European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Eric Clapton the gentleman guitarist by Hillel Italie associated press i to a 11 a.m., an ungodly hour for most musicians but just right for Eric Clapton a a Good time for cigarettes Coffee and quiet conversation. He leans Back in an easy chair in his Manhattan hotel room his face is tanned the Beard trim his Wavy Brown hair brushed Back. A Blackt shirt and Blue jeans hang loosely from his Rock Star Skinny body. But its the eyes you notice a the unwavering stare How the lids Cut downward at Sharp angles the Way his brows form a crease above his nose As he. Concentrates of what s being said and considers his response. For a Man who looks so reserved on stage Clapton is in person surprisingly a Man of Many words. He disapproves of asking questions bad manners he says observing is More his style but answers easily spinning stories of the blues and the business. He talks about guitarists Early heroes such As Elmore James and buddy Guy his All time favorite contemporaries Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman and Young performers such As Robert Cray a featured player on Clapton a most recent album Journeyman. Quot when you meet another guitarist the first thing you do is compare notes Quot Clapton 45, explains. Quot you find out who he likes. Do you like Robert Johnson a its a selfish kind of thing you always tend to like being around people who like the same things you do Quot it was Clear to me that Cray was a real dyed in the Wool blues musician. He s also very very quiet very aware very a. There s a Good example of the Clapton approach in the Chuck Berry concert film Hail Hail Rock n Roli. Invited by organizer Keith Richards Clapton takes it slow checking out Berry considering what he wants to sing. He eventually settles on a rare Berry blues wee wee hours and gives a typically dignified my attitude s always been to just tread carefully be seen and not heard Quot he says. Quot when i used to see my heroes As a kid i would just watch and listen. Its the same thing when got to know them. Like buddy Guy i just watch him and i can see that he a doing the same for much of his career Clapton has preferred to be heard and not seen. He makes videos but reluctantly insisting he has no interest in acting. Those eyes of an Eagle were meant for checking out other guitarists not working cameras. In concert he does t fall to his Knees or bump and grind or run from one end of the stage to the other. Its just not dignified not How a gentleman would behave. Quot there a a line on the Layla album a do you want to see me crawl across the floor to you a Quot Clapton says referring to Bell Bottom blues. Quot some people could do that crawl across the floor on stage. I could t do that. I would t be Able to watch myself on for much of Hia career Rock guitarist Eric Clapton has profaned to be heard and not seen. Top a singles i. Glann Medero she Ain t Worth it featuring Bobby Brown 2. Hold on men Vogue 3. Cradle of love a Billy idol 4. Rub you the right Way a Johnny Gill 6. Visions of love a Marlah Carey 8. Step by step a new kids on the Block a 7. The Power a snap b. Girls Nite out a Tyler Collins a 9. Enjoy the silence a Dereche Mode 10. When i m Back on my feet again a Michael Bolton Hart top a up s 1. Please Hammer done to Hurt pm c Hammer 2. I m breathless a Madonna 3 step by step a new kid on the Bloch 4. Wilson Phillips a Wilaon it Liipa 5. Pretty woman a soundtrack 6. Poison a Bell by Devoe 7. I la give Al l m y love to you Keith sweat 8. I do not want what i Haven t got a Smeed 0 Connor 9. Johnny Gill a Johnny Gill 10. Violator a Dereche Mode country singles 1. The dance a Garth Brooks 2. He walked on water a Randy Travis 3. Nobody stalking a exile 4. Love without end amen a George Strait 6. On Down the line a Patty Loveless b. Good times a Dan Seala 7, richest Man on Earth a Paul Overstreet _8 hillbilly Rock a Marty Stuart a a i 9. In you could Only Seg me now t. Graham Brown 10. Good friends Good whiskey. Good Lovon Hank Williams or Black a singles 1. a 2. Make you sweat a Keith sweat 3. Until you come Back to me a Mikl Howard 4. The Power a snap 5.can t Stop a after 7 8. Stay a Glenn Jones 7. This is love a Regina beige 8. Vision of love a Marieh Carey 9.1 wan t it now a Cameo 10. You can t deny it a Lisa Stansfield Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes to if i played like that. That would be embarrassing to me Quot Clapton was born in 1945 in Ripley a Small town outside of London. He became interested in music after seeing Jerry Lee Lewis perform on. Television and received an acoustic guitar for his 14th birthday. In the Early 1960s, he began spending time in London coffeehouses listening to such English blues performers As Alexis Korner Cyril Davis and Quot Long John Quot Baldry. He joined his first blues band the roosters in 1963. Clapton earned a wide following in the mid 60s with John Mayall a blues Breakers and became a International Star with Cream toward the end of the decade. On originals such As Layla and i can t stand it or covers of Bobby Blands further on up the Road and Johnson a rambling on my mind Clapton sings of gentlemen pushed to the limit Down on the floor their dignity tested by love lies and their own jealous hearts. Quot lately i be been running on Faith. What else can a poor boy do a he asks on running on Faith from Journeyman Quot sadness can t prevail Quot he sings on pretending. Quot everybody knows that Strong love can to a greatest songs have been about despair and renewal of lonely years and the presence of the lord a walk with the Devil s music for a Man who once inspired Quot Clapton is god Quot Graffiti on Walls around London. In 1970, the loss of Faith pushed him to the extremes of Layla with its five alarm guitar Riff and vocals that sound like a Man going Down in flames. It pushed him to an anguished cover of Chuck Willis it s too late. The original was gentle the Singer sadly resigned to losing his girl. For Clapton its much worse he a in tears As if life itself is slipping away his Fate confirmed by background yells of Quot of she a gone Quot despair almost finished him in real life As Well. Layla flopped when it was first released and when he tried to record an album with the same musicians the following year the band fell apart. Clapton developed a serious heroin addiction that forced him into virtual seclusion for 21/2 years. Quot the most horrible i sound is when i be been burned out and in a bad state of mind and bad state of health Quot Clapton says. Quot you have to live with it. If you can be Happy with it when you re old you be got a much More contented a gentleman Clapton observed is a spiritual soul and Faith regained brings out his More spiritual Side. Let it grow from his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard sounds like one Long sigh of Relief an offer of thanks for his own survival. On anything for your love off Journeyman he sings of love As salvation his guitar lifting the song right off the ground. Quot there s a yearning Quality to it Quot he says Quot a spiritual striving there that All musicians attain to. It s just inherent in what you to trying to achieve that which you really Muddy Waters the great bluesman with whom Clapton became close in the late 1970s, once spoke of the importance of being a gentleman and not the Kin with a hat and Cane Quot you Don t have to have a White. Face to be a gentleman and up to Date with what you re doing. You can be Black Brown or any other color but t you be got to carry yourself in a Way that people know that you re it. They might say i can to play or i can to sing but Damn it say i was a Clapton agrees explaining the challenges of compressing a lifetime of thoughts and feelings into five restless fingers i think it has something to do with Grace being Graceful in your life As much As you can be. What happens is that no matter what you play its a reflection of what you Are. Go if you live in a state of Giace and dignity it la come out in what you re playing i m starting to realize what i m Lomg now has to be Good enough to be Happy with in 20 years time Quot t wednesday july 18. 1990
