{"id":934,"date":"2007-10-18T21:43:50","date_gmt":"2007-10-19T01:43:50","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-16T01:33:45","modified_gmt":"2008-12-16T01:33:45","slug":"carry-that-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/carry-that-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"Carry That Weight: Clapton&#8217;s Look Burden"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FI8SUc2SV4k?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nI know some of you <em>manly men<\/em>, those of you who have never for a one moment sized up another man&#8217;s looks will cringe at this suggestion, but <strong>Eric Clapton is a fairly good-looking man<\/strong>. He always has been, and he has worked hard a developing and varying his sense of style, or <strong>Look<\/strong>, as we like to say.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/ec1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"292\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Clapton Gets Experienced<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A great thing about Clapton&#8217;s commitment to developing his Look, especially in his first decade, before he began to setting into his bearded gentleman addict\/recovering addict Look, was his willingness to   adopt guitars that best fit his current Look. Check out the matching ensemble he put together for this Yardbirds-period shot.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/claptontele.gif\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"195\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Teleclapton<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a guitar\/Look combo that I&#8217;d never seen before. This one blows me away. I wish I&#8217;d seen this picture when I was much younger; I would have had more tolerance for the many bad recordings EC has made over the years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/ec3.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"319\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Awesome!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even into the &#8217;70s he was working a pretty cool Look. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=licks_faces_feel_robertson_vs_clapton&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=licks_faces_feel_robertson_vs_clapton&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">You know this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/ec2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"242\" height=\"188\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Cheesy but cool<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>If there&#8217;s one thing we know about Clapton it&#8217;s his deep love for <em>da blooz<\/em>! If there&#8217;s another thing, it&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=crapton&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=crapton&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">the incredible pain he&#8217;s endured<\/a>. No wonder the man is so deeply attuned to the hellhounds on his trail. But I&#8217;ve come to the conclusion that the original burden on Clapton, his original sin, so to speak, was his role as <strong>the only good-looking guy in just about any band he played in<\/strong>. I mean, face it&#8230;<!--more--><br \/>\n&#8230;his bandmates in <strong>Cream<\/strong> were dog ugly!<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/eccream1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"303\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Clapton on the set of Straw Dogs<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker look like a couple of leering thugs straight out of <em>Straw Dogs<\/em>. Can you imagine how much engery Clapton had to expend trying to project a Look that would not frighten women and teenage boys away? <\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t always this way. The other guys in <strong>The Yardbirds<\/strong> were decent looking.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/yardbirds.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"294\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">EC does it<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But feeling constrained by the band&#8217;s pop direction, Clapton struck out for the more authentic &#8211; and homely &#8211; <strong>John Mayall&#8217;s Bluesbreakers<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/bluesbreakers.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"317\" height=\"134\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">The blues burden sets in<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s no suprise that woodshedding and eventual heroin addiction would follow. The move toward Bruce and Baker only increased the burden on Clapton. These guys were so ugly that &#8220;God&#8221; was encouraged to take some lead vocal turns away from the much better singer Bruce. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Blind Faith<\/strong>, with the addition of no-longer Stevie Winwood, provided little relief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/blindf1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"246\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">Clapton continues to carry the weight<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Distraught and seeking alternate means to relieving the burden of being a relatively good-looking British blues musician, Clapton left his home country for the United States. Despite what you&#8217;ve read about him being turned onto Dylan and The Band, I&#8217;m pretty sure his real objective was to blend in with the generally heartier North American music scene. However, rather than hooking up with some American studs like <strong>Dennis Wilson<\/strong> and <strong>Gene Clarke<\/strong>, he fell in with some of our nation&#8217;s homeliest musicians.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_block\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/media\/users\/frankenslade\/derek.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_legend\">So much for improved nutrition and dental care<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Derek and the Dominos<\/strong> were the Look equivalent of reaching bottom. Thankfully, Clapton would soon gain comfort and support by his fellow good-looking British musician friends, George Harrison and Pete Townshend, who&#8217;d nurse him back toward a better Look. After a brief spell hanging out with Harrison and the good-looking <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vinylmaniaque.com\/pochettes1\/lp-70-delaney-and-bonnie.jpg\" title=\"http:\/\/www.vinylmaniaque.com\/pochettes1\/lp-70-delaney-and-bonnie.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Delaney and Bonnie<\/a><\/strong>, Clapton would find the right hair length, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=rth_labs_survey_rock_beards&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=rth_labs_survey_rock_beards&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">the right beard<\/a>, and eventually the right specs. It was a slow climb back toward mediocrity, but freeing himself of dog-ugly bandmates was the first, crucial step toward recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I know some of you manly men, those of you who have never for a one moment sized up another man&#8217;s looks will cringe at this suggestion, but Eric Clapton is a fairly good-looking man. He always has been, and he has worked hard a developing and varying his sense of style, or Look, as <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/carry-that-weight\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[19,77],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}