“Pseudo-virtuoso”: The songs where Eric Clapton found his sound
Eric Clapton stands out as one of those people who you think has been around since the dawn of time, when in fact he’s only just turned 80 years old and shows no signs of stopping yet. Maybe the reason he seems so immortal is the fact that his guitar-playing powers transcend all normality, being roundly ranked one of the best in the business – but equally, he had to learn it from somewhere.
The natural teaching environment for this was not confined to the bounds of any standard classroom, however, as Clapton learned from the school of the Yardbirds to hone his craft. Given that this was the early part of the 1960s, this was obviously influenced heavily by the swing of the iconic rhythm and blues guitarists of the time – including Buddy Guy and BB King – but it was when Clapton finally let loose that he truly came into his own.
Asked in 2016 by Classic Rock how he was able to craft his signature sound in these moments, Clapton responded: “We used to do an instrumental [by Memphis Slim] called ‘Steppin’ Out’, or we’d do funny stuff like play [Howlin’ Wolf’s] ‘Smokestack Lightning’ next to [pop song] ‘Hang On Sloopy’! And it was often about creating these artificial crescendos, and that would prompt a lot of pseudo-virtuoso lead guitar playing.”
He may come across as being slightly humble about it, but the truth of the matter was that Clapton’s original spins and off the cuff ad libs quickly whipped up a storm when he joined the Yardbirds, bolting him out of obscurity into one of the most exciting musical forces on the scene, rivalling only the likes of other future supersonic outfits emerging at the time such as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
But this reinvention of the blues always stayed pertinent to Clapton, joining the ranks of the Bluesbreakers for a brief stint in the mid-1960s before ultimately going on to front Cream in 1966, taking his stratospheric talent beyond the bounds of only British audiences and showcasing him as a globally prolific guitarist on the world stage. The fact this blazing trajectory never fazed him much is, in one sense, a testament to his talent – but it was also the fact that the Yardbirds had taught him that music was liberation, and that the ultimate key to success was letting go.
Of course, Clapton’s singular virtuosic sense has never famously just been confined to his own output. Perhaps more than any other artist, he has played a seminal role in shaping the careers of other huge rock entities, from Jimi Hendrix to George Harrison, and does all of it with effortless ease. In that respect, Clapton honing his sound on those early tunes can be seen as not only crucial to his own career but to the history of music at large, as he wouldn’t have become a wizened godly force if not for it.
Whether it was the Yardbirds, Cream, Derek and the Dominoes, or his plethora of solo work, Clapton has made an indelible imprint on rock music in a way so few can parallel. That’s the precise crux of what makes him immortal – because no matter where he goes and what he does, his music takes on a life of its own.
