The 1973 song Eric Clapton didn’t want to release: “I didn’t think it was fair”
Not every song released by a megastar is necessarily worth throwing on an album. Despite the millions of Beatles fans who would die to hear any hidden song that had the Fab Four together again, no one would want to release it if all they did was muck around in the studio for the span of three minutes.
While it’s usually the artists’ choice whether to put one of their songs out, Eric Clapton didn’t have the best sense of single when he approached his cover of ‘I Shot the Sheriff’.
Cover versions have always occupied a curious place in popular music. Some simply pay tribute to the original, while others take on a life of their own, introducing songs to entirely new audiences and sometimes becoming more commercially successful than the versions that inspired them.
If you had told someone in 1966 that Clapton would be putting out this style of song, they would call you a bold-faced liar. Clapton was already becoming one of the most in-demand blues guitarists in the world, and seeing him play in Cream and open up new psychedelic visions on his guitar seemed like the further thing from reggae.
At the time, Clapton’s reputation was built almost entirely on his command of blues and rock guitar. Venturing into reggae territory represented a significant stylistic departure and demonstrated a willingness to follow his musical curiosity wherever it led.
Once he exorcised his romantic demons with Derek and the Dominoes, though, Clapton was looking to transition to a new sound. He had already gotten the blues out of his system, and playing with artists like Delaney and Bonnie led him to consider what he could bring to a traditional pop song.
After packing up his Gibson, Clapton’s switch to a Stratocaster during the first part of his solo career gave the world a much gentler version of his sound. He could still rip it up when he wanted to, but the flashiness was a lot more muted this time around compared to the freakouts of songs like ‘Sunshine of Your Love’.
Since Bob Marley was also being featured on Clapton’s turntable, he wanted to try his hand at putting together his own version of ‘I Shot the Sheriff’. Marley’s version was quickly gaining steam outside of reggae circles, but Clapton said the recording might detract too much from the original.
For the longest time, Clapton didn’t even want it to make the album, telling Classic Rock Stories, “I didn’t think it should go on the album, let alone be a single. I didn’t think it was fair to Bob Marley, and I thought we’d done it with too much of a white feel or something. Shows what I know.”
It’s not like that didn’t happen to some extent. There are probably millions of rock fans who loved this song, which wouldn’t have given Bob Marley and the Wailers a second glance, but Clapton wasn’t looking to commandeer his sound. If anything, he was looking to make a musical gateway drug.
Fans may have liked his version of the Marley classic, but it wouldn’t be that out of the question for them to suddenly develop a taste for other artists like Toots and the Maytals and Peter Tosh if they wanted to go deeper. Clapton was far from the last person to even pay tribute to Marley, either, with Bono shouting his praises over the years and Joe Strummer of The Clash doing his own version of ‘Redemption Song’ years later.
To ease his mind, Clapton also got a phone call from Marley after the fact, where the reggae icon gave his blessing to cover the tune. For a guitarist who seemingly did nothing but play the blues for most of his career, it didn’t take Clapton long to master another style of music when he really committed to it.
Looking back, Clapton’s hesitation about releasing ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ feels misplaced, but understandable. The cover succeeded not because it copied Marley’s original formula, but because it approached the song with admiration and a fresh perspective. In doing so, Clapton helped introduce reggae to a wider audience while demonstrating that great songs can thrive in more than one musical language.
