The song Eric Clapton called a “spoof”
Often cited as one of the most influential guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton made a lasting impact on the face of rock and blues rock music during his time playing with groups like The Yardbirds and Cream. However, his artistic work has been of diminishing returns over the years, and though he is still active, he never managed to recreate the magic of those early records with the likes of Cream. Even Clapton himself admits that one of his tracks, in particular, is “a spoof” of a song.
Following the breakup of psychedelic rock pioneers Cream in 1968, Clapton bounced around a few different groups including Blind Faith and even a brief stint with John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band. Then, in 1970, Clapton released his first solo record, which was to be the first of 21 solo studio albums released over the course of his career. The latest instalment of the Clapton discography was the unexpected 2018 Christmas album Happy Xmas, which reached a disappointing 97th place in the UK album charts.
Much of Clapton’s early solo career was plagued by heroin addiction and alcoholism, which negatively impacted both his musical output and personality during this period. Despite these setbacks, the guitarist and songwriter managed to continue pumping out solo records every few years, all of which were fairly successful. In fact, Clapton is one of the highest-selling artists of all time, reportedly selling over 250 million records worldwide, not taking into account the huge success of his early bands, The Yardbirds and Cream.
His undeniable success in his solo career has not prevented Clapton from having a few misses, though that is to be expected with over 20 albums under your belt. 1996’s Pilgrim was one of the guitarist’s most commercially successful records, becoming a top-ten album in both the UK and US. However, the record itself is distinctly lacklustre in terms of content. The blues rock influence that Clapton is synonymous with is blended into a painfully middle-of-the-road pop sound, which is most laughable on ‘Sick and Tired’.
The tenth track on the album, ‘Sick and Tired’ comes across almost like a cringe-inducing impersonation of blues rock. This style was likely influenced by the fact the track was co-written by Simon Climie, who was Clapton’s main partner throughout Pilgrim. Reportedly, the song is meant to be a parody, taking on the classic blues theme of heartbreak but replacing a woman with a parrot (hilarious).
“The riff came first and I just thought of the Vaughan brothers”, Clapton once told Guitar World Magazine, “I told Simon to program a shuffle and exaggerate the back beat so it would sound like a Texas-style groove. I began improvising silly lyrics and thought, ‘Well, I might as well make it a song now.’ It’s a spoof, really.”
As far as spoof songs go, they are not exactly laugh-a-minute; they feel more like a generic and fairly dreary 1990s pop-rock track by an ageing rock star. Nevertheless, the album remains a hit with hardcore Clapton fans, and Pilgrim remains one of the guitarist’s most successful records.
