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A fairly informative
Eric Clapton - 1960's Review |
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Review by Andy Argyrakis Out of all Eric Clapton's career periods, the most promising and prolific was unquestionably the 1960s. No wonder why that era earns this critical review on DVD , which despite having no authorized affiliation with the six-string slinger, does a fairly thorough job of tracing his time in The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. Along the way, fans are given glimpse of interview clips from good old Slowhand, though the majority of observations come from previous band members with varying degrees of fame.The most renowned contributor is Mayall himself, who talks about the prodigy joining his collective after moving on from The Yardbirds as that act veered away from the blues to a more straight forward rock n' roll tone. Across both those early acts, fellow scenesters in England (like Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness from Manfred Mann) reminiscence about his brilliant playing abilities from the very beginning and having an insatiable curiosity for the blues and black music in general, despite its limited mainstream distribution at the time. Of course, Clapton would further explore those desires in Cream and Blind Faith, two super groups that further embodied his ability to gel with any players and instantly rise to the top. Though the tales told throughout all eras aren't all that revealing for longtime lovers, there are some interesting tidbits (like a burgeoning Jimi Hendrix declaring Clapton his hero) for casual onlookers unaware of the timeline in which Clapton settled into his now legendary skin. Unfortunately, there aren't enough audio or visual examples of his stellar playing from those eras (in favor of snippet clips that are nothing more than a mere tease), while the narrator and sources' thick British accents all seem to run together into one humdrum tone. For those who can dive past these drawbacks, there's plenty of biographical information and a general praising of Clapton's transitions that will assure viewers of his guitar god status. |