So I was at this very strange party last night at a place called The Mansion on O Street, a hotel, a corporate retreat and wellness center, a museum and art gallery, a private club, and a restaurant. Bizarre? How about this… the place has “Insomniac” suites which are “secluded and entered through hidden entrances.” I'm not making this up and I didn't have that much to drink! In retrospect it was truly the kind of place you might find yourself in after stepping through the looking glass or following a talking rabbit with a pocket watch down a hole. Phew! Anyway, this odd setting was the perfect location to pick up this even stranger tidbit of musical information: Eric Clapton is alive and well and living in Columbus, Ohio. Not only is he living in Columbus, he's married and living with a woman from Columbus. This news naturally lead to an immediate brainstorming session on the latest in a long line of reality sitcoms: Clapton in Columbus. I'm contacting Fox Television in the morning!
So I think I've made it pretty clear before that I'm not a huge fan of the blues. I fear it's propensity for self indulgence and bloated instrumental showmanship. Oh, I know that just isn't gonna sit well with some folks, but there you have it. I just don't believe a great guitar riff should be an excuse for endless soloing and guitar histrionics — no matter how superb you might be at playing the instrument. I want my songs to be short, sharp and catchy. Of course this is all well and good coming from a guy whose record collection is chock full of over indulgent prog rock like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. What can I say? I'm a complex man of contradictions. Ha-ha! What a bunch of crap. Anyway… in addition to the aforementioned guilty pleasures (plus others not mentioned), I'm also the guy who drove around almost the entire summer of my junior year in high school with one cassette tape in the car: Heavy Cream. And now here's the rub… I was totally unaware that many of the guitar riffs Clapton wove into Cream's songs were based in the blues. I regarded it as “classic rock,” with 1 part psychedelic, and 1 part pop. Maybe it was Jack Bruce's surreal lyrics, maybe it was the psychedelic cover art. I don't know. What I do know now is that my introduction to the blues was via Cream's short “pop” songs and longer “psychedelic” songs. I'm sure some purists would argue that Bruce's strange lyrics were more of a distraction and detraction, but I found them curiously intriguing, and for me they were the hook — that's where the memorable melodies were couched — they made Clapton's blues guitar playing (which I had yet to learn how to truly respect) palatable for me. In a way, Cream seemed to “package” the blues and Clapton's guitar showmanship in a way that I could understand.
So I think I've made it pretty clear before that I'm not a huge fan of the blues. I fear it's propensity for self indulgence and bloated instrumental showmanship. Oh, I know that just isn't gonna sit well with some folks, but there you have it. I just don't believe a great guitar riff should be an excuse for endless soloing and guitar histrionics — no matter how superb you might be at playing the instrument. I want my songs to be short, sharp and catchy. Of course this is all well and good coming from a guy whose record collection is chock full of over indulgent prog rock like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. What can I say? I'm a complex man of contradictions. Ha-ha! What a bunch of crap. Anyway… in addition to the aforementioned guilty pleasures (plus others not mentioned), I'm also the guy who drove around almost the entire summer of my junior year in high school with one cassette tape in the car: Heavy Cream. And now here's the rub… I was totally unaware that many of the guitar riffs Clapton wove into Cream's songs were based in the blues. I regarded it as “classic rock,” with 1 part psychedelic, and 1 part pop. Maybe it was Jack Bruce's surreal lyrics, maybe it was the psychedelic cover art. I don't know. What I do know now is that my introduction to the blues was via Cream's short “pop” songs and longer “psychedelic” songs. I'm sure some purists would argue that Bruce's strange lyrics were more of a distraction and detraction, but I found them curiously intriguing, and for me they were the hook — that's where the memorable melodies were couched — they made Clapton's blues guitar playing (which I had yet to learn how to truly respect) palatable for me. In a way, Cream seemed to “package” the blues and Clapton's guitar showmanship in a way that I could understand.
In honor of EC's relocation to Columbus, Ohio — a city where “fancy dining” at a restaurant called The Waterworks once involved menus in the shape of manhole covers and seating in modified bathtubs — the Happy Medium Song of the Day is “SWLABR” by Cream. (She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow — just in case you're wondering). (Please use the comments box to share your thoughts.)