Yesterday I posted a video of Joe Bonamassa playing tribute to Gary Moore.
Several people emailed me about Eric Clapton’s tribute song where he played “Still Got The Blues” at the Royal Albert Hall last week.
What surprised me is that EC played the tribute during his acoustic set!
Let’s face it, Clapton is still God to the guitar community and this video shows why…
I suspect he played it acoustically because he couldn’t pay it justice electrically. I’m kinda pleased that at long last Clapton has acknowledged Gary, but it’s too little too late. It’s angered me for years that he never said a word about him when he was alive, never invited him on stage, (despite playing with every other blues player imaginable), never invited him to the Crossroads festival, and never even uttered his name in interview. He obviously had a problem with Gary, a man who only ever paid due reverance to Clapton, and constantly sang his praises and acknowedged his influence. Perhaps he felt Gary had “stolen his thunder” when “Still Got the blues” went stellar. Perhaps he felt Gary wasn’t “authentic” enough, as he’d been playing Rock for 2 decades. Perhaps he felt Gary had “humiliated” BB and the 2 Alberts by “blasting them off stage”, (despite the fact all three of them expressed their love for Gary’s playing). Perhaps he simply knew what we all did…that Gary was better than him at playing the style of blues he made famous. Whatever the reason, I’ll resent Clapton for the fact for the rest of my days, and this little tribute smacks to me of a guilty conscience. Gary would’ve been overjoyed had Clapton done this while he was alive. No point now!
Thank you Damian for expressing so eloquently the feelings which I and many of Gary’s fans share with you. Gary Moore was a humble man who never received the true recognition he deserved from the likes of Eric Clapton. But, then again, I’m sure that Gary never really sought it. There is an old saying in Japan `Hi sureba hana’. It roughly translates as, ‘ that which is hidden (not put on show) ,flowers’. This was surely Gary Moore!
Shame on you Eric! Your crass exhibitionism is just that!
I love listening to any recording of Gary Moore playing “Still got the blues”, live or studio. Clapton is a great musician in his own right which goes without saying. Clapton has been intimidated in the past by the likes of SRV, and Gary Moore due to their innate intensity and genuinely polished, but raw from the gut style of Blues. Clapton is a Blues copycat who becomes very boring very fast, and like most proper type Brits doesn’t have the means to deliver “Still got the Blues” electrically because he can”t possibly bring a song like that to life.
Instead what you get is this elevator muzac version of “Still got the Blues” that quite honestly is an acoustic yawner. Whether Clapton intentionally dis-respected Gary remains to be proven in my mind. Could he be that classless? I feel in my honest opinion Clapton is just so old he simply doesn’t have anything left in his bag of tricks and folks like SRV, Gary Moore, and Joe Bonamassa really put the “guitar god” in a place he doesn’t feel comfortable. Plus, he’s on auto-pilot people. It is what it is. The thing about Gary Moore I loved over Clapton was that Gary always was bringing something new and fresh to the stage for all of us to enjoy with each new project. Not like Clapton playing “Cocaine” for the miliionth time. Yeesh!
I’m Agree. BUT TO TREAT ERIC CLAPTON LIKE A SHIT IS TOO MUCH. We are talking about Eric Clapton…
Lots of relevant comments here. Basically Eric finally acknowledges Gary, only Eric can say why and its no benefit speculating. Unfortunately Eric’s arrangement is limp wrist-ed. However anyone knows Eric’s best days where with Derek and the Dominoes, and not Cream. Jack Bruce is (still) the major unrecognized talent of that band and they were great, just Eric was better with the Dominoes. Gary was unfortunate to be born a fraction too late to be slotted up there with Eric, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green and lets not forget the other great Irish man Rory Gallagher. Gary wasted his time and talent in the hard rock metal fringe area but still showed many fret board tossers a few tricks while he was at it. Check out his sessions with Collosseum 2 and Gary Boyle or the album Corridors of Power. Mr Moore just got better and better though he admitted being over zealous with some of his attempts at blues he captured as many wanna-be’s as SRV with that heavy attitude towards it which strangely enough is exactly what Eric did with John Mayall & Cream, injected a rock element into the blues v Gary who injected a hard rock element. OK Beck and Hendrix and Page had been there too (after EC) but both had left that stage when Still Got the Blues surfaced.
Back to Eric – he requires competition from his band or he falls back to the basics. I saw him absolutely on fire in 2006 when Derek Trucks was in his band with Doyle Brammel II.
Its been a long wait but Derek is the best guy around these days and in Tedeschi Trucks you have the most musically diverse and talented band in the world, and yet few recognise it. The next best thing we have (not counting old farts like Jeff Beck) is John Frusciante and he’s as far from Derek as Santana or SRV is from Jeff Beck When I saw Derek with Tedeshi Trucks earlier this year, I knew I was in the presence of a genius.