. :P

From little things big things grow - Paul Kelly


   
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(@rip-this-joint)
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Joined: 20 years ago
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Topic starter  

Not sure bushpig. Although his licks don't usually deviate from his original sound too much. Just those standard blues licks. I wouldn't be surprised if the lick made it into the solo.


   
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(@wes-inman)
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I am a huge Clapton fan, I spent a lot of time copying his solos when I first started out. There are so many great solos. Everybody is knocked out by Sunshine of Your Love. The wah solo in White Room is fantastic as well.

I always liked his short solos, don't know why. I loved After Midnight. Short and sweet, but awesome, great solo for a someone starting out to learn.

But I am rambling. My all-time favorite solo is Badge. That very first note of the solo is incredible. It is one long note with multiple whole step bends. I have tried for 30 years just to copy that first note perfectly and have never been able to quite nail it. But the whole solo is outstanding. I also love the Leslie effect that starts the bridge. That is one of the most beautiful effects ever.

What I have always been amazed about Eric Clapton is how he can coax amazing variety out of just the 1st position of the Minor Pentatonic scale. I believe almost the whole Cocaine solo is played in this one position alone. I don't think any other guitar player can get as much out of such a small area of the fretboard as EC.

Another amazing thing about Eric is the way he weaves the Minor and Major Pentatonics scales together flawlessly. The solo in Sunshine of Your Love is an excellent example. Eric just knows exactly when to go from one scale to another. He is THE MASTER of this technique.

Outstanding
Incredible
Amazing
Beautiful
Excellent
Great
Fantastic

Yeah, I'm a fan too. 8)

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@tim_madsen)
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Wasn't the main riff of Sunshine the work of Jack Bruce :?: Claptons solo is great but what makes the song is Bruce's riff. I seem to recall an interview with Clapton where he said all he did in that song is play off of Bruce's riff. Great song though, one of my favorites from that era.

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Tim

Yes, Jack Bruce wrote many of the famous Cream riffs like Sunshine of Your Love and Tales of Great Ulysees. But the SoYL solo is one of the great all-time Rock solos. That was Eric at his best.

Eric Clapton is also an outstanding rhythm guitar player, something that is often overlooked.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@homchz)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 31
 

Layla does it for me too.

THe funny thing about Clapton is the way he disregards the pinky finger completley he is a 3 finger solo guy, and he still rips it up.

Joshua Jones New Folk Singer Songwriter
Joshua Jones @ MySpace


   
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(@stormymonday)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 429
 

Crossroads completely flattened me the first time I heard it. It still knocks me out.

A little known song from his Cream days is Sleepy Time Time. The solo in that song is a lesson in bending with vibrato. Clapton is a master at this technique, and in this song he demonstrates why.

There are so many more.


   
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(@tim_madsen)
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Tim

Yes, Jack Bruce wrote many of the famous Cream riffs like Sunshine of Your Love and Tales of Great Ulysees. But the SoYL solo is one of the great all-time Rock solos. That was Eric at his best.

Eric Clapton is also an outstanding rhythm guitar player, something that is often overlooked.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Clapton, I think he is a great guitarist. But in the interview I saw, Clapton himself pretty much gave Bruce the credit for everything in that song including the solo. I can't remember his words exactly but they where like, I just took Jack's riff and added this and did this and there you have it. I agree it's a great solo. But being a bigger Cream fan than I am a Clapton fan, I don't think Jack Bruce has ever gotten the credit he deserves for his part in the group. So getting back to the subject at hand I guess I'll have to vote for the Sunshine of Your Love solo. :wink:
Being a teenager at the time and thinking I knew everything but actually knew very little, I thought the world was coming to an end when Cream disbanded. Strange the worlds still here :?

Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.

"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Tim

Oh, I agree with you 100%. Jack Bruce was the genius behind Cream. But Eric Clapton was so famous at the time he got all the credit. When I was a teen I thought Eric Clapton was the singer. I didn't even know who Jack Bruce was. Heck, even Ginger Baker got more credit than Jack.

My younger brother said something once that stuck with me. He said if you have a good drummer and a good bass player, then you have a GREAT band. He was right. Yeah, it was pretty easy for EC to sound good behind that rhythm section.

Still, Eric played some amazing guitar back then. I still like Eric, but that was his best guitar ever. Cream is my all-time favorite band too.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Check out this great video.

Cream playing Sunshine of Your Love live. Awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qq_h4ZVxTE&search=sunshine%20of%20your%20love

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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