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I was just talking to someone about Eric Clapton, so I thought now would be a good time to talk about his impact on my life.
There is no possible way I can recount Eric Clapton's life. Read his book. It's a great book.
For a guitarist, I don't have that many guitar-influences (as stated in a previous post). The only one that really comes to mind when I'm asked who I listen to is Eric Clapton. That says something. Most people I know list off players like it's nothing. The only name that drops from my mouth instantly is Eric Clapton.
I didn't start off as a blues player. I started off playing a lot of stuff by the Ramones and AC/DC (Angus Young was probably the first guitarist I ever really paid attention to). I become a Led Head for a while between 8th grade and freshman year. I also was heavy into Nirvana. Then towards the end of my freshman year, I discovered Eric Clapton (and every other band I listen to today really). He was one of my portals. Eric Clapton (and the Rolling Stones, more on them later) showed me the blues. And for the first time, I really listened and felt something.
My whole world changed. I no longer cared for much else but playing guitar and I became infatuated with Eric Clapton. My mom had one of his many best-of CDs. I learned Cocaine, After Midnight, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Sunshine Of Your Love, and Layla shortly after (not necessarily in that order). The first solo I ever remember transcribing by ear was the one in After Midnight.
I was bitten by the Clapton bug. There was no escape. I bought tons of his stuff. I still don't have all of it today--that will change, I promise. Derek and the Dominos, Cream, his solo work, etc...I couldn't, and still can't, get enough of it.
Probably more so than anybody else (again), I want Eric Clapton's career. He's been in so many incredible bands, and up until his solo career, he only sang when he wanted to. He just wanted to play guitar, and look at where that got him. He's the only person in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame three times (Derek and the Dominos, Cream, and solo), and he can go on tour on a moment's notice--with Steve Winwood.
My favorite era of Clapton is with Cream. This past summer I went from being a big Eric Clapton fan to an obsessed Cream/Eric Clapton fan. I learned like..Fifteen Cream songs in a month. I'm So Glad, Badge, Sunshine of Your Love (again), White Room, Crossroads, Born Under A Bad Sign, Politician, Sleepy Time Time, We're Going Wrong, I Feel Free, Spoonful, Sweet Wine, Strange Brew, Tales of Brave Ulysses, Outside Woman Blues. I was consumed by Cream. I still am. I'm listening to the now.
There's something about Eric Clapton's playing that I can't quite articulate, but if you're a fan, you know what I'm talking about. It speaks to me. There's so much passion in it. It can be a driving force or it can be a gentle lullaby. He can do it all like no one else.
I don't think--I know I play the guitar the way I do today because of him. I use so many of his licks every day, you can't even count them. I had a jam tonight, and we played six or seven songs, including two Cream songs. I play at least one Clapton song every day. Be it Bell Bottom Blues, Crossroads, Layla, Forever Man, Cocaine, Badge...You get the idea.
Not a single day goes by that I pick up my guitar and I don't play a Clapton song. He has become such a big part of my life that if I were to not play a song of his, it would be like not drinking water that day.
My apologies. I was without the Internet for a few fantastic days in New York City.
I am going to do a series of posts on people that have influenced me. I used to not want to talk about my influences because the second I talk about how much I love Billy Joel you will immediately hear the influence in my music. I can't hold back any longer. I'm bursting.
So here's a list to satisfy my own needs:
(They're in alphabetical order)
The Beatles
Eric Clapton
Tina Fey
Mick Jagger/Keith Richards/The Rolling Stones
Billy Joel
Alicia Keys
Seinfeld (as in the TV show)
Bob Thompson
U2
The Who
I'll start with those ten. They may change, but that's not likely. If anything, I'll add more.
Anyway, I'm back at Berklee, and there is work to be done and some cleaning to do. In ten short, beautiful days, I will be back in New York City with the Business Club, and I can't wait.
Ten days to accomplish easily twenty days of work. I feel a song coming.
My mind is all over the place these days. More on that later.
I suggest getting something to eat or drink as you read this. You may be here for a while.
I don't even know where to begin... Actually, I should begin by doing my Arranging homework or my College Writing homework, but if I don't do this now, I never will. Or I'll screw up the facts because after a while things get jumbled in my brain.
I'll start with Monday.
I don't know what it is about dictation in Ear Training that I can't grasp. If you ask me to play a rhythm or a melody back on guitar, I'll get it after one try. When it comes to writing things down, I get lost. I'm find with intervals and chords, and even rhythm, but melody...Melody kills me every time. I know I didn't get an A on my dictation midterm. I did pretty good on the singing part. Just a few slip ups. I'm determined to get an A on the next quiz/test/final. My teacher, Paul Stiller (easily one of the best teachers at Berklee), said I've made a lot of progress from my last quiz. I'm getting there, in more than one area.
My Guitar Lab midterm went well. I played "Forever Man" by my man Eric Clapton. I made a few mistakes, but it was fine. Got an A on that one.
Let's move on to Tuesday.
Tuesday's my easiest day. I have Harmony 3 with Eric Byers in the morning, and my lesson at 6. I played a song I wrote called Doubt (there's a very rough recording somewhere on the blog) in my lesson this week. So that was cool. I'm often asked who influences me as a player, and the truth is, oddly enough, I wouldn't say I have any really strong guitar influences. Or they're not who you think they would be--other than Eric Clapton. I love Hendrix, I went through a pretty big Hendrix phase last year. Stevie's great, too. But the people that have influenced me the most are Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Pete Townshend. One of the reasons I have a Telecaster is because of Keith. I used to (and still do to a degree) want to be Keith, minus the drugs. When I saw the Stones a few years back, I went nuts when he came out playing "Jumpin' Jack Flash." I'm more influenced by songs and songwriters than I am by guitarists. I tried to get heavy into playing, but then I said to myself, 'You're always going to love Billy Joel more than Buddy Guy so just get over it.' I do love Buddy, but not the way I love Billy.
So after my lesson I went to see Ann Coulter and Bill Maher give speeches and debate each other. They decided to participate in Boston's 2009 Speaker Series. After a while, I had to stop listening to Ann Coulter. I just couldn't take it. Bill Maher was hilarious, as usual. I must have been in the Ann Coulter fan section because no one around me was even laughing at Bill. Some hecklers got thrown out, and some guy in the balcony started yelling at Bill Maher and Bill let him have it. It was great. It was a cool thing to see.
Moving on: Wednesday.
Wednesday was a very special day in Boston. U2 came to town to play a "secret show" at the Somerville Theater. The tickets were given away through radio contests, and U2 had their own guest list for the show. I did get into the theater, but not the show. I bought a ticket to the movies. You all know how much I was dying to see "He's Just Not Into You" right? I mean, I could not stop talking about it haha!
I missed the band at the Ritz that afternoon. There was no way I could have made it there in time, so I went straight to Davis Square to try and catch them before they went inside. I missed that, too, but I heard soundcheck! So that was cool. My movie was at 7, so I went in around 6.45. I have never seen so much security for such a tiny place! There were about 10 security guys in the lobby (which is about the size of my room)! There were about 12 of us at the movie, all with the same idea: sneak into U2's show. Well, none of us got in, but I did get to hear the first song ("Get On Your Boots") and the last song ("Vertigo"). I caught a few glimpses of the band at the Q&A thanks to a security guard that Tom (known as @BostonTweet for Twitter users) knows.
I decided to head back into Boston, and hang out at the Ritz Carlton, hoping that U2 would come back before I had to go back. Their entire crew did, but they were in Davis Square for a good portion of the night. The T sadly stops at 12.30ish so I had to get back to the Berk before then. On the bright side, I found a new cool hang place: the Ritz lobby. It's intimately spacious. The staff is great. There's a fire place, and it's quiet. I also finished up some work before heading back to my neck of the woods around 11.45 or so.
So today was also an eventful day. After my Harmony midterm, I went back to the Ritz to see if U2 was still around. If they were, I didn't see them. I was only there for 45 minutes because I had to go get in line for the Paul Simon clinic! I ran into my friend Tom (his blog is here) outside of Berklee, and we waited in line, chit-chatted, and ate scones outside the Berklee Performance Center for 45 minutes or so in the cold waiting to go inside for the clinic. Paul Simon's a character. It was a really relaxed atmosphere. We were able to ask questions, and he played us a few songs. It was a lot of fun.
After the clinic, I had my Legal Aspects class. We got our midterms back. I got a 97! I was pretty excited. That was only the first half. He said the second half is much harder than the first. I'm determined to keep that 97, though. I will be one of the few that manages to do so by the way he made it sound.
My class ended at 6. I bolted back to my dorm, grabbed my digital recorder and my iPod and headed over to Tom's (blog, website)show at the All Asia bar in Cambridge. The show was great, and I met some cool new people, too. I didn't get to stay for the next act. My friend Jordan and I had to finish a case study for MEISA, and I had an essay to finish. I actually just finished it up, yay!
So now I'm watching Seinfeld and relaxing. I did a lot of running around these past few days. I'm looking forward to a lot more relaxing in the next few days coming up.
Told you I'd get back to you! Today was much better than yesterday, and it's not done yet. I made a new list. I'd take a picture, but it would be backwards. So here it is:
1. Declare major. Check.
2. Finish 'Forever Man'. Check
3. Go to the gym. Check.
4. Spend 45 minutes on Ear Training. 1/3 check, I did 15 minutes earlier today.
5. Finish College Writing before dinner. Check.
6. Catch up on Legal Aspects.
7. Work on a song.
I'll post Part Two as soon as I finish the list, which will be sooner rather than later.
Back to the grind!
Why did it take me so long to find Clapton's 'Behind The Sun' album? I have no answer for that. It's been around since 1985, and while it definitely is an 80s classic in the sense that you listen to it and you immediately think of the 80s, I still love it. How can you not love 'Forever Man'? Such a great song.
Phil Collins may have gone a little too far with some tracks, but overall, I think it's great. I've been listening to it pretty much nonstop for the past few days. It just makes me wanna dance and play guitar. I'm listening to 'Tangled In Love' right now, and I'm just groovin' to it with a huge grin on my face. Much like the one in my two previous posts.
For my guitar lab midterm, we have to pick a song and learn it. I am definitely going to do a Clapton song. My teacher expects it anyway haha! I'm probably going to do 'Forever Man' because it's one of the few Clapton songs I don't already know. Well, there are a lot of Clapton songs I have yet to learn, but you know what I mean.
Anyway, just thought I'd confess my love for Clapton some more. I'm gonna go play now.
I'm writing this from my own bedroom. The one that has Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and many others plastered on the walls.
It's oddly comforting to be home. It's almost like time has stopped. I'm only here until Monday, but I have a feeling that when I get back to Boston my four-day weekend will feel like it went by in the blink of an eye.
I feel like being home will give me some clarity. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do instead of actually doing it. Last semester I was all talk. This semester, I'm all business. I'm all about getting stuff done. Being home gives me time to plan a little bit (more). It gives me time to write. All of what I consider to be my best songs were written right where I'm sitting right now. Even my most recent songs were written here over break. If I could write a few more while I'm here, it would make my life that much better...
...I'm gonna get to work on improving my life.
For a guitar player, I don't really listen to a lot of guitar players. All my favorite music is pretty much guitar-based, but you'll rarely catch me listening to Jeff Beck or Derek Trucks. It's not because I don't like them--I do. I just don't connect with them. The one guitar player I really connect with is Eric Clapton. I love Hendrix, and Stevie's cool, too, but Eric Clapton...There's just something about him.
I went through a huge Cream phase, and I mean HUGE. I learned like..16 songs in a month one time. I don't think I've ever done that with any other artist before. Well, maybe Billy Joel, but still. I was a Cream fanatic. I still am, I'm just running out of songs to learn.
Anyway, back to Eric. I didn't notice until my teacher pointed it out the other day that I rarely use my pinky when I play. She said, 'You're a Clapton fan, aren't you?' I said yeah. 'I can tell because you don't use your pinky.' I had never noticed that, but it makes perfect sense. I've spent hours and hours watching him play, it's only natural that I copy my favorite player. He didn't need it, he didn't use it.
So instead of working on what I'm supposed to be, I've been relearning Cream songs for the past hour or so. Brings back a lot of great memories to say the least.
Clapton is God.
I love long weekends. And you know what makes them even better? When you have a guitar lesson on Friday and then again on Monday. Due to HonCon, I had to reschedule to an unknown day later in the week, and said day happened to be Friday. I love it when that happens.
I worked this weekend. For the first time in 36 days, I worked. Friday, Saturday, and today (Sunday). I don't mind work, I just bitch about it when I'm not there. Once I get there I'm fine, it's getting there that's hard. I love the people, hate that I come home smelling like a pizza.
So tonight I could've gone to a bonfire at the beach with my friends, but I chose to be a recluse and stay home and play guitar. Nothing against bonfires or my friends. I love them both, I've just been extremely compelled to play guitar these days. My 12-year-old neighbor was here today while I was playing guitar, and he asked, 'Is this what you do all day?' And I said, 'Basically, yeah.' And lately that has definitely been true. I can't help it. I can't explain how it makes me feel, but it's something else. I love every second of it. Every single second. If I could play in my sleep, I would.
I've been obsessed with two things lately: Cream and Coldplay's new song 'Viva la Vida'. I've listened to 'Viva la Vida' more times than I can count, and Cream is unbelievable. Eric Clapton has always been my favorite guitarist but something happened a few days ago and Cream has become the center of my attention. Eric Clapton speaks to me like no other guitarist. There's a reason for the 'Clapton is God' graffiti. Hendrix is a god, too, but there's something in Clapton's playing that gets me. I'm not gonna try to explain it because I can't.
Alright, it's guitar time, and I just received a text from someone telling me where the fire is. Ha.
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