Did Clapton peak with Steppin' Out

Gassage

I tend to agree with @icbm about this- with the exception of this magnificent solo - Ian Thomas smashing it on the drums- EC sacked him for smoking weed which was a shame as he was great.

rze99

The OP asks simply "Did he ever play better with better tone?" 
Since our perceptions of tone and preferences differ, it's just as relevant to ask which of his tones do you prefer.
And I prefer the Steppin' Out tone to any of others.

rivercider

I'm not especially well placed to chip in as I'm not an EC fan at all, found much of his output a bit bland, but I will say that I can listen to his playing on Crossroads time and time again. 
Tried various other stages of his career but nothing touched that for me, although some of the live Cream bootlegs were very good.

Edit - good point, rze99. Overlooked that.  Tonally, I haven't heard enough to comment beyond a feeling that the LP stuff I know from Beano, Cream etc was better than a lot of what he recorded on strats later on.  Crossroads tone was pretty great, too, though (SG?)

steven70

I think he played differently after Steppin' Out. Nothing else matched the intensity or tone of those pieces.

There were some good moments with Cream, but to my ears, a lot of that was a massive wank.

But better? I think he played with more freedom after that phase . Would have to agree with the comments about 'Derek And The Dominoes' - the 'Live at the Fillmore' album is a joy to behold - for me, not much else comes close.
There are a couple of bootlegs knocking around from mid 70s(ish) which still have some fire.
  

AlexC

Thing is - in the 1960s he was one of the pioneers and few could touch him. He decided to step away (no pun intended) from the ‘Clapton is God’ adoration and became very song based. A lot of country/Americana stuff which - as some have said - is pretty bland. And then he was happy to be ‘pop’. 
My personal belief is that Wonderful Tonight is one of the pappiest, most sickening songs ever recorded by an artist of his calibre. But it his choice as an artist and some (many) people love all that stuff. 
But I still rate him as a player.

mudslide73

AlexC said:

My personal belief is that Wonderful Tonight is one of the pappiest, most sickening songs ever recorded by an artist of his calibre. 

It's barely one step up from Lady in Red imo.

koneguitarist

scrumhalf said:

 He still had the fire on the Carl Perkins tribute thing, 

This is so true, while George Harrison paid homage to Perkins, Clapton went in and tore it up!  1970 and 1985 same song 

soma1975

Been back on an old Clapton trip again recently. 

Blind Faith great. Layla is amazing. D&Dominoes live at the Fillmore has some amazing playing.  461 has great moments but starts a trend. 

In a sense I think his love of JJ Cale and happiness to defer to others while off his tits was the beginning. 

His resurgence in the 80s had some great points in among the ott production and pop sensibilities and From the Cradle (and the tour) right up to the Prince's Trust concert in '96 has some amazing playing on it. 

lukedlb

From the Cradle album certainly reclaimed his title as Blues great. Gone is the cheesy 80s production and synths. Gone is the muddled 70s. And he has yet to spend all his time talking Robert Johnson. From the Cradle demonstrates a whole new guitar tone with a cracking band.
That said, I bought a 2CD best of Clapton last week spanning his entire career. And it's a pile of pants. Blues breakers and Cradle recordings are missing, which in hindsight should have been a warning.

lukedlb

One of my luckiest times as a roadie had me alone backstage at the Hyde Park concert. It was a day long affair with dylan and the who and others. When Clapton turned up, all the other roadies skipped on out to do whatever naughtiness roadies do, leaving me, a young and clean boy, alone behind the curtain stage right of Andy Fair-weather Low, loving the whole gig.
3 roadies were immediately sent home worst for wear. No drink or drugs around when clapton is on stage otherwise you're fired.

rlw

No

rlw

And no again.

tone1

From the Cradle is my fav

ICBM

I just found From The Cradle in a charity shop recently, and given that I haven't really liked most of his post-70s output with the exception of Unplugged, I spent a minute wondering whether I should bother - but I'm glad I did now, it's really good.

Litterick

"The day may come, if you're a young rocker, when you'll hear one of Clapton's mellow, contemporary ballads on the radio and think, "What's the big deal?" Put on "Steppin' Out." And bow down." I am sure Steven Van Zandt wasn't talking about Clapton's tone. I don't think anyone talked much about tone until we all became slaves to social media. We used to admire musical skills, which are a lot harder to acquire than tone. It is not the tone that matters. You can have great tone and still be a rubbish guitarist.

Besides, if it were true that Steppin' Out was Clapton's peak, then the next fifty years of his life would have been a tragic waste. To paraphrase the Self-Righteous Brothers, "Oi! Clapton! No! You haven't got it. You haven't had it since 1968."

soma1975

ICBM said:

I just found From The Cradle in a charity shop recently, and given that I haven't really liked most of his post-70s output with the exception of Unplugged, I spent a minute wondering whether I should bother - but I'm glad I did now, it's really good.

There was a South Bank Show made on him and a video of the rehearsals for this tour from that episode is up on youtube and he plays brilliantly at that time. 

soma1975

ICBM said:

Forgot to say - as it happens, I'm going to see John Mayall in November. He's 85!

About 15 years ago I saw Walter Trout at Buddy Guy's club and John Mayall was in the audience in a vest going crazy getting into it. 

Love that nutter. 

soma1975

Re Steppin Out. The live Cream BBC session versions are ace too. Much longer, faster, more exploratory. And the Marshall tones are less warm and more cutting. I love both. 

HAL9000

Even though Stepping Out is probably the most memorable track, the best playing (IMHO) on the Beano album has to be on Key to Love.

I struggle a bit with Cream if I’m honest. His playing is fantastic but, as has been said here before, it can sometimes sound like three great musicians in search of a half-decent song. I also agree that his solo work could best be described as patchy. However the blues albums and live albums all seem to be pretty good. 

I guess, like post Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, he’s moved on. Still hugely successful, and just about every album (even the less liked ones) has some absolute belters such as Holy Mother, Let it Rain, Running on Faith, etc.

adampeter

Ive been back to have a good listen to his 70s and 80s stuff after reading a few comments here, for me it isn't a patch on the work he produced with Cream and the Bluesbreakers.
Don't get me wrong, his 70s and 80s stuff was alright, but without that 60s stuff would anybody really consider him "GOD"