THE AUSTRALIAN ---- 14 January 2022



ROCKMAN

The more I know about Clapton, the less I like him

Regarding the Layla riff;

The article Rockman quoted above does not mention that it was borrowed from As The Years Go Passing By, the blues song made most famous by Albert King, which is a fairly well known anecdote among music fans.

What is little known is, Eric himself performed his own version of the original live at least once — at the Festival Hall, Osaka, October 23, 1975.

[www.youtube.com]

You can hear Eric play that unmistakable seven-note phrase during the introduction (00:24-00:26) as well as variations of it a few times along the way, especially the vocal line at the start of the first verse (“there is nothing I can do”) and the subsequent obbligato, the procedure repeated twice.

I was there, and it was undoubtedly the highlight of the show. I vividly recall the entire performance of the song, the knife-edgy break near the end of the guitar solo in particular, which has been etched in my mind ever since.

This is the only recorded version played by Eric. Whether he has played it somewhere else is yet to be known.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-16 20:02 by RisingStone.

Thank you for the memories of that show RisingStone!

Quite a bit that the above article does not cover well. The article is full of inaccuracies in my opinion.

* The source of the opening solo on Layla.

* The actual meeting between Clapton and Duane Allman. I will go with Greg Allman's story/version of the meeting.

* The Rita Coolidge stuff. This grows exponentially, and in my opinion, more and out of context every time it is brought up. If Rita Coolidge has a beef it is with Jim Gordon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-16 19:36 by 1cdog.

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bob r
The more I know about Clapton, the less I like him

do we really need to like an artist as person? Isn't it enough to like what he or she does?

Unfortunately I have this problem with Ted Nugent. Great guitar playing and music, but I wish I could blank out the rest of it. Not an easy thing to do.

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frankotero
Unfortunately I have this problem with Ted Nugent. Great guitar playing and music, but I wish I could blank out the rest of it. Not an easy thing to do.

same for me

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1cdog
Thank you for the memories of that show RisingStone!

Quite a bit that the above article does not cover well. The article is full of inaccuracies in my opinion.

* The source of the opening solo on Layla.

* The actual meeting between Clapton and Duane Allman. I will go with Greg Allman's story/version of the meeting.

* The Rita Coolidge stuff. This grows exponentially, and in my opinion, more and out of context every time it is brought up. If Rita Coolidge has a beef it is with Jim Gordon.

I’m no expert whatsoever on the interactions between The Dominos and The ABB, but, yeah, I have heard or read several different versions surrounding these events.

Information for gear geeks: The 1975 Japan tour saw Eric playing a brand-new, white blonde finish Telecaster as the main axe. Eric resided in the Bahamas as a tax exile then, and asked a friend of his who was visiting New York to get a guitar for the tour rehearsals. Eventually he liked and carried on with it on stage. According to the interview taken in Japan, it only cost $200. The Tele was put up for the 1999 Christie’s auction (Lot 97) and sold at $42,000!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-17 18:43 by RisingStone.

When Kid Rock opened for the Stones in Columbus, Ohio in 2015, this happened:
'Rock, 44, also acknowledged the evening's headliners in an expletive-laden "Forty," a tongue-in-cheek song about struggling with the aging process, singing, "But Bruce Springsteen is … 63/ And the Stones are almost dead!"'

[amp.columbusalive.com]

I found that not exactly in good taste, to badmouth the headliner band coming on after you. OTOH, I wasn't paying much attention to them until that point.


~"Love is Strong"~

Pretty sure The Stones career is better than Kid Rock. Maybe he's almost dead

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1cdog
Thank you for the memories of that show RisingStone!

Quite a bit that the above article does not cover well. The article is full of inaccuracies in my opinion.

* The source of the opening solo on Layla.

* The actual meeting between Clapton and Duane Allman. I will go with Greg Allman's story/version of the meeting.

* The Rita Coolidge stuff. This grows exponentially, and in my opinion, more and out of context every time it is brought up. If Rita Coolidge has a beef it is with Jim Gordon.

Rita Coolidge has spoken about it on her recent tours. I know someone that talked with her after a show and it came up. She got ripped off.

Of course she did - that's Clapton's way.

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slewan

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bob r
The more I know about Clapton, the less I like him

do we really need to like an artist as person? Isn't it enough to like what he or she does?

There are lines to be drawn.

Ted Nugent is a great example.

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angee
When Kid Rock opened for the Stones in Columbus, Ohio in 2015, this happened:
'Rock, 44, also acknowledged the evening's headliners in an expletive-laden "Forty," a tongue-in-cheek song about struggling with the aging process, singing, "But Bruce Springsteen is … 63/ And the Stones are almost dead!"'

[amp.columbusalive.com]

I found that not exactly in good taste, to badmouth the headliner band coming on after you. OTOH, I wasn't paying much attention to them until that point.

Coming from a guy that has taken horrific river water and made a beer... what would anyone expect in terms of respect?

Similar to an oil pipeline (that never got built) amongst flag wavers, "Kid Rock also said he's helping the state's economy, as he’s hired eight people to help get the beer into more hands."

[www.mlive.com]

People make fun of Bono. So stupid.

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GasLightStreet


Rita Coolidge has spoken about it on her recent tours. I know someone that talked with her after a show and it came up. She got ripped off.

Of course she did - that's Clapton's way.

Please list the people Clapton is supposed to have ripped off nd how he did it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-18 11:33 by terraplane.

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slewan

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bob r
The more I know about Clapton, the less I like him

do we really need to like an artist as person? Isn't it enough to like what he or she does?

Exactly , as for me it's all about there art or in this case there music . Life is hard enough and music is a respite to get away for a bit and lose yourself for a spell .

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frankotero
Unfortunately I have this problem with Ted Nugent. Great guitar playing and music, but I wish I could blank out the rest of it. Not an easy thing to do.

I am in total agreement on Ted Nugent . As his music doesn't get played at home and I am not spending to go see him live or buying any CD's or albums , for me it's out of sight , out of mind and good for that ! I will not lie and say I did not like his music as his early music is pretty good .

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GasLightStreet

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1cdog
Thank you for the memories of that show RisingStone!

Quite a bit that the above article does not cover well. The article is full of inaccuracies in my opinion.

* The source of the opening solo on Layla.

* The actual meeting between Clapton and Duane Allman. I will go with Greg Allman's story/version of the meeting.

* The Rita Coolidge stuff. This grows exponentially, and in my opinion, more and out of context every time it is brought up. If Rita Coolidge has a beef it is with Jim Gordon.

Rita Coolidge has spoken about it on her recent tours. I know someone that talked with her after a show and it came up. She got ripped off.

Of course she did - that's Clapton's way.

If anyone ripped Rita Coolidge off it was Jim Gordon who was in a relationship with her at the time.

On his album No Reason to Cry, EC covered the song County Jail Blues and as I recall, actively sought out the relatives of the writer Alfred Fields to make sure they got the royalties. I think that this is more Clapton's way.

It is Clapton's way: Rita made a real contribution to the song. Clapton could make one phone call to his lawyer and transfer a % of the copyright, and Rita would collect mechanical income on record sales, and money from the Performing Rights songwriter share.
No respect for EC.
He should be happy to be in the company of RC on the credits.

Oh, I didn't know anything about Rita Coolidge's contribution in regard the masterful 'piano coda' of "Layla".

Here is her account of it: [www.hollywoodreporter.com]

Funnily, first I was hooked with teh main riff of "Layla", and with it the whole 'song part' of it, and the coda just sounded boring, long and unnecessary. But then I started dug the coda more and more, and nowadys Layla basically means that 'piano coda' to me, and the rest - the fisrt part of the song - is just a way too intro I need to stand to get into the 'real thing'...

Could be that hearing it in Goodfellas movie made a particular impression to me, after which Í started to recognize its unique brilliance.

That said, one of the greatest rock songs ever done, from the beginning to the end. And the guitar riff and intro is, no doubt, one of the most iconic ever. Probably only second to "Satisfaction".

By the way, I think "Layla" also was an inspiration behind releasing "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" with long ending jam, although I have never heard of any of the Stones mentioning anything about the possible connection.

- Doxa



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-18 20:18 by Doxa.

Even if the story told from Coolidge side is true, it does not feel right to solely lay the blame on Clapton. First and foremost, Jim Gordon could have informed properly Clapton and the Dominos team that the tune was composed by him AND Coolidge.

IMHO to claim it is “Clapton’s way” without submitting a sufficient number of other similar cases he has done would be an overstatement, an accusation gone too far.

Eventually the song Time was released on Chronicles (1973), the album by Booker T. & Priscilla Jones (Rita’s sister) — the given songwriter’s credit is Rita Coolidge, and Gordon’s name is nowhere to be seen. Is “Coolidge’s way” justified?

To judge somebody, do it fairly.

[www.youtube.com]

Also to lay this solely on EC is wrong . As there is the recording company , the attorneys, the business managers and the list goes on and on . One has to know what the publishing rights are and the ownership of said rights are and that's where the attorneys come in as this is complicated just to say the EC ripped off Rita Coolidge as the entire recording industry is enmeshed in this practice and this is complex .

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TheGreek
Also to lay this solely on EC is wrong . As there is the recording company , the attorneys, the business managers and the list goes on and on . One has to know what the publishing rights are and the ownership of said rights are and that's where the attorneys come in as this is complicated just to say the EC ripped off Rita Coolidge as the entire recording industry is enmeshed in this practice and this is complex .

there's at least one other aspect – in those days nobody could expect that you could get that rich by contribution to songs (and owning copyrights). So a lot of people didn't claim to be mentioned als co-writers (or even fight for being legally recognized) because they somehow contributed to songs (ask Mick Taylor about that)

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slewan

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TheGreek
Also to lay this solely on EC is wrong . As there is the recording company , the attorneys, the business managers and the list goes on and on . One has to know what the publishing rights are and the ownership of said rights are and that's where the attorneys come in as this is complicated just to say the EC ripped off Rita Coolidge as the entire recording industry is enmeshed in this practice and this is complex .

there's at least one other aspect – in those days nobody could expect that you could get that rich by contribution to songs (and owning copyrights). So a lot of people didn't claim to be mentioned als co-writers (or even fight for being legally recognized) because they somehow contributed to songs (ask Mick Taylor about that)

So very true 1000% and maybe even Ron Wood as well ! Who does have one co credit with the twins on Dance Pt1 . Mick Taylor is credited as a co writer on Ventilator Blues off of Exile . So they both have a co credit . Very generous of the Twins I must say !

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TheGreek

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slewan

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TheGreek
Also to lay this solely on EC is wrong . As there is the recording company , the attorneys, the business managers and the list goes on and on . One has to know what the publishing rights are and the ownership of said rights are and that's where the attorneys come in as this is complicated just to say the EC ripped off Rita Coolidge as the entire recording industry is enmeshed in this practice and this is complex .

there's at least one other aspect – in those days nobody could expect that you could get that rich by contribution to songs (and owning copyrights). So a lot of people didn't claim to be mentioned als co-writers (or even fight for being legally recognized) because they somehow contributed to songs (ask Mick Taylor about that)

So very true 1000% and maybe even Ron Wood as well ! Who does have one co credit with the twins on Dance Pt1 . Mick Taylor is credited as a co writer on Ventilator Blues off of Exile . So they both have a co credit . Very generous of the Twins I must say !

well, Ronnie Wood co-wrote Black Limousine but first of all he's lucky enough to still be in a band that generates a hell lot of money



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-19 19:56 by slewan.

Ronnie co-wrote quite a few songs, fought for his credits and was credited.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-19 20:44 by DandelionPowderman.

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DandelionPowderman
Ronnie co-wrote quite a few songs, fought for his credits and was credited.

So Ronnie had to fight his way through the “Twins’ way” to get his name credited, didn’t he?

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RisingStone

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DandelionPowderman
Ronnie co-wrote quite a few songs, fought for his credits and was credited.

So Ronnie had to fight his way through the “Twins’ way” to get his name credited, didn’t he?

Yep, hence "fought for his credits"

The point I wanted to emphasise is...The Twins’ way

ROCKMAN

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DandelionPowderman

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RisingStone

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DandelionPowderman
Ronnie co-wrote quite a few songs, fought for his credits and was credited.

So Ronnie had to fight his way through the “Twins’ way” to get his name credited, didn’t he?

Yep, hence "fought for his credits"

Gotta credit him for the effort!