The band so good they were beyond Eric Clapton’s comprehension: “I was devoted”
Most artists who have seen it all tend to feel more cynical when it comes to the supposed “best new artists” on the scene. Given that Eric Clapton was initially nicknamed God in London, he knew a thing or two about hype.
Anyone can claim to leave people with their mouths on the floor, but some musicians talk a big game only to be a massive re-run of what had come before. While Eric Clapton never claimed to be anything more than another preacher of all things bluesy, he remembered being staggered the first time he heard this songwriter play for the first time.
Then again, Clapton seemed to think a lot differently than most other rock and roll stars from around that time. Whereas some of the biggest bands in England featured a band of brothers that wanted nothing more than to make the audience move, ‘Slowhand’ was the free agent interested in playing with as many blues players as he could while continuing to refine his craft everywhere he went.
But around the time that Cream dissolved, Clapton had started looking at music beyond the jamming. Most people could have spent their entire lives trying to dig into their back pages and make something that no one had heard before, but the more he started to tighten his technique, the more he started to feel stifled by playing the same old riffs over and over again without any real emotion.
Rock had to progress beyond the virtuosos, and with Jimi Hendrix growing past his solos, many artists had started to go back to their roots, which is where Clapton got in contact with The Band. Despite being known as the backing group for Bob Dylan for the longest time, hearing albums like Music From Big Pink cast a large shadow on anyone who heard it, whether it was The Beatles taking that rootsy sound for ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ or Roger Waters learning about what music could mean beyond space rock.
Whereas Clapton had been friendly with the group, he saw true genius on display when listening to Robbie Robertson’s songs. Although no one could really dethrone Dylan’s handiwork in the rock industry, Robertson managed to put pure heart into every one of his songs, whether that was the harmonies on ‘The Weight’ or hearing everyone in the group come together for ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’.
While Clapton was happy to learn whatever he could from Robertson, he felt that he couldn’t dwell on that kind of genius for too long, saying, “If I sat down and thought for ten minutes about what he’s given me, I wouldn’t even be able to have coffee with him. I’d be awe-struck. I was devoted to the Band, and every song that he ever wrote for the Band had a profound effect on me.”
The group seemed to capture the truth of his life. As he continued, “The story of the relationship in the song ‘The Moon Struck One’ is so profound. It brings back so many memories of my own childhood that it seems like Robbie must have been there.”
They had found a way to capture the black music that he adored without it seeming appropraited. This floored and inspired him. “For me, it was serious. It was serious,” he said, “and it was grown up, and it was mature, and it told stories, and it had beautiful harmonies, fantastic singing, beautiful musicianship, without any virtuosity. Just, you know, economy, and beauty.”
And it’s not like people have to go too far to hear that influence on Clapton. Outside of him getting more into songwriting with Derek and the Dominoes, his entire mentality seemed to change following the group, leading to him going for more laid-back music on his 1970s records like Slowhand. During this period, he even made moves to try and join The Band.
Considering where he would eventually go, it’s not like Clapton was that far off the mark calling Robertson a foundational piece of his career. Because if it weren’t for albums like The Band, most people wouldn’t have heard Clapton break out the acoustic or get as personal as he got on ‘Tears in Heaven’.
He was now moved to capture his own experiences, and that was largely borne from following The Band’s lead. He even recalled watching his beloved group warming up. “I remember Robbie saying, ‘We don’t jam. There’s no point sitting here and trying to, you know. We just write and work.’ And I was very impressed.” He was so impressed, in fact, that he’s never recovered from their influence.
