A HUGE thank you to everyone for watching the video and especially those who took the time to share their thoughts and opinions in the comments. It was really interesting hearing the different perspectives and reasoning on this question. Thank you, Mark
Clapton has admitted in interviews that he considers the famous crossroads solo to be a bit of a mistake because he ‘lost the 1’ and wasn’t sure where the beat was. Easy to see how this could happen with Bruce and baker both improvising wildly beneath him while he’s soloing. Kind of like walking a high wire during an earthquake. The fact that it came out so brilliantly was a happy accident. If you listen to the many live versions of crossroads that are available, they are all very, very different. He was improvising every night, clearly. Anyway, love your channel and content. 👏
The fact that he lost his place might lend to the notion that it was a memorized solo. Maybe he forgot one riff and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 😂
As a student and admirer of Clapton for several years I’m convinced that he never played the same solo twice. He may have worked out certain licks like everyone does, but no, I believe he improvised his classic solos.
He had been playing with Mayall, on tour, for months and months. He worked these solos out naturally on the road through trial and error. It’s pretty well documented. By the time they got to the studio they knew exactly what to do. Yes he worked on these solos but only through gig after gig.
Clapton was a genius improviser in Cream. The drum and guitar end part of Stepping Out on Live Cream Vol 2 is a testament to that. He never repeats himself.
Best reproduction of the notes and feel I've ever heard. Brings me back to when I was a teenager totally blown away by these licks. and now by how you are playing them with the right sound also, Lots of respect for the time you put in to do this :) Thank You !
Firstly Mark can I say how amazing your playing of Eric's solos is. Your tone is exceptional and everything is there. Without taking anything away from your playing I think the one thing nobody can reproduce is his huge catalogue of articulations and their combinations which are always at his fingertips. Eric always said that for him the sum of blues guitar playing was the emanation of the human singing voice, and that that was always his aim as a player. The voices of the major blues singers I believe had a greater influence ultimately in this period on his playing than their blues guitar playing. This is important when discussing your question because the best jazz instrumentalists took the same approach when improvising. (Listen to Billie Holiday and Lester Young). I think that there was always a cauldron of blues phrases in his armoury that he never played the same way twice. But they were always bubbling away crying out for the far greater entirely natural plethora of micro tempo variation, subtle ghost bends, flicks, hammer-ons of single notes and whole chords - witness the open G he lets fly in the second solo of Crossroads - not to mention pick edge wipes, damping of all strings or selected ones, pull offs of out of tune microtones, change of pick position to emphasise brighter overtones, half bent notes that caress the pick on the way up, to name but a few. All in a convulsive storm of astounding virtuosity which it is very hard to believe was planned beforehand. He was one of the first players to play the amp more than the guitar. And then there are the "wrong" notes, well no wonder when the poor pentatonic scale is suffering such a battering! As for his "mistake" in Crossroads, it actually turns out to be a call to the other two to step out of the current time, no more a mistake than the opening of the live NSU. Some of his greatest playing is on Have You Heard. It's full of unintended broken gestures which give it such a blazing ferocity that the concept of Wrong is swept out the door. In the end during this period he was at that time one of those rare musicians who were so gifted that when they stepped out into the limelight with a few basic means they set our hearts alight. In the process the first thing to be consumed by the flames was any sense of planning whether or not it was intentional.
@@mybluesguitar the first time I became aware of 'on the fly' improvisation, was with something recorded years before Eric. Listen to a track called 'Race with the Devil' by gene Vincent.(1956) The guitarist on there was Cliff Gallup. The story goes they ran through the song in the studio then he came up with the 2 solos you hear 'on the spot' right first time -one of which featured a key change. I've tried copying it over the years and that's hard enough and it seems this too could have been a set of borrowed ideas-but, the execution was correct first time, so you could say this WAS improvised. Not everyone can do this even after years of playing..
I've been playing blues guitar since the 60s and, yes, I repeated phrases on my Dad's Bush radiogram to try and emulate the licks of the great blues players from LPs. My twopence worth: Depending on how much time we devote to practising, we have a sizeable 'card index' of individual licks in our heads and draw on them to make a string of them when soloing. EC put a tremendous amount of time and effort into building his 'card index', so has one much bigger than most. I would call that improvisation. In my current band I will only work out a solo beforehand if it consists of a non-twelve bar blues structure, but for the just the latter I deploy my blues mental 'card index', albeit a much smaller box of cards than EC's!
I play the same way. Everything is new every time I play. I play by my memory. And the way the music flows. Jimmy Page was a very good example of that in a concert, he never sounded like the record, it was always different. I seem Hendrix twice, and he never played the same !
I keep coming back to your video. The "Crossroads" solo has fascinated and captivated me ever since I first heard it as a teenager back in 1968, when I bought the 45. I never get tired of listening to it, although I've heard it a thousand times. In regards to whether it was improvised or pre-written ---- I think it was definitely composed by Eric, but was worked out over many nights of playing live with Cream. I do not think he could have arrived at the same virtuoso performance without the rhythm section behind him. The guitar solo is so fantastic that we tend to overlook that Ginger Baker's drums and Jack Bruce's bass are equally as fantastic. They lay down the backing that gives Eric the freedom to create and go places that no one had ever gone before.
I do agree with you about Jack and Ginger. At the age of 72 I have been a long time fan of Cream and especially of EC. He was certainly one of my most influential players and responsible for my foray into guitar playing. The Crossroads solo(s) is a complete masterpiece. I have heard many of ECs iterations of Crossroads solos over Cream's short but impactful career and none were as deliberate and concise as the Winterland one. One can usually expect long improvisational solos from EC with a good number of his standard and very tasty licks that he used often. I never did believe that the Winterland Crossroads version was purely improvised as none of ECs other live concerts ever produced such a well structured group of solos IMHO. To this day Crossroads stands as one of the great live performances and the guitar work from EC is unparalleled.
Mark, I agree that Clapton’s solos were likely mapped out and rehearsed in advance, which takes nothing away from his brilliance as a guitarist. I know several great guitarists, but I don’t know any who play entirely “off the cuff”. I think it is consistent with Clapton’s perfectionism that he would rehearse a framework for these solos that would keep him and his band mates synchronized throughout the song. I’ve played guitar since the 1960’s, and I always have a guideline for my solos. I improvise to keep from playing the same thing every night, but my improvisation is always a variation on my original plan. If I jam with another group and extemporaneously take a solo, I “borrow” from a different previously rehearsed solo. I have never met anyone who makes up great solos “on the fly”. In my experience, great soloing is a result of practice and repetition of elements from your “lick library”.
@@connor_selby If you’re a guitar player, you will recognize that every solo has a planned beginning, middle, and end. This represents the basic framework of your solo. You’re already playing in the key and scale(s) dictated by the song. Within that framework you can improvise enough so that every solo sounds different. I’ve seen Clapton multiple times and he varies his playing enough to make his solos sound different, but I’ve never seen him depart from the basic structure of the song. If anything, Clapton reuses familiar licks over and over in different ways. I’ve seen other guitarists “quote” from another piece of music: Duane Allman incorporated “Joy to the World” in one of his solos; I saw Robby Krieger quote from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” and return to the original solo. Stating that an artist’s solos sound different doesn’t shed any light on whether they planned it or spontaneously broke out in an inspired solo. I can only speak to my personal experience, and I don’t play anything that I haven’t previously rehearsed, regardless of how spontaneous it may sound.
@@joshuahymer15 I’m so glad that there’s an Eric Clapton subject matter expert to set the rest of us all straight. How did you come by this knowledge, Great One?
@@joshuahymer15 Go listen to a live version of I Feel Free. (You also don't understand what jts3339 is saying, but this is just to show that even if he meant what you think he means, you'd still be wrong.)
Mind blowing opener and great playing all round Mark !!! You’ve brought up some very valid questions and it’s food for thought. Maybe a bit of both but one things for sure, the recordings you mentioned demonstrated what an amazingly gifted musician Eric is. Thank you !
Firstly, your playing of the two Crossroads solos was magnificent. Secondly, there was an interview with Clapton from the Cream days and in this interview (I’m sure it’s on the internet) he does say that he works off of certain “stock” phrases and he demonstrated a couple of them.
I think that might be the early '68 interview you are talking about, Michael. The pic on the title card for this video was screenshot from that. Thanks.
Right, he has put a lot in the shelf and depending of the mood in partic.momenh he takes off the shelf appropriate one. And he said something like he's practicing them all the time
The question is easily answered. Listen to the four versions of Crossroads on the Goodbye Tour album. Each solo is different - although there are similar phrases in each. So, clearly improvised.
Hi Mark! Having also worked on these solos myself, I agree with you that some passages with intricate and difficult technical twists might have been worked out and practiced beforehand. It's always been done in jazz, so why not in blues? I think this is especially true for the Crossroads Wheels of Fire solo. I also agree that it takes nothing away from the quality or brilliance of the solo. Quite the contrary, in fact! As for the rest, we all know that Cream was totally jamming most of the time and sometimes you can feel that Jack and Ginger are putting "jazz" pressure on Eric who's rushing through his blues lick encyclopedia trying to keep up. You don't get that feeling on that Crossroads solo, where he clearly runs the show and dictates the tempo and intensity. Thanks for your great work in putting this out!
Great video, although I'm of the opposite conviction -- I think Eric really played the crossroads solos off the cuff. Why? Well, listening to some of the higher-quality Cream live recordings (particularly ones such as Grande Ballroom 1967, Brandeis University 1968, and Stockholm 1967) shows a barrage of passages and fiery licks that contend with the Crossroads solos in my opinion. I think it was absolutely in his power as an improvisor to come up with something great out of the blue, and the stars REALLY happened to align on that March night. Could be wrong (but I doubt it lol)
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this question. What I'd really like to hear are some other recordings of Crossroads from that March Fillmore residency.
@@mybluesguitar unfortunately none have ever turned up. Several shows were recorded between 29th February & 10th March 1968 (at the Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom). Some was released on the various albums and some was mixed & mastered for release - but much sadly was destroyed in the fire at Atlantic's storage facility at Edison NJ. There are plenty of bootlegs too, but Crossroads is not often present. We do have another version Spoonful which surfaced recently.
This is an excellent and valid question. I have pondered the same question for some time as well. This solo is so exceptional that it begs the question as to how much of it was pre-planned and how much of it was pure improvisation. Undoubtedly by that time in Erics career he had a solid arsenal of classic blues riffs to choose from in any given situation, but this solo seems different and it may very well have been "composed" to ensure that this recording went down in history with the best he could muster. Having said that, I have witnessed brilliant guitarists improvise unbelievably great solos with nothing preplanned, so it can be done. And Eric was at the height of his powers so I am sure he could have done it. I did meet the man once but that's not what we discussed!
Interesting thoughts, Corey. A lot of comments to the video talk about Eric's having a bag of licks, which is of course true, but there are lots of licks and techniques in the two Crossroads solos (some of which have tricky left-hand fingering and picking) that he never used again, especially a lot of the double-stop passages. The solos, as you know, are not just regular 12-bar blues solos. There is something very different about them. However he did it, they are supremely good, on that point I think everyone will agree.
Tough question Mark, but let's face it, when you play enough, you can pretty easily establish a reference point to start at. From there you have enough experience to instinctively know what fits or sounds really good & what doesn't quite fit so well as you move forward through a solo. Sometimes yes you may have a general framework of how you want to work the solo on the neck & you can use that as you solo along. But as far as any note for note pre planning at 2:04 of the solo or wherever, I think that's becoming to contrived. Eric may have had a rough idea on how he wanted to structure a solo & may have even gone as far as knowing this lick sounds great before or after this lick. But I don't think there's very much if any note for note pre-planning. That would take all the fun away. I think Eric was more inclined to feel for the moment then to plan for the moment. Great presentation there Mark...You got a lot of us to chime in on this one. Good to see & hear you again !
for what it's worth, i read somewhere once upon a time that the crossroads solos were edited from a much longer version. they chose the choicest phrases to make a shorter version that radio would play.
I've heard that story before myself, Phillip. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that there is a bootle of that night and the song is exactly the same.
Honestly, I prefer when a guy works out at least major points of their solos and sticks to them live (and then adds a little improv breathing room between the focal points). Like Gilmour. With fully improving all the time sometimes you get gold sometimes you get trash.
Just my 2 cents here. One must remember that it has been more than 50 years since he played that solo. I,m 73 now. In the early srping of 1968 when I was 18 we went to see the Cream live at the Community Concorse in San Diego. A few months later the ' Wheels of Fire " LP was released. I was so excited to get it. I had been playing guitar since the age of 10 so I was really into following the top players at the time. When first listening to the LP I was taken back to the feeling I had at the concert earlier that year. They were all three excellent musicians and their playing complemented each other so well ! They fed off of each others energy for inspiration. What I heard on the LP was pretty much what I heard at the concert. I'm not saying his playing was note per note the same but it had the same virtuosity and energy. I believe that Eric has always played by ear and not one to read music. I wonder if anyone even used charts and tabs then like they do these days. I still believe that Clapton's solo in " Crossroads " is his best solo. I think it was his sheer talent and experience that gave him the ability to improvise and create such a musical masterpiece. The producers more than likely had recorded many of their concerts and were able to chose the ones they deemed the best for the LP. At the time most of us guitar players were playing pop and surf music. Clapton and Hendrix came along and changed that in a wonful way and gave us something to aspire to.
Hello jagr9228, Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it. What a marvellous time that must have been. I am just a little too young to have experience it all first hand. My first encounter with the style and period we focus on in the channel was at the age of 12 in 1973, seeing Mick Taylor with the Stones. I agree that this solo is indeed a masterpiece and whether it was totally off the cuff or part or even wholly worked out takes nothing whatsoever away from its brilliance. Thanks again
Reckon it was completely improvised, a beauty of a one take and no need to overdubs. Although, I would be really interested in listening tapes of the previous dates before this show (if they even exist) that perhaps could give us an idea on what he could’ve been working on while soloing and perhaps listening to a few from the following dates after the recording. One interesting thing does on two different recording, lick you hit at 7:59 all until the end of it has a similar structure as in Steppin’ Out, last track from their BBC sessions. Check the solo from 2:38 up to 2:46.
Thanks, I'll check that out. I too would love to hear some other recordings of Crossroads from those March '68 Fillmore and Winterland dates. I'd bet the ranch that none is within a country mile of the WOF recording.
Up the neck in the blues box sure easy to improvise - down on the tightly spaced frets with all the close fingering I think you have to map that out. Exquisite playing here just fantastic footage! Cheers!
For a long time, i also believed all blues solos were improvised. Then, i listened to an interview with Corky Laing from 'Mountain'. He gave away a trade secret about how some of Leslie West's great recorded solos came about. Felix would have Leslie play a bunch of riffs for that particular song they were getting ready to record, and then Pappalardi would pick out the choice riffs in the order he wanted them to follow in the overall solo. Leslie would then put them all together and Wala~instant killer solo. Thanks for the awesome video's!!! *P.s. Makes me wonder a wee bit when you stop to think that Felix produced all of the Cream albums, except for 'Fresh Cream'.
Very interesing - I agree with the conclusion. Having listened carefully to Clapton's later versions of "Have You Ever Loved a Woman", I noticed some similarities in *some* of the licks across quite a long span of time - they were by no means identical but you could see where they evolved from. I guess if you play a song hundreds of times, even if you start with pure improvisation, eventually a pattern in your playing will start to emerge.
Thanks Phil. Like you say, the fact that someone plays these tunes hundreds of times and has to come up with a solo each time is something that should not be overlooked.
A brilliant video. All the improvising greats have played certain solos that in their perfection and musicality, give an impression of being pre-constructed, or at least, heavily considered. Clapton, Beck, Kossoff, Barre, Harrison, Blackmore, Lee (Albert), Metheny, Knopfler, Carlton and May would be my best examples. Most of these players probably don’t write or read music in the conventional sense, so how they would have gone about it, is a mystery. A bizarre and unique genius for making spontaneous statements sound timeless, could be the answer. Who knows? I suppose that’s partly why they are famous. Some people seem to object to this idea/theory, but I think it’s valid.
Appreciate this video. It made me think and for that Im grateful. EC in this period was to soon stop the ad infinitum improvised soloing framework, and he went out using Gibsons and Marshalls. Him being in his 20s, his masterful techinque and phrase knowledge, and coipled with that gear? Its all EC in the moment.
The Mayall solos were probably refined by frequent play. The Cream solos are improvised, however what we hear on record was sometimes sampled from more than one performance.
Well done Mark for bringing this question up - its something i'v always thought about for years now . I always had the feeling Eric knew where to play solo's anywhere on the fretboard in any given key. Like all blues guitarist , he would have played around with phrases etc.. i sit around 'noodling ' for ages and its surprising how you play a few notes and bends and think -' that sounds good '! And so you remember all these little phrases you can play. I think this is how Eric plays mostly 'off the cuff' but he knows instictivly where to go on the fretboard during a solo. Don't forget , the band would have rehearsed these songs before hand so Eric would have got his ideas already down for the solo's - its not as if on the night its the first time they'v played the songs. Your playing Mark is bang on as always- must have taken yourself ages to work these solo's out . 👍🎸😎
Thanks Alfie. Judging by the number of comments to this video I think it's something most all players have wondered about. It's interesting reading all the thoughts.
Great Video as always. In reference to Wind's Crossroads comment (great analogy btw), I've heard EC actually say "There is a mistake in that solo." My interpretation of that comment is that he had to have planned some of it out ahead of time. Interestingly EVH also has said that about the recording of Eruption. Further supporting this, somewhere around 1986, I read an interview where EC said he can still play all the solos from the Cream days. Seems it would be hard to nail those note for note if they were fully improvised (not to mention, the self-medication the band was using at the time might make the memory of things a bit blurry). The only band I have ever heard flat-out admit that all solos were pre-written, was Skynyrd.
Both. Blues is improvisational, like jazz. But, extended solos, played night after night, tend to attach themselves to certain motifs (for blues, not jazz). For example, you approach a particular song in A thinking: I'm gonna start 5 to 7 with my usual licks, and work it a little. Then I'll slide up 8 to 10 and do some Albert stuff. At some point I'll slide up to BB and play major. Then I can build past the twelfth fret and end an octave up doing faster rock licks. I use this approach often playing Allman-type solos where I need to build to a climax. I'm still improvising, but I have a loose map or outline I can use to get me where I want to go. Even on a short solo I have an idea what part of the fretboard I want to work. Sometimes if I'm really feeling it I'll do something completely different. And, there are always some songs where the solo is pretty much the same every time-- because IT WORKS! Hahaha
Well I learned that solo, solos? note for note with a sony tape recorder that gave me half speed about 40 years ago. It took me ages to figure out all the licks and to be honest I still hear things that I missed back then. Listening to you to you play hereI have to say you play great and right away I picked out things I may have wrong however I also think you might have note or two wrong. I am on your patreon and I love the work you do on Clapton who I think is the greatest guitarist I have ever heard. Yes better than Jimi and EVH. It's not technique which he had has? plenty of but his compositional genius. His style and solos have a fluidity and what is the word? a satisfaction? to them that no other guitarist has. I don't know where or how he lost that thread and I think he did after Cream but when he had that torch from 65 to 70 you couldn't touch him.
Thanks for your comments, @PoppysGuitar. And thanks so much for being on the Patreon page! I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy it there. Yes, I am sure I will have got some parts not quite right, including whereabouts some phrases are played on the neck. And that's so true, Eric from 1965-70 was phenomenal. Cheers, Mark
Thanks for your comment @PoppysGuitar and thanks so much for being on the Patreon page - I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy your time there. I am sure there are notes and phrases that I don't get quite right - including exactly whereabouts on the neck he played certain parts. And that is so true...from 1965 to '70 his playing was phenomenal! Cheers, Mark
@@rm-pc3544 Gosh, it's a long time since I played anything through a real amp. I think if I were looking for a pedal now I'd probably get a tone-bender. I always used to use an overdrive in those situations, but I would fancy a bit of the Jeff Beck/Jimmy Page Yardbirds fuzz and sustain.
Eric had said that he didn't rehears his solos in his early days with the Blues Breakers and Cream because he wanted them to sound fresh and new every time. I've heard several of his live concerts with the Blues Breakers and The Cream playing the songs he had played before and the solos were different.
I guess someone could just ask Eric. :) But, I agree with you. The Crossroads solo is one of my favorites and it was absolute perfection in only that one recording. BTW, great job!
I believe the Crossroads solos from Wheels of Fire were worked out to a certain extent. It's especially hard to imagine that the second solo was completely improvised due to it's complexity. As you mentioned, the other Crossroads solos from that tour are quite different. I've also noticed from other Cream live recordings that he seemed to have some stock phrases that he used in several songs during that era. Another great solo that I think he worked out in advance was the White Room solo that's on the official release of the Cream 2005 reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall. It's an incredible solo but I think it was deliberately created for the high profile reunion. Clapton's truly a great player regardless of whether these solos were planned in advance or not!
I very much doubt he worked out the White Room solo in 2005 in advance. He's played it multiple times over the years and is so experienced and skilful at improvising a solo over a chord structure like White Room that it's pretty easy for him. Some solos may come out similar in other versions of the same song but I highly doubt he has to practice a solo note for note in a song like that.
I've been asked about improvising all the time and I always say that improvising is really just applying all the things you've practiced over time in a given moment. You may come across a lick while you're just jamming and then later throw it in to a song or jam. So it's like yes I did come across the lick while jamming but then I meant for it to wind up somewhere else. Clapton is my favorite player of all time because no matter what he just "emotes" from his guitar like I don't think I've ever heard anyone else be able to do. I don't care how "stock" the licks might be he just always manages to stick his landing in ways that just emotionally resonate with listener. I always feel like the best solos are ones that you can hear a couple of times and then literally be able to hum them forever. The Allman Brothers solos were like this as well. They're not just "licks" but they're actual MELODIES. THAT is what makes his solos great and ALL solos great that are great to me.
I am of that certain age. I never learnt off the LP - would have worn it out - taped to a cassette and wound back and back until I'd got it. For faster solos - I'd copy it to a Akai 4000DS at 7.5 ips, play back at 3.75 ips and record onto my battered cassette recorder. It is so easy nowadays using a Tascanm or similar guitar trainer. Once I did figure out the solo, great but I would sort of forget it - viewing it as a method to improve my technique and pick up phrases which I could try and use soloing.
I'm a sixty-five-year-old musician I've been playing all my life grew up in a bar in Bakersfield California. I play lead guitar. Some nights I kind of go with the structure of the song other nights I just improvised totally. I'm sure that's what Clapton did. Especially bring clouded with drugs. I know I have
I play the 2 solos at gigs and they’re so different than most. I thought that Clapton once mentioned that he got a little lost in the second one and had lost the downbeat. I believe it’s fully improvised with some rehearsal ideas that worked. His best, thanks for posting.
@@mybluesguitar Mark, yeah you bring up a valid point about his timing. I think the volume and Bruce and Baker doing a little more improvising opposed to laying it down for Eric tends to hide the one at beginning of that second solo. Thanks Jimmy
Clapton was always a "brick layer". He has this huge stockpile of licks he will use as a foundation of the building and then add what ever nuance or expansion to it, that fits his mood at the moment. He can then return "home" to his stockpile, whenever he feels like it or runs out of ideas.
Throughout 1967 you can hear Eric developing his unique 16th note style with the kind of note-passing that made everybody else sound limited. By the time of the Winterland shows that featured on "Wheels of Fire" and the "Live Cream"vols.1&2 he could pull this stuff out at will, and you can hear that on "Sweet Wine", "N.S.U.", "Steppin' Out", and of course "Crossroads". Every version I've heard of these and other songs where he utilised that technique ("I'm So Glad", "Deserted Cities of the Heart") sounds different, but I did read in an interview when somebody asked him if, as you mentioned, he'd approached those shows differently because they were being recorded, he said that they'd played at a less-excessive volume than usual, for the sake of the recording quality. The playing was always improvised but occasionally the approach was different. The "Have You Heard" performance is something else again, he sneaks up behind that awful blasting brass (what was Mayall thinking? Eric was going to be quiet??) and just pushes them out of the way with a "shut-up and listen to this" statement that I've seen described as not just highly emotional but "downright mad". They used to call that kind of playing "testifying", and it's not something you can practice, you just have to do it in the moment. Everybody (including Hendrix) copied something Eric did, but nobody else could put it all together as seamlessly.
@@mybluesguitar You might be right, Mayall was always involved in the production on his recordings and by the time of "Crusade" (1967) with Mick Taylor, he'd incorporated a brass section into the band, so it was obviously important to him and people like Dick Heckstall-Smith and Henry Lowther featured heavily on the following "Bare Wires" from '68. Whatever order things were done on "Have You Heard", the way Clapton's guitar sneaks up from the background and then completely takes over is spine-tingling stuff. I think it's just because it's mixed so loud I found that brass irritating, notwithstanding that the great Alan Skidmore and John Surman were credited on the album and I suspect they might have found the mix a little extreme themselves. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Mayall had done that on purpose so that Eric's guitar would have more effect when he turned it up for the solo.
I'm gonna chime in here and say that I believe those solos were a bit of both. Half pre-determined in advance, and half done completely on the fly. We have to remember that E.C. was the best Blues-Rock player on Earth during the 1960s. When I was a touring Blues-Rock guitarist I played some Cream classics, including Crossroads, and some Gary Moore as well, including Still Got The Blues. I made a fair fist of performing my versions of the masters' versions, convincingly enough to have folks think I was playing them note for note, when in fact I wasn't doing any such thing. I merely played "in the style of" the great men. My approach to all this was to have planned out, in advance, where on the fingerboard I'd place my fretting hand for each portion of each verse of each solo. That way, I'd stand an even chance of pulling off a convincing imitation of the originals, if I was having a good night. And it must be said that the more I practised and the more gigs I played, the greater the chances became that I *would* have a good night. After a few years of doing things in the above manner, it became like a neuro-muscular groove into which my fingers naturally fell whenever I played those standards. It was only then that I dared to deviate from the groove and explore different note sequences, with the confidence that I could always return to the familiar groove if things went pear-shaped, as they often did. But then I also eventually became familiar with the newer improvised patterns as well, thus broadening my approach to playing in the styles of Clapton and Moore. It must be said though, that I was absolutely busting my hump . . pushing the envelope, and frequently falling over in the process, to play at that level at every single gig, whereas Eric and Gary were more than capable of simply phoning it in and still doing things on a level that we pub-Bluesers could only dream about. So, to wrap this up . . Could not Eric, and of course Gary Moore, have approached their soloing in the same way? If you listen to the many live takes of songs that Cream always jammed out with long improvised solos, for example: N.S.U., I Feel Free, Sweet Wine, etc, you'll sometimes hear a familiar guitar line from another song that Eric threw in, for maybe an experiment on the fly to see it it fitted into a different song or not. Hell, I'm more confused than ever now! LOL
Thanks, jaggedstudios. It was recorded in Garageband on a MacBook. For most of my recordings I share screenshots showing the exact settings including any 'pedals' used on my Patreon page, patreon.com/mybluesguitar
Can some explain the difference with stock phrases and pre- rehearsed solos ? If you have stock phrases and lots of band playing experience the difference is probably minimal
I'm sure you'll have seen the video of Clapton with his SG sitting in front of a Marshall stack from March 1968? I think it was filmed during the Fillmore/Winterland residency. In it, he talks about his 'stock phrases'. Check it out if you haven't seen it. A pre-rehearsed solo would, I suppose, be one that is about 70% or more worked out note for note, whereas a 'stock phrase' would be like a building block, a short phrase that could be repeated and/or joined with others.
Truly accurate and excellent explanation for Eric's genius playing . What are your thoughts on Robin Trower's playing ? 1975 Winterland Concert and his many albums . Cheers . 🇨🇦✨✨✨✨✨🎸🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅☮️🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
Thanks Trevor. I'm an admirer of but have never studied Robin Trower. I'm sure there are some who have and who could share their opinions. That would be good.
I’m also of the opposite view, and think that Eric’s solos were pretty much improvised every time he played them. Like you, Mark, I’ve listened to enormous amounts of his playing, from Mayall and Cream and ever since, and I’ve never heard him play the same solo twice. He doesn’t really have stock phrases either, more stock ways of approaching his phrasing, such that every lick is different from every other. I’ve heard no audio evidence either that the famous Crossroads solos ever appeared in whole or part anywhere else. There are some patterns in the recorded version of Hideaway that you can hear in the boot of the earlier BBC sessions, but with many differences. The phrase from Steppin’ Out that you quote, while it is quintessentially Claptonesque, he has never repeated anywhere else, and if you or I had practiced something as good as that we damn sure would! What I do think is that the early live Cream releases were simply chosen from the best performances, which is why the recent Goodbye tour box set is great to hear, but really not as good as Wheels of Fire, Goodbye, Live Cream etc. Interesting analysis though, and thank you!
I personally think that they were mostly improvised, but heavily reliant on stock phrases that would have formed part of his mental catalogue. Maybe the balance was more weighted towards pre-written for the crossroads solos for the reasons you gave, but to me the playing sounds too fluid and dynamic to be someone just reproducing it all from memory. In my view some of his (presumably mostly improvised) live solos did reach ridiculous levels of virtuosity - I'm immediately thinking of 'Stepping Out' from the Klooks Kleek bootleg. My jaw drops every time I hear that! I could be wrong though! Be great to get clapton himself to answer the question!
my opinion, based on many hours of playing his solos, is that he was most likely "mapped out" and improvised around this outline. if they were figured out, he didn't remember them, because he rarely plays a solo the same twice, if ever. different but great every time. thank you!
I remember thinking there was this player I thought was at least as good as Clapton getting nowhere near the recognition he should (and I still think that) so I listened to his playing from an album he played on and compared it to Clapton's on the Beano album. While that other player's solos came out of the gate sounding more amazing than Clapton's, he didn't have the same consistency throughout his solos Clapton had. That's when it hit me that Clapton worked his solos out, then memorized and rehearsed them before performing them. That's when it also hit me, I get it: Clapton is just great. In music, it doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there; Clapton figured out how to do it and then he did it. And it had to take an incredible amount of work. That other player I still think was at least as good as Clapton was Mike Bloomfield and I am still blown away by his playing on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band debut album and the followup album "East-West".
For a time, Michael Bloomfield was the preeminent blues-rock guitarist in America. He was a prime influence on many guitarists who went on to have successful careers and hit records.
I’ve followed Eric’s career since the Beano days and my own opinion is that the solos were improvised. Some of the licks probably were developing during that year’s live performances and everything came together to become the guitar solo nirvana we have in the WOF recording. I base my opinion on the fact that I’ve never heard Eric play two live solos exactly the same, which is an important factor in keeping his music growing and intriguing, imo.
How Clapton while in cream could improvise night after night using only pentatonic scales is amazing. geez look at the scales Coltrane used in comparison but the other side of the coin it’s definitely easier as it gives you less choices. Playing over cord changes directs where the solos are going. Standard blues licks in conjunction pentatonic blues scales with and “feel” he borrowed from the greats.
I think Clapton improvised on the solo. I’m sure there were a lot of times where he couldn’t even hear the other two members standing in front of those Marshall stacks far as I’m concerned one of the best solos ever another great video brother hello from Jeff in Tennessee
You are phenomenal. Spot on Clapton. Maybe they should put your playing in the farewell concert..since they refused to show his actual guitar playing 😂
Such a shame about that. There must also have been some footage from the first (afternoon) show, too. My own favourite footage of Cream is the Revolution Club, but even that shows very little of EC.
I think most guitarists do have stock phrases they end up playing over and over again. It's what goes in between those phrases end up being the parts improvised.
Honestly I think they were mostly improvised. I think there is validity to your idea of general mapping out and practicing certain ideas or techniques, but I don't think he's playing from a "script". I was able to see him in concert many times and once on consecutive nights. His solos on his songs had similar ideas but eneded up very different. Either way, he's the best there ever was in my opinion and I am grateful for the work you put into these videos.
One thing to wonder about is, just how stoned or high the bands where at the time. 'If you remember the '60s, you were not there.' . What drugs do to a plan, must be considered.
@@christophergallagher531 That is a valid point. Some solos, Spoonful for example, are clearly drug fueled. Question is did the drugs free their playing, or muddle it?
@@TheGr00ve There are reams written about drug induced creativity. One study, I read, some 40 years ago, drew a correlation between things learned under the influence being reproduced more accurately under the same influence. I can not really speak empirically, to this notion. But it makes sence. What ever happens in the synaps is altered by drugs. It stands to reason that removing that alteration would change things. The drug could, act as a catolist or simply release inhabition. Who knows? No question, there where drugs fueling the day.
I remember reading an interview with Clapton where he said that he didnt understand why everybody thought his crossroads solo was the best, because he made four mistakes in it. I'm not sure what he would call a "mistake", it sounds OK to me...... but to say that he made a mistake suggests that he might have a had it planned out in some way. I don't think it matters very much though - its a brilliant solo. BTW: I went to see "The Groundhogs" years ago when they were at their peak, they were so brilliant I went to see them again a few days later - Tony McPhee's lead breaks and everything else was identical, one of my mates left saying !"I've heard this before", so some guitarists, at least, plan out every note.
I understand it's difficult to believe the solo could have been off the cuff. It is incredible! Apart from the stock phrases that Eric used back then I believe the solo was improvised. The question I would ask Eric would be was he on any hallucinogenic at the time of the solo. My first experience with LSD made cigarette butts on the school playground look like seashells.😂 they can do marvelous things for your solos. Years ago I improvised over the Eric Johnson song "the battle we have won". I stuck to a simple hexatonic scale. This solo was amazing. I couldn't duplicate it ever again. I found it hard to believe it was me. These things happen. And I do believe that was the case with Eric.
Chick Corea once said that the greatest improvisers improvise about 30% of the time, if that. If you play long enough, you have your licks worked out and you mix them up. Just listen to Santana, for example, and you'll hear his signature licks on just about every solo. My own take on all this is, if it sounds great, if you like it, then that's all there is to it.
I agree with that - it sounds great...Great! That's an interesting point about signature licks, because there are many licks and tricks in these solos that Eric didn't use before or after this Crossroads recording.
@@mybluesguitar Well, I myself can identify several signature Clapton licks of the period in that solo, but that's not to say he used ONLY signature licks. All guitar players do that, heck, all instrumentalists do that.
Interesting video. I guess the only one who can answer these questions is Eric Clapton himself. But then again it's the same as asking if Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker or Django Reinhardt or Charlie Christian worked out their solos first. We have to realize all these people are geniuses, human beings endowed with a special gift, who developed that gift from childhood through fanatical devotion to their instruments, playing 12 hours a day or more for years, playing and recording professionally with the greatest drummers, bassists, keyboard players, singers, and other instrumentalists. Their extreme virtuosity allows them to create solos the rest of us can only marvel at. "Genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration".
Thanks for your thoughts, Joe. I love Charlie Parker. His playing was so fluid and he could do anything he wanted, a complete master of the instrument.
I agree with you, (btw: you do an excellent job of reproducing Eric's crossroads solo) the Wheels of fire solo was mapped out. Then, he let the moment, the concert, seamlessly carry the course he had laid out. He practiced and worked out the movement of his fingers and the phrasing. I can barely play guitar, be that as it may, any solo that I ever did, that went beyond repetitious meandering, was mapped out.
I don't think they were "pre-written" as much as they were improved upon through repeated takes. You fiddle around, improvising a solo to match what you feel and hear in your head, and once you get that idea, that's the direction you go with. Since many of the late 60s solos were overdubs, they'd often go through a few takes until the solo was clean and could be played with confidence. That's what they did in Cream, and what other players like George Harrison would do. The exception of course is live albums, which, unless doctored, are spontanious. None of the live Cream solos were edited or tacked on, at least that I know of. Studio album solos may be better defined as "refined improvisation" if you like. Written solos seemed to become more of a common thing in the 1970s, and solidified themselves by the 80s. Thanks for the thoughts, cheers 👍
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this question. I'm very interested in how my fellow players hear these things, all the different opinions and theories.
I believe Clapton has worked out most of the basic solos out before hand. Yes there is improvisation too as the same song is not exactly the same each time is played. There are some nights that the song is good but no magic. Another night the band is on fire. The solo start with the basic work out then goes to beast mode. I’ll use Derrick and the Dominoes as an example. There are several live and the studio version of Why does love got to be so sad. Good song. There is a sound board recording on UA-cam from Electric Factory. The band is on fire. Clapton solos are incredible. And those or improvised. There are 2 live versions of let it rain. Both include a drum solo. Jim is spectacular on one version and the other he is hood.
Your guess is as good as mine, Mark but I think “Crossroads” was one of those very special nights where Eric transcended the temporal, even for him! I don’t think he would ever write out a solo or plan one much, often having little more than an idea of how he would start and finish.
I think Mark's point is a good one - that it's a bit too much of a coincidence that he happened to be 100% in the zone on the night they had pro recording equipment going. I think Mark's definitely right that he made a special effort to think this through in advance for that evening.
@@thecaveofthedead Mark has certainly studied Eric’s solos more than I could - I should say that, when I said “guess”, it was a figure of speech. I’d just add that several shows were recorded on that tour, no two solos would be the same and I don’t think the fact they were being taped would have been in Clapton’s mind when he was performing - he plays straight from the heart.
@@thecaveofthedeadEric hasn’t talked about the issue in any interviews I’ve seen, heard or read but I do recall him being asked what he thinks about when he plays a solo - he said he just looks at the EXIT signs. If he thinks about anything, I suspect it’s the emotions conjured up by the lyrics - 24 Nights (all of which were recorded, of course) “Old Love” being a prime example, imho. Unless someone asks him directly if his playing is affected by him knowing the gig is being recorded, we might never know but I think he’s a musician who’s focus is on expressing his feelings (and maybe on the EXIT signs).
Thanks both for your thoughts. We have all listened to these solos hundreds of times, so it is fascinating to hear all the different thoughts and opinions.
Im largely unconvinced. I was comparing the takes from yer blues with Eric Clapton to see how he arrived at the final take that has full confidence and sounds put together. What I found is the takes before the final were quite meandering, but then it felt out of nowhere the final had such masterful phrases he wasn’t doing on the last takes, which shows that he can improvise melodic and put together solos, he just needs to be comfortable with the song. As for crossroads I mean maybe for that occasion I could see him plan his playing out a bit more, but I can’t imagine he’d plan it anywhere close to note for note because I’ve never heard him repeat a note heavy solo twice in the cream era, except for “I feel free” which is relatively simple and easy to remember. All that said, I don’t doubt EC’s improvising skills, he seems like the kind of musician that hears what he’s gonna play in his head first, then plays it and when you have that ability, your less so improvising, rather you’re writing a meaningful passage in real time
The solo on "Those Were The Days" on Wheels of Fire, is slightly reminiscent of the second "Crossroads" solo. On the other hand, your excellent reproductions of the solos will sound a "little different" because they lack the interplay of Jack Bruce's bass.
The Blues is about to set the right move by what happens in the surrounding. That includes not only the company of musicians, but the mood of the audience too. To channel that in this way, makes the great player. Remember Claptons approach to "While my guitar gently weeps", same thing, but now for his friend George, and as "audience", the Beatles.
I haven't dug through all of the comments here but as a lifetime fan of EC, I think he probably improvised 90-95% of those early solos. Particularly the live stuff. If you listen to different versions, never played a solo the same way twice. He may have composed or "mapped out" certain parts on studio recordings, but I think the vast majority was completely improvised.
a worthy question, I agree that the Beano stuff like stepping out, hideaway, little girl and key to love was pre-planned in rehearsal. Cream stuff, harder to know. Strange Brew for example sounds planned, and an extension of Beano era playing, crossroads less clear.
The Strange Brew solo is more or less a direct lift from Albert King's "Oh Pretty Woman", so it was definitely worked out beforehand. For what it's worth, I think that the studio solos were all more or less rehearsed, and the live stuff was semi improvised, using Clapton's stock phrases. I can start playing the White Room solo, then find myself unconsciously putting in licks from Crossroads, or Sunshine, without even thinking about it. It just sort of happens. I suppose that is what you'd call improvising.
Ok before I respond I do want to agree with how absolutely incredibly the solos are.Some of the finest ever.. It is hard to believe,,,-But still I totally believe it's Improvising ,Not saying he didn't think about it .Everybody does -and he is using a lot of "Go to ' licks.Plus he most likely had the just the perfect mix of "inspiration" which more than likely put him in just the right place so a groove just flowed that night .He played the song many times before .He played many of the riffs before.And it was him.His style .When it's you and you're being yourself it's not difficult.Plus ,He was well aware how long he had to play each solo .-I don't find it hard to believe that a musician of his caliber in his prime can have a incredible creative night that doesn't have to be written out ahead of time. Seen it all happen before..And Eric did say he was playing on the wrong accent beat like the 1-and it was wrong --which is what he said himself - That ' makes it that much harder for me to think that he would have Pre-worked it out. Just my thoughts..
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your very considered thoughts. It's so interesting to hear al the different opinions. I guess we'll never know the true facts unless the man himself chips in.
@@mybluesguitar Hahaha ! Yeah, That'd be kewl if we could get Eric to chip in here? "Yo Eric ! ! !" " Eric Clapton ! " " We got a question for ya!" .You need to reply here." "Only takes a second" "Now don't be shy",
It's both (JAZZ) the "language" that Eric put together from signature phrases he developed during the Yardbirds and what he was thinking of while he improvised. Fans of Zappa, Hendrix, Santans and others have walked the same fine line. 😎
One thing that the availability of the many "bootleg" live recordings by so many bands - Cream, Hendrix, Allmans, Dead, and so many more - reveal is that the best live versions are the ones that made it on the record. For example, I've heard many live versions of "Elizabeth Reed" (with Duane) and to my ears the best one is the one on the record, and that version actually has Duane's solo spliced in from a different set from that weekend.
Hi Mark 😊 l truly believe that Eric solos were always improvised, sometimes an improviser gets really connected and has a special night 🔥 l think that all of the official live Cream recordings were very well chosen from the material available! Of course Eric had an arsenal of his licks and ideas well and truly down….how was it going to come out on any given night..? ……none of us know. One final left field statement from me, my two favourite all time guitarists are Eric and Allan Holdsworth. A strange combination you might think, but no l don’t think so, they are/were both uncompromising purists with incredibly elegant styles and a beautiful touch. I say this because despite Allan’s brilliance he always improvised when playing live. Love the channel!!!
We always need to put this in context . Clapton was under 25 yrs old and learned the guitar by ear . That says it all . Amazing guitar player a very close second to Jimi . In my humble opinion
This is traditional music. Every guitarist have those same licks in their toolbox. Advanced players seek their own sound and the personal way to express those common licks and maybe developing some of their own to drop in solos. Can be very well notice if you listen for individual versions on All Your Love performed by Otis Rush, Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Well, since experiencing this Vibrant Band, 'Live' in 68' . Have to say ,that they all we're so immensely crafted in playing together , that to this day "have not experienced anything of the calibur of this Band" .Period. Eric, definetely had the abilities to improvise flawlessy at any given moment and in the tunes they played. So, in conclusion He most certainly worked out themes of direction etc. but doubt seriously they we're written out . He was such a vibrant ,clean , artistic player then ,it just seems not to be written ,like so many have thought . Again ,who has heard or seen them ,"LIVE" should know .
I know what I do, I make stuff up then hone it a bit each time I play the song until it becomes a mostly structured thing with a bit of wiggle room. Can’t play like him but I reckon that’s what most guitar players do.
Clapton was a great improviser. Clapton during Cream was at his finest form. With Ginger and Jack Bruce pushing him to his best. 100% improvised in the moment live on stage. Why on earth would one of the greatest live acts of 67-69 get on stage every night and play a worked out solo? Clapton had excellent blues chops and technique. He got up there and let it rip at every Cream show. He was that good. And just like Hendrix and all the other top players. Jimmy Page as well. It was part of the times. In the studio they would record a few solos and pick the best one. Unless they were playing live which they also did plenty of. No working out solos live, no mapping, didn't repeat himself, he got up and let it rip every night. Just listen
Live totally improvised based on his stock phrasing...but studio different story all based on chords also playing modal mixolydian in I am so glad Dorian in do what you like., which i am sure was kinda worked out. Crossroads second solo came in early but wow...band fell in with him causing all this tension and when he resolves its magic of course he hates it lol
Clapton, from his own writing & interviews, was so heavily into drinking & drugs while in Cream, you have to question his ability to concentrate long enough to construct such long complex solo's...maybe bits & pieces & would stitch together everything when the red light was on? Others like Charlie Parker or a Van Halen have similar stories...severe addictions but a jaw dropping ability to play effortlessly but mostly while in an altered state. Who knows but the recordings & performances can just be stunning.
Cool comment Zoot Sims was a wonderful Tenor sax player but an incredibly hard drinker,someone asked Zoot who was pounded them down between sets how he managed to still play so well while being intoxicated ,Zoot replied because I have an awful lot of practice at it!
A HUGE thank you to everyone for watching the video and especially those who took the time to share their thoughts and opinions in the comments. It was really interesting hearing the different perspectives and reasoning on this question. Thank you, Mark
I believe these stellar solos were a result of his accumulated competence with the material.
Clapton has admitted in interviews that he considers the famous crossroads solo to be a bit of a mistake because he ‘lost the 1’ and wasn’t sure where the beat was. Easy to see how this could happen with Bruce and baker both improvising wildly beneath him while he’s soloing. Kind of like walking a high wire during an earthquake. The fact that it came out so brilliantly was a happy accident. If you listen to the many live versions of crossroads that are available, they are all very, very different. He was improvising every night, clearly. Anyway, love your channel and content. 👏
Thanks for taking the time to comment, capmkrob. Much appreciated. I like the 'high wire during an earthquake' analogy!
He said he used stock phrases.....
The fact that he lost his place might lend to the notion that it was a memorized solo. Maybe he forgot one riff and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 😂
@@johnpandolfino8663 I think most lead guitarists have a library of phrases and the improvisation part is stitching them together in the current song.
Improvised for sure
As a student and admirer of Clapton for several years I’m convinced that he never played the same solo twice. He may have worked out certain licks like everyone does, but no, I believe he improvised his classic solos.
He had been playing with Mayall, on tour, for months and months. He worked these solos out naturally on the road through trial and error. It’s pretty well documented. By the time they got to the studio they knew exactly what to do. Yes he worked on these solos but only through gig after gig.
Clapton was a genius improviser in Cream. The drum and guitar end part of Stepping Out on Live Cream Vol 2 is a testament to that. He never repeats himself.
Yes, it does sound like gibberish.
He sounds like he is losing his way just over halfway through the number.
He was improvising because he was playing with 2 legendary jazz improvisers.. he had no choice but to hang on for the ride
Best reproduction of the notes and feel I've ever heard. Brings me back to when I was a teenager totally blown away by these licks. and now by how you are playing them with the right sound also,
Lots of respect for the time you put in to do this :) Thank You !
Thanks Norm. Much appreciated.
That's when Clapton was at his greatest. I've never seen him any better than at that time ! He was on top of his game
Firstly Mark can I say how amazing your playing of Eric's solos is. Your tone is exceptional and everything is there. Without taking anything away from your playing I think the one thing nobody can reproduce is his huge catalogue of articulations and their combinations which are always at his fingertips. Eric always said that for him the sum of blues guitar playing was the emanation of the human singing voice, and that that was always his aim as a player. The voices of the major blues singers I believe had a greater influence ultimately in this period on his playing than their blues guitar playing. This is important when discussing your question because the best jazz instrumentalists took the same approach when improvising. (Listen to Billie Holiday and Lester Young). I think that there was always a cauldron of blues phrases in his armoury that he never played the same way twice. But they were always bubbling away crying out for the far greater entirely natural plethora of micro tempo variation, subtle ghost bends, flicks, hammer-ons of single notes and whole chords - witness the open G he lets fly in the second solo of Crossroads - not to mention pick edge wipes, damping of all strings or selected ones, pull offs of out of tune microtones, change of pick position to emphasise brighter overtones, half bent notes that caress the pick on the way up, to name but a few. All in a convulsive storm of astounding virtuosity which it is very hard to believe was planned beforehand. He was one of the first players to play the amp more than the guitar. And then there are the "wrong" notes, well no wonder when the poor pentatonic scale is suffering such a battering! As for his "mistake" in Crossroads, it actually turns out to be a call to the other two to step out of the current time, no more a mistake than the opening of the live NSU. Some of his greatest playing is on Have You Heard. It's full of unintended broken gestures which give it such a blazing ferocity that the concept of Wrong is swept out the door. In the end during this period he was at that time one of those rare musicians who were so gifted that when they stepped out into the limelight with a few basic means they set our hearts alight. In the process the first thing to be consumed by the flames was any sense of planning whether or not it was intentional.
So well put!
As corey said, beautifully put! Thanks for taking the time to do this Very much appreciated.
@@mybluesguitar the first time I became aware of 'on the fly' improvisation, was with something recorded years before Eric. Listen to a track called 'Race with the Devil' by gene Vincent.(1956) The guitarist on there was Cliff Gallup. The story goes they ran through the song in the studio then he came up with the 2 solos you hear 'on the spot' right first time -one of which featured a key change. I've tried copying it over the years and that's hard enough and it seems this too could have been a set of borrowed ideas-but, the execution was correct first time, so you could say this WAS improvised. Not everyone can do this even after years of playing..
I've been playing blues guitar since the 60s and, yes, I repeated phrases on my Dad's Bush radiogram to try and emulate the licks of the great blues players from LPs. My twopence worth: Depending on how much time we devote to practising, we have a sizeable 'card index' of individual licks in our heads and draw on them to make a string of them when soloing. EC put a tremendous amount of time and effort into building his 'card index', so has one much bigger than most. I would call that improvisation. In my current band I will only work out a solo beforehand if it consists of a non-twelve bar blues structure, but for the just the latter I deploy my blues mental 'card index', albeit a much smaller box of cards than EC's!
Thanks for commenting marmaduke. Valid points about the 'card index' of licks!
I completely agree, that's a really good way of putting it
I play the same way. Everything is new every time I play. I play by my memory.
And the way the music flows.
Jimmy Page was a very good example of that in a concert, he never sounded like the record, it was always different. I seem Hendrix twice, and he never played the same !
I keep coming back to your video. The "Crossroads" solo has fascinated and captivated me ever since I first heard it as a teenager back in 1968, when I bought the 45. I never get tired of listening to it, although I've heard it a thousand times. In regards to whether it was improvised or pre-written ---- I think it was definitely composed by Eric, but was worked out over many nights of playing live with Cream. I do not think he could have arrived at the same virtuoso performance without the rhythm section behind him. The guitar solo is so fantastic that we tend to overlook that Ginger Baker's drums and Jack Bruce's bass are equally as fantastic. They lay down the backing that gives Eric the freedom to create and go places that no one had ever gone before.
I do agree with you about Jack and Ginger. At the age of 72 I have been a long time fan of Cream and especially of EC. He was certainly one of my most influential players and responsible for my foray into guitar playing. The Crossroads solo(s) is a complete masterpiece. I have heard many of ECs iterations of Crossroads solos over Cream's short but impactful career and none were as deliberate and concise as the Winterland one. One can usually expect long improvisational solos from EC with a good number of his standard and very tasty licks that he used often. I never did believe that the Winterland Crossroads version was purely improvised as none of ECs other live concerts ever produced such a well structured group of solos IMHO. To this day Crossroads stands as one of the great live performances and the guitar work from EC is unparalleled.
It is indeed beautifully structured.
Very true, Joe. It would not sound half as good if they were putting out a regular shuffle beat behind him!
Mark, I agree that Clapton’s solos were likely mapped out and rehearsed in advance, which takes nothing away from his brilliance as a guitarist. I know several great guitarists, but I don’t know any who play entirely “off the cuff”. I think it is consistent with Clapton’s perfectionism that he would rehearse a framework for these solos that would keep him and his band mates synchronized throughout the song. I’ve played guitar since the 1960’s, and I always have a guideline for my solos. I improvise to keep from playing the same thing every night, but my improvisation is always a variation on my original plan. If I jam with another group and extemporaneously take a solo, I “borrow” from a different previously rehearsed solo. I have never met anyone who makes up great solos “on the fly”. In my experience, great soloing is a result of practice and repetition of elements from your “lick library”.
He never played the same solo twice. Why would he bother mapping a solo out only to never play it the same way again
@@connor_selby If you’re a guitar player, you will recognize that every solo has a planned beginning, middle, and end. This represents the basic framework of your solo. You’re already playing in the key and scale(s) dictated by the song. Within that framework you can improvise enough so that every solo sounds different. I’ve seen Clapton multiple times and he varies his playing enough to make his solos sound different, but I’ve never seen him depart from the basic structure of the song. If anything, Clapton reuses familiar licks over and over in different ways.
I’ve seen other guitarists “quote” from another piece of music: Duane Allman incorporated “Joy to the World” in one of his solos; I saw Robby Krieger quote from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” and return to the original solo. Stating that an artist’s solos sound different doesn’t shed any light on whether they planned it or spontaneously broke out in an inspired solo. I can only speak to my personal experience, and I don’t play anything that I haven’t previously rehearsed, regardless of how spontaneous it may sound.
Your dead wrong. He didn’t map out anything. He never played a break the same way twice
@@joshuahymer15 I’m so glad that there’s an Eric Clapton subject matter expert to set the rest of us all straight. How did you come by this knowledge, Great One?
@@joshuahymer15 Go listen to a live version of I Feel Free.
(You also don't understand what jts3339 is saying, but this is just to show that even if he meant what you think he means, you'd still be wrong.)
I've loved those Crossroads solos since I first heard them in 1968 and you have done the best job of playing them that I have ever heard.
Thanks so much.
Mind blowing opener and great playing all round Mark !!! You’ve brought up some very valid questions and it’s food for thought. Maybe a bit of both but one things for sure, the recordings you mentioned demonstrated what an amazingly gifted musician Eric is. Thank you !
Absolutely, Arch! Whatever the story behind the solos they are phenomenal!
Firstly, your playing of the two Crossroads solos was magnificent. Secondly, there was an interview with Clapton from the Cream days and in this interview (I’m sure it’s on the internet) he does say that he works off of certain “stock” phrases and he demonstrated a couple of them.
I think that might be the early '68 interview you are talking about, Michael. The pic on the title card for this video was screenshot from that. Thanks.
That interview is from the "Farewell" concert (at Albert Hall) movie.
Right, he has put a lot in the shelf and depending of the mood in partic.momenh he takes off the shelf appropriate one. And he said something like he's practicing them all the time
The question is easily answered. Listen to the four versions of Crossroads on the Goodbye Tour album. Each solo is different - although there are similar phrases in each. So, clearly improvised.
Hi Neil, Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it.
You completely nailed it bro
Brilliant playing bro
Thanks castorkat.
Hi Mark! Having also worked on these solos myself, I agree with you that some passages with intricate and difficult technical twists might have been worked out and practiced beforehand. It's always been done in jazz, so why not in blues? I think this is especially true for the Crossroads Wheels of Fire solo. I also agree that it takes nothing away from the quality or brilliance of the solo. Quite the contrary, in fact! As for the rest, we all know that Cream was totally jamming most of the time and sometimes you can feel that Jack and Ginger are putting "jazz" pressure on Eric who's rushing through his blues lick encyclopedia trying to keep up. You don't get that feeling on that Crossroads solo, where he clearly runs the show and dictates the tempo and intensity. Thanks for your great work in putting this out!
Hi Bernard! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, which sound as they have much in common with my own .
Great video, although I'm of the opposite conviction -- I think Eric really played the crossroads solos off the cuff. Why? Well, listening to some of the higher-quality Cream live recordings (particularly ones such as Grande Ballroom 1967, Brandeis University 1968, and Stockholm 1967) shows a barrage of passages and fiery licks that contend with the Crossroads solos in my opinion. I think it was absolutely in his power as an improvisor to come up with something great out of the blue, and the stars REALLY happened to align on that March night. Could be wrong (but I doubt it lol)
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this question. What I'd really like to hear are some other recordings of Crossroads from that March Fillmore residency.
@@mybluesguitar unfortunately none have ever turned up. Several shows were recorded between 29th February & 10th March 1968 (at the Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom). Some was released on the various albums and some was mixed & mastered for release - but much sadly was destroyed in the fire at Atlantic's storage facility at Edison NJ. There are plenty of bootlegs too, but Crossroads is not often present. We do have another version Spoonful which surfaced recently.
Clapton to be was very on the spot playing especially in the very early year love the channel cheers
Thanks for commenting, Alan. Glad you like the channel
This is an excellent and valid question. I have pondered the same question for some time as well. This solo is so exceptional that it begs the question as to how much of it was pre-planned and how much of it was pure improvisation. Undoubtedly by that time in Erics career he had a solid arsenal of classic blues riffs to choose from in any given situation, but this solo seems different and it may very well have been "composed" to ensure that this recording went down in history with the best he could muster. Having said that, I have witnessed brilliant guitarists improvise unbelievably great solos with nothing preplanned, so it can be done. And Eric was at the height of his powers so I am sure he could have done it. I did meet the man once but that's not what we discussed!
Interesting thoughts, Corey. A lot of comments to the video talk about Eric's having a bag of licks, which is of course true, but there are lots of licks and techniques in the two Crossroads solos (some of which have tricky left-hand fingering and picking) that he never used again, especially a lot of the double-stop passages. The solos, as you know, are not just regular 12-bar blues solos. There is something very different about them. However he did it, they are supremely good, on that point I think everyone will agree.
Tough question Mark, but let's face it, when you play enough, you can pretty easily establish a reference point to start at. From there you have enough experience to instinctively know what fits or sounds really good & what doesn't quite fit so well as you move forward through a solo. Sometimes yes you may have a general framework of how you want to work the solo on the neck & you can use that as you solo along. But as far as any note for note pre planning at 2:04 of the solo or wherever, I think that's becoming to contrived. Eric may have had a rough idea on how he wanted to structure a solo & may have even gone as far as knowing this lick sounds great before or after this lick. But I don't think there's very much if any note for note pre-planning. That would take all the fun away. I think Eric was more inclined to feel for the moment then to plan for the moment. Great presentation there Mark...You got a lot of us to chime in on this one. Good to see & hear you again !
Spot on, Ed
Thanks Ed. Yes, lots of input on this one. Very interesting to hear all the different takes on this subject.
for what it's worth, i read somewhere once upon a time that the crossroads solos were edited from a much longer version. they chose the choicest phrases to make a shorter version that radio would play.
I've heard that story before myself, Phillip. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that there is a bootle of that night and the song is exactly the same.
Honestly, I prefer when a guy works out at least major points of their solos and sticks to them live (and then adds a little improv breathing room between the focal points). Like Gilmour. With fully improving all the time sometimes you get gold sometimes you get trash.
Just my 2 cents here. One must remember that it has been more than 50 years since he played that solo. I,m 73 now. In the early srping of 1968 when I was 18 we went to see the Cream live at the Community Concorse in San Diego. A few months later the ' Wheels of Fire " LP was released. I was so excited to get it. I had been playing guitar since the age of 10 so I was really into following the top players at the time. When first listening to the LP I was taken back to the feeling I had at the concert earlier that year. They were all three excellent musicians and their playing complemented each other so well ! They fed off of each others energy for inspiration. What I heard on the LP was pretty much what I heard at the concert. I'm not saying his playing was note per note the same but it had the same virtuosity and energy. I believe that Eric has always played by ear and not one to read music. I wonder if anyone even used charts and tabs then like they do these days. I still believe that Clapton's solo in " Crossroads " is his best solo. I think it was his sheer talent and experience that gave him the ability to improvise and create such a musical masterpiece. The producers more than likely had recorded many of their concerts and were able to chose the ones they deemed the best for the LP. At the time most of us guitar players were playing pop and surf music. Clapton and Hendrix came along and changed that in a wonful way and gave us something to aspire to.
Hello jagr9228, Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it. What a marvellous time that must have been. I am just a little too young to have experience it all first hand. My first encounter with the style and period we focus on in the channel was at the age of 12 in 1973, seeing Mick Taylor with the Stones. I agree that this solo is indeed a masterpiece and whether it was totally off the cuff or part or even wholly worked out takes nothing whatsoever away from its brilliance. Thanks again
Reckon it was completely improvised, a beauty of a one take and no need to overdubs.
Although, I would be really interested in listening tapes of the previous dates before this show (if they even exist) that perhaps could give us an idea on what he could’ve been working on while soloing and perhaps listening to a few from the following dates after the recording.
One interesting thing does on two different recording, lick you hit at 7:59 all until the end of it has a similar structure as in Steppin’ Out, last track from their BBC sessions. Check the solo from 2:38 up to 2:46.
Thanks, I'll check that out. I too would love to hear some other recordings of Crossroads from those March '68 Fillmore and Winterland dates. I'd bet the ranch that none is within a country mile of the WOF recording.
Great playing!
Thanks so much. Very kind
Great VIDEO! Thank you sir.
Regards,
Jimmy
Thank you, Jimmy!
Up the neck in the blues box sure easy to improvise - down on the tightly spaced frets with all the close fingering I think you have to map that out. Exquisite playing here just fantastic footage! Cheers!
Thanks hrstrat57. Yes, it can be tricky playing in that first position A blues scale right up the top of the neck!
For a long time, i also believed all blues solos were improvised. Then, i listened to an interview with Corky Laing from 'Mountain'. He gave away a trade secret about how some of Leslie West's great recorded solos came about. Felix would have Leslie play a bunch of riffs for that particular song they were getting ready to record, and then Pappalardi would pick out the choice riffs in the order he wanted them to follow in the overall solo. Leslie would then put them all together and Wala~instant killer solo. Thanks for the awesome video's!!!
*P.s. Makes me wonder a wee bit when you stop to think that Felix produced all of the Cream albums, except for 'Fresh Cream'.
Interesting! Thanks Denny!
Very interesing - I agree with the conclusion. Having listened carefully to Clapton's later versions of "Have You Ever Loved a Woman", I noticed some similarities in *some* of the licks across quite a long span of time - they were by no means identical but you could see where they evolved from. I guess if you play a song hundreds of times, even if you start with pure improvisation, eventually a pattern in your playing will start to emerge.
Thanks Phil. Like you say, the fact that someone plays these tunes hundreds of times and has to come up with a solo each time is something that should not be overlooked.
Well done !
Thanks!
A brilliant video.
All the improvising greats have played certain solos that in their perfection and musicality, give an impression of being pre-constructed, or at least, heavily considered. Clapton, Beck, Kossoff, Barre, Harrison, Blackmore, Lee (Albert), Metheny, Knopfler, Carlton and May would be my best examples. Most of these players probably don’t write or read music in the conventional sense, so how they would have gone about it, is a mystery. A bizarre and unique genius for making spontaneous statements sound timeless, could be the answer. Who knows?
I suppose that’s partly why they are famous.
Some people seem to object to this idea/theory, but I think it’s valid.
Thanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts. It's valuable and interesting to hear what everyone thinks.
Appreciate this video. It made me think and for that Im grateful. EC in this period was to soon stop the ad infinitum improvised soloing framework, and he went out using Gibsons and Marshalls. Him being in his 20s, his masterful techinque and phrase knowledge, and coipled with that gear? Its all EC in the moment.
Such an incredible career with many phases, all of which have influenced, inspired and brought pleasure to millions of us.
The Mayall solos were probably refined by frequent play. The Cream solos are improvised, however what we hear on record was sometimes sampled from more than one performance.
Well done Mark for bringing this question up - its something i'v always thought about for years now . I always had the feeling Eric knew where to play solo's anywhere on the fretboard in any given key. Like all blues guitarist , he would have played around with phrases etc.. i sit around 'noodling ' for ages and its surprising how you play a few notes and bends and think -' that sounds good '! And so you remember all these little phrases you can play. I think this is how Eric plays mostly 'off the cuff' but he knows instictivly where to go on the fretboard during a solo. Don't forget , the band would have rehearsed these songs before hand so Eric would have got his ideas already down for the solo's - its not as if on the night its the first time they'v played the songs. Your playing Mark is bang on as always- must have taken yourself ages to work these solo's out . 👍🎸😎
Thanks Alfie. Judging by the number of comments to this video I think it's something most all players have wondered about. It's interesting reading all the thoughts.
Great Video as always. In reference to Wind's Crossroads comment (great analogy btw), I've heard EC actually say "There is a mistake in that solo." My interpretation of that comment is that he had to have planned some of it out ahead of time. Interestingly EVH also has said that about the recording of Eruption. Further supporting this, somewhere around 1986, I read an interview where EC said he can still play all the solos from the Cream days. Seems it would be hard to nail those note for note if they were fully improvised (not to mention, the self-medication the band was using at the time might make the memory of things a bit blurry). The only band I have ever heard flat-out admit that all solos were pre-written, was Skynyrd.
Thanks for sharing that
Both. Blues is improvisational, like jazz. But, extended solos, played night after night, tend to attach themselves to certain motifs (for blues, not jazz).
For example, you approach a particular song in A thinking: I'm gonna start 5 to 7 with my usual licks, and work it a little. Then I'll slide up 8 to 10 and do some Albert stuff. At some point I'll slide up to BB and play major. Then I can build past the twelfth fret and end an octave up doing faster rock licks.
I use this approach often playing Allman-type solos where I need to build to a climax. I'm still improvising, but I have a loose map or outline I can use to get me where I want to go.
Even on a short solo I have an idea what part of the fretboard I want to work. Sometimes if I'm really feeling it I'll do something completely different. And, there are always some songs where the solo is pretty much the same every time-- because IT WORKS! Hahaha
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it. It's really nteresting hearing all the different ideas on this subject.
Well I learned that solo, solos? note for note with a sony tape recorder that gave me half speed about 40 years ago. It took me ages to figure out all the licks and to be honest I still hear things that I missed back then. Listening to you to you play hereI have to say you play great and right away I picked out things I may have wrong however I also think you might have note or two wrong. I am on your patreon and I love the work you do on Clapton who I think is the greatest guitarist I have ever heard. Yes better than Jimi and EVH. It's not technique which he had has? plenty of but his compositional genius. His style and solos have a fluidity and what is the word? a satisfaction? to them that no other guitarist has. I don't know where or how he lost that thread and I think he did after Cream but when he had that torch from 65 to 70 you couldn't touch him.
Thanks for your comments, @PoppysGuitar. And thanks so much for being on the Patreon page! I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy it there. Yes, I am sure I will have got some parts not quite right, including whereabouts some phrases are played on the neck. And that's so true, Eric from 1965-70 was phenomenal. Cheers, Mark
Thanks for your comment @PoppysGuitar and thanks so much for being on the Patreon page - I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy your time there. I am sure there are notes and phrases that I don't get quite right - including exactly whereabouts on the neck he played certain parts. And that is so true...from 1965 to '70 his playing was phenomenal! Cheers, Mark
Great tone sounds spot on. What pedals, amps do you use ?
Thanks so much. I make the videos in Garageband.
@mybluesguitar thank you. I am terrible with computers, any pedals you can recommend? I have a bluesbreaker amp but can't crank it at gigs
@@rm-pc3544 Gosh, it's a long time since I played anything through a real amp. I think if I were looking for a pedal now I'd probably get a tone-bender. I always used to use an overdrive in those situations, but I would fancy a bit of the Jeff Beck/Jimmy Page Yardbirds fuzz and sustain.
Eric had said that he didn't rehears his solos in his early days with the Blues Breakers and Cream because he wanted them to sound fresh and new every time. I've heard several of his live concerts with the Blues Breakers and The Cream playing the songs he had played before and the solos were different.
Some great playing on those live Bluesbreakers tapes. Stormy Monday, Maudie, etc.
I guess someone could just ask Eric. :) But, I agree with you. The Crossroads solo is one of my favorites and it was absolute perfection in only that one recording. BTW, great job!
Thanks, rosewood. Good idea and I agree with the absolute perfection
I believe the Crossroads solos from Wheels of Fire were worked out to a certain extent. It's especially hard to imagine that the second solo was completely improvised due to it's complexity. As you mentioned, the other Crossroads solos from that tour are quite different. I've also noticed from other Cream live recordings that he seemed to have some stock phrases that he used in several songs during that era. Another great solo that I think he worked out in advance was the White Room solo that's on the official release of the Cream 2005 reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall. It's an incredible solo but I think it was deliberately created for the high profile reunion. Clapton's truly a great player regardless of whether these solos were planned in advance or not!
"Clapton's truly a great player regardless of whether these solos were planned in advance or not!" I agree 110%! Thanks for sharing your thougts.
On the video of him with the fool SG he says he uses stock phrases.
I very much doubt he worked out the White Room solo in 2005 in advance. He's played it multiple times over the years and is so experienced and skilful at improvising a solo over a chord structure like White Room that it's pretty easy for him. Some solos may come out similar in other versions of the same song but I highly doubt he has to practice a solo note for note in a song like that.
I've been asked about improvising all the time and I always say that improvising is really just applying all the things you've practiced over time in a given moment. You may come across a lick while you're just jamming and then later throw it in to a song or jam. So it's like yes I did come across the lick while jamming but then I meant for it to wind up somewhere else. Clapton is my favorite player of all time because no matter what he just "emotes" from his guitar like I don't think I've ever heard anyone else be able to do. I don't care how "stock" the licks might be he just always manages to stick his landing in ways that just emotionally resonate with listener. I always feel like the best solos are ones that you can hear a couple of times and then literally be able to hum them forever. The Allman Brothers solos were like this as well. They're not just "licks" but they're actual MELODIES. THAT is what makes his solos great and ALL solos great that are great to me.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, DTWH. As you say, the great solos are very hummable.
I am of that certain age. I never learnt off the LP - would have worn it out - taped to a cassette and wound back and back until I'd got it. For faster solos - I'd copy it to a Akai 4000DS at 7.5 ips, play back at 3.75 ips and record onto my battered cassette recorder.
It is so easy nowadays using a Tascanm or similar guitar trainer.
Once I did figure out the solo, great but I would sort of forget it - viewing it as a method to improve my technique and pick up phrases which I could try and use soloing.
Thanks for the memory, David. I can certainly relate to that process!
I'm a sixty-five-year-old musician I've been playing all my life grew up in a bar in Bakersfield California. I play lead guitar. Some nights I kind of go with the structure of the song other nights I just improvised totally. I'm sure that's what Clapton did. Especially bring clouded with drugs. I know I have
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it.
I play the 2 solos at gigs and they’re so different than most. I thought that Clapton once mentioned that he got a little lost in the second one and had lost the downbeat. I believe it’s fully improvised with some rehearsal ideas that worked. His best, thanks for posting.
Thanks Jimmy. Eric is an absolute master of timing, so it's odd to hear him say he got lost, isn't it? Cheers, Mark
@@mybluesguitar Mark, yeah you bring up a valid point about his timing. I think the volume and Bruce and Baker doing a little more improvising opposed to laying it down for Eric tends to hide the one at beginning of that second solo. Thanks Jimmy
Love this!!
Clapton was always a "brick layer". He has this huge stockpile of licks he will use as a foundation of the building and then add what ever nuance or expansion to it, that fits his mood at the moment. He can then return "home" to his stockpile, whenever he feels like it or runs out of ideas.
Throughout 1967 you can hear Eric developing his unique 16th note style with the kind of note-passing that made everybody else sound limited. By the time of the Winterland shows that featured on "Wheels of Fire" and the "Live Cream"vols.1&2 he could pull this stuff out at will, and you can hear that on "Sweet Wine", "N.S.U.", "Steppin' Out", and of course "Crossroads". Every version I've heard of these and other songs where he utilised that technique ("I'm So Glad", "Deserted Cities of the Heart") sounds different, but I did read in an interview when somebody asked him if, as you mentioned, he'd approached those shows differently because they were being recorded, he said that they'd played at a less-excessive volume than usual, for the sake of the recording quality. The playing was always improvised but occasionally the approach was different. The "Have You Heard" performance is something else again, he sneaks up behind that awful blasting brass (what was Mayall thinking? Eric was going to be quiet??) and just pushes them out of the way with a "shut-up and listen to this" statement that I've seen described as not just highly emotional but "downright mad". They used to call that kind of playing "testifying", and it's not something you can practice, you just have to do it in the moment. Everybody (including Hendrix) copied something Eric did, but nobody else could put it all together as seamlessly.
Thanks Ian. Am I correct in thinking that the brass was added to Have You Heard as an after-thought? I seem to remember reading that somewhere once.
@@mybluesguitar You might be right, Mayall was always involved in the production on his recordings and by the time of "Crusade" (1967) with Mick Taylor, he'd incorporated a brass section into the band, so it was obviously important to him and people like Dick Heckstall-Smith and Henry Lowther featured heavily on the following "Bare Wires" from '68. Whatever order things were done on "Have You Heard", the way Clapton's guitar sneaks up from the background and then completely takes over is spine-tingling stuff. I think it's just because it's mixed so loud I found that brass irritating, notwithstanding that the great Alan Skidmore and John Surman were credited on the album and I suspect they might have found the mix a little extreme themselves. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Mayall had done that on purpose so that Eric's guitar would have more effect when he turned it up for the solo.
You still have to execute which is all in the touch.
True, Brian. EC is a master of touch.
I'm gonna chime in here and say that I believe those solos were a bit of both. Half pre-determined in advance, and half done completely on the fly. We have to remember that E.C. was the best Blues-Rock player on Earth during the 1960s. When I was a touring Blues-Rock guitarist I played some Cream classics, including Crossroads, and some Gary Moore as well, including Still Got The Blues. I made a fair fist of performing my versions of the masters' versions, convincingly enough to have folks think I was playing them note for note, when in fact I wasn't doing any such thing. I merely played "in the style of" the great men.
My approach to all this was to have planned out, in advance, where on the fingerboard I'd place my fretting hand for each portion of each verse of each solo. That way, I'd stand an even chance of pulling off a convincing imitation of the originals, if I was having a good night. And it must be said that the more I practised and the more gigs I played, the greater the chances became that I *would* have a good night.
After a few years of doing things in the above manner, it became like a neuro-muscular groove into which my fingers naturally fell whenever I played those standards. It was only then that I dared to deviate from the groove and explore different note sequences, with the confidence that I could always return to the familiar groove if things went pear-shaped, as they often did. But then I also eventually became familiar with the newer improvised patterns as well, thus broadening my approach to playing in the styles of Clapton and Moore.
It must be said though, that I was absolutely busting my hump . . pushing the envelope, and frequently falling over in the process, to play at that level at every single gig, whereas Eric and Gary were more than capable of simply phoning it in and still doing things on a level that we pub-Bluesers could only dream about.
So, to wrap this up . . Could not Eric, and of course Gary Moore, have approached their soloing in the same way? If you listen to the many live takes of songs that Cream always jammed out with long improvised solos, for example: N.S.U., I Feel Free, Sweet Wine, etc, you'll sometimes hear a familiar guitar line from another song that Eric threw in, for maybe an experiment on the fly to see it it fitted into a different song or not. Hell, I'm more confused than ever now! LOL
Hey Arthur, thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and talk about your experience. You make some great points. Cheers, Mark
@@mybluesguitar . . AWW My pleasure Mark. I'm a frustrated writer, if that fact hasn't become obvious yet, LOL.
Worked out beforehand, definitely
It is just soooooo superior to any other versions he recorded. Miles apart.
good job playing ECs solos!!
Thanks! Glad you like it.
Mark - what amp/effects (OD or distortion) are you using on this video ? Great sound !!!
Thanks, jaggedstudios. It was recorded in Garageband on a MacBook. For most of my recordings I share screenshots showing the exact settings including any 'pedals' used on my Patreon page, patreon.com/mybluesguitar
Crossroads on Wheels of Fire was not a studio take. It was live from the Filmore.
Yes, it was indeed.
Can some explain the difference with stock phrases and pre- rehearsed solos ?
If you have stock phrases and lots of band playing experience the difference is probably minimal
I'm sure you'll have seen the video of Clapton with his SG sitting in front of a Marshall stack from March 1968? I think it was filmed during the Fillmore/Winterland residency. In it, he talks about his 'stock phrases'. Check it out if you haven't seen it. A pre-rehearsed solo would, I suppose, be one that is about 70% or more worked out note for note, whereas a 'stock phrase' would be like a building block, a short phrase that could be repeated and/or joined with others.
Truly accurate and excellent explanation for Eric's genius playing . What are your thoughts on Robin Trower's playing ? 1975 Winterland Concert and his many albums . Cheers . 🇨🇦✨✨✨✨✨🎸🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅☮️🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼
Thanks Trevor. I'm an admirer of but have never studied Robin Trower. I'm sure there are some who have and who could share their opinions. That would be good.
I’m also of the opposite view, and think that Eric’s solos were pretty much improvised every time he played them. Like you, Mark, I’ve listened to enormous amounts of his playing, from Mayall and Cream and ever since, and I’ve never heard him play the same solo twice. He doesn’t really have stock phrases either, more stock ways of approaching his phrasing, such that every lick is different from every other. I’ve heard no audio evidence either that the famous Crossroads solos ever appeared in whole or part anywhere else. There are some patterns in the recorded version of Hideaway that you can hear in the boot of the earlier BBC sessions, but with many differences. The phrase from Steppin’ Out that you quote, while it is quintessentially Claptonesque, he has never repeated anywhere else, and if you or I had practiced something as good as that we damn sure would! What I do think is that the early live Cream releases were simply chosen from the best performances, which is why the recent Goodbye tour box set is great to hear, but really not as good as Wheels of Fire, Goodbye, Live Cream etc. Interesting analysis though, and thank you!
Thank you, Ted. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts.
I personally think that they were mostly improvised, but heavily reliant on stock phrases that would have formed part of his mental catalogue. Maybe the balance was more weighted towards pre-written for the crossroads solos for the reasons you gave, but to me the playing sounds too fluid and dynamic to be someone just reproducing it all from memory. In my view some of his (presumably mostly improvised) live solos did reach ridiculous levels of virtuosity - I'm immediately thinking of 'Stepping Out' from the Klooks Kleek bootleg. My jaw drops every time I hear that!
I could be wrong though! Be great to get clapton himself to answer the question!
Yes, wouldn't it just! Please chip in if you are reading this, Mr. Clapton!
my opinion, based on many hours of playing his solos, is that he was most likely "mapped out" and improvised around this outline. if they were figured out, he didn't remember them, because he rarely plays a solo the same twice, if ever. different but great every time. thank you!
I remember thinking there was this player I thought was at least as good as Clapton getting nowhere near the recognition he should (and I still think that) so I listened to his playing from an album he played on and compared it to Clapton's on the Beano album. While that other player's solos came out of the gate sounding more amazing than Clapton's, he didn't have the same consistency throughout his solos Clapton had. That's when it hit me that Clapton worked his solos out, then memorized and rehearsed them before performing them. That's when it also hit me, I get it: Clapton is just great. In music, it doesn't matter how you get there as long as you get there; Clapton figured out how to do it and then he did it. And it had to take an incredible amount of work. That other player I still think was at least as good as Clapton was Mike Bloomfield and I am still blown away by his playing on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band debut album and the followup album "East-West".
For a time, Michael Bloomfield was the preeminent blues-rock guitarist in America. He was a prime influence on many guitarists who went on to have successful careers and hit records.
Good thoughts, Richard. Like you say, 'it doesn't matter how you get there'.
I agree about Bloomfield when he was on there was no better blues guitarist ANYWHERE
knowing erics solos..i think,,he plyed that onw solo,,in crossroads,,on the spot!!
I’ve followed Eric’s career since the Beano days and my own opinion is that the solos were improvised. Some of the licks probably were developing during that year’s live performances and everything came together to become the guitar solo nirvana we have in the WOF recording. I base my opinion on the fact that I’ve never heard Eric play two live solos exactly the same, which is an important factor in keeping his music growing and intriguing, imo.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, gtrplayer. I appreciate it.
How Clapton while in cream could improvise night after night using only pentatonic scales is amazing. geez look at the scales Coltrane used in comparison but the other side of the coin it’s definitely easier as it gives you less choices. Playing over cord changes directs where the solos are going. Standard blues licks in conjunction pentatonic blues scales with and “feel” he borrowed from the greats.
He certainly knew how to make the most of that scale!
I think Clapton improvised on the solo. I’m sure there were a lot of times where he couldn’t even hear the other two members standing in front of those Marshall stacks far as I’m concerned one of the best solos ever another great video brother hello from Jeff in Tennessee
Thanks Jeff
You are phenomenal. Spot on Clapton. Maybe they should put your playing in the farewell concert..since they refused to show his actual guitar playing 😂
Such a shame about that. There must also have been some footage from the first (afternoon) show, too. My own favourite footage of Cream is the Revolution Club, but even that shows very little of EC.
I think most guitarists do have stock phrases they end up playing over and over again. It's what goes in between those phrases end up being the parts improvised.
Honestly I think they were mostly improvised. I think there is validity to your idea of general mapping out and practicing certain ideas or techniques, but I don't think he's playing from a "script". I was able to see him in concert many times and once on consecutive nights. His solos on his songs had similar ideas but eneded up very different. Either way, he's the best there ever was in my opinion and I am grateful for the work you put into these videos.
One thing to wonder about is, just how stoned or high the bands where at the time.
'If you remember the '60s, you were not there.' .
What drugs do to a plan, must be considered.
@@christophergallagher531 That is a valid point. Some solos, Spoonful for example, are clearly drug fueled. Question is did the drugs free their playing, or muddle it?
@@TheGr00ve There are reams written about drug induced creativity.
One study, I read, some 40 years ago, drew a correlation between things learned under the influence being reproduced more accurately under the same influence.
I can not really speak empirically, to this notion.
But it makes sence. What ever happens in the synaps is altered by drugs.
It stands to reason that removing that alteration would change things.
The drug could, act as a catolist or simply release inhabition. Who knows?
No question, there where drugs fueling the day.
Thanks all for sharing your thoughts. Much appreciated. Interesting point about the drugs.
Eric the love of my life😊❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I believe a basic theme was thought out and embellished over time but still partly improvised some.
Sounds credible. A theme, a framework, and some improvisation around it all.
I remember reading an interview with Clapton where he said that he didnt understand why everybody thought his crossroads solo was the best, because he made four mistakes in it. I'm not sure what he would call a "mistake", it sounds OK to me...... but to say that he made a mistake suggests that he might have a had it planned out in some way. I don't think it matters very much though - its a brilliant solo.
BTW: I went to see "The Groundhogs" years ago when they were at their peak, they were so brilliant I went to see them again a few days later - Tony McPhee's lead breaks and everything else was identical, one of my mates left saying !"I've heard this before", so some guitarists, at least, plan out every note.
That interesting, Stephen. Thanks
I understand it's difficult to believe the solo could have been off the cuff. It is incredible! Apart from the stock phrases that Eric used back then I believe the solo was improvised. The question I would ask Eric would be was he on any hallucinogenic at the time of the solo. My first experience with LSD made cigarette butts on the school playground look like seashells.😂 they can do marvelous things for your solos. Years ago I improvised over the Eric Johnson song "the battle we have won". I stuck to a simple hexatonic scale. This solo was amazing. I couldn't duplicate it ever again. I found it hard to believe it was me. These things happen. And I do believe that was the case with Eric.
Chick Corea once said that the greatest improvisers improvise about 30% of the time, if that. If you play long enough, you have your licks worked out and you mix them up. Just listen to Santana, for example, and you'll hear his signature licks on just about every solo.
My own take on all this is, if it sounds great, if you like it, then that's all there is to it.
I agree with that - it sounds great...Great! That's an interesting point about signature licks, because there are many licks and tricks in these solos that Eric didn't use before or after this Crossroads recording.
@@mybluesguitar Well, I myself can identify several signature Clapton licks of the period in that solo, but that's not to say he used ONLY signature licks. All guitar players do that, heck, all instrumentalists do that.
@@srinip True!
Interesting video. I guess the only one who can answer these questions is Eric Clapton himself. But then again it's the same as asking if Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker or Django Reinhardt or Charlie Christian worked out their solos first. We have to realize all these people are geniuses, human beings endowed with a special gift, who developed that gift from childhood through fanatical devotion to their instruments, playing 12 hours a day or more for years, playing and recording professionally with the greatest drummers, bassists, keyboard players, singers, and other instrumentalists. Their extreme virtuosity allows them to create solos the rest of us can only marvel at. "Genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration".
Thanks for your thoughts, Joe. I love Charlie Parker. His playing was so fluid and he could do anything he wanted, a complete master of the instrument.
I agree with you, (btw: you do an excellent job of reproducing Eric's crossroads solo) the Wheels of fire solo was mapped out. Then, he let the moment, the concert, seamlessly carry the course he had laid out. He practiced and worked out the movement of his fingers and the phrasing. I can barely play guitar, be that as it may, any solo that I ever did, that went beyond repetitious meandering, was mapped out.
Thanks Rob. Much appreciated
@@mybluesguitar Thank you for letting us see Clapton's solo up close. I learned how to do real "vibrato."
Absolutely brilliant
Thanks my friend
Those were a pure genius on LSD , I think. There is a reason Eric never played the same way again after the 60's.
I don't think they were "pre-written" as much as they were improved upon through repeated takes. You fiddle around, improvising a solo to match what you feel and hear in your head, and once you get that idea, that's the direction you go with.
Since many of the late 60s solos were overdubs, they'd often go through a few takes until the solo was clean and could be played with confidence. That's what they did in Cream, and what other players like George Harrison would do.
The exception of course is live albums, which, unless doctored, are spontanious. None of the live Cream solos were edited or tacked on, at least that I know of. Studio album solos may be better defined as "refined improvisation" if you like.
Written solos seemed to become more of a common thing in the 1970s, and solidified themselves by the 80s. Thanks for the thoughts, cheers 👍
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this question. I'm very interested in how my fellow players hear these things, all the different opinions and theories.
I believe Clapton has worked out most of the basic solos out before hand. Yes there is improvisation too as the same song is not exactly the same each time is played. There are some nights that the song is good but no magic. Another night the band is on fire. The solo start with the basic work out then goes to beast mode. I’ll use Derrick and the Dominoes as an example. There are several live and the studio version of Why does love got to be so sad. Good song. There is a sound board recording on UA-cam from Electric Factory. The band is on fire. Clapton solos are incredible. And those or improvised. There are 2 live versions of let it rain. Both include a drum solo. Jim is spectacular on one version and the other he is hood.
Thanks Eric. I'll have to check out that Electric Factory Dominos recording
Your guess is as good as mine, Mark but I think “Crossroads” was one of those very special nights where Eric transcended the temporal, even for him! I don’t think he would ever write out a solo or plan one much, often having little more than an idea of how he would start and finish.
I think Mark's point is a good one - that it's a bit too much of a coincidence that he happened to be 100% in the zone on the night they had pro recording equipment going. I think Mark's definitely right that he made a special effort to think this through in advance for that evening.
@@thecaveofthedead Mark has certainly studied Eric’s solos more than I could - I should say that, when I said “guess”, it was a figure of speech. I’d just add that several shows were recorded on that tour, no two solos would be the same and I don’t think the fact they were being taped would have been in Clapton’s mind when he was performing - he plays straight from the heart.
@@derekclacton He's a human like anyone. And he would have been keenly aware that the stakes were extra high when the tape recorders were running.
@@thecaveofthedeadEric hasn’t talked about the issue in any interviews I’ve seen, heard or read but I do recall him being asked what he thinks about when he plays a solo - he said he just looks at the EXIT signs.
If he thinks about anything, I suspect it’s the emotions conjured up by the lyrics - 24 Nights (all of which were recorded, of course) “Old Love” being a prime example, imho.
Unless someone asks him directly if his playing is affected by him knowing the gig is being recorded, we might never know but I think he’s a musician who’s focus is on expressing his feelings (and maybe on the EXIT signs).
Thanks both for your thoughts. We have all listened to these solos hundreds of times, so it is fascinating to hear all the different thoughts and opinions.
A big difference between these great artists and the rest of us is that while we're playing guitar, they are playing the song.
Wise words! Thanks.
Im largely unconvinced. I was comparing the takes from yer blues with Eric Clapton to see how he arrived at the final take that has full confidence and sounds put together. What I found is the takes before the final were quite meandering, but then it felt out of nowhere the final had such masterful phrases he wasn’t doing on the last takes, which shows that he can improvise melodic and put together solos, he just needs to be comfortable with the song.
As for crossroads I mean maybe for that occasion I could see him plan his playing out a bit more, but I can’t imagine he’d plan it anywhere close to note for note because I’ve never heard him repeat a note heavy solo twice in the cream era, except for “I feel free” which is relatively simple and easy to remember.
All that said, I don’t doubt EC’s improvising skills, he seems like the kind of musician that hears what he’s gonna play in his head first, then plays it and when you have that ability, your less so improvising, rather you’re writing a meaningful passage in real time
I didn't know there were different takes of Yer Blues available to hear. I'll have to track them down. Thanks
The solo on "Those Were The Days" on Wheels of Fire, is slightly reminiscent of the second "Crossroads" solo. On the other hand, your excellent reproductions of the solos will sound a "little different" because they lack the interplay of Jack Bruce's bass.
Thanks Robert. Interesting observation about TWTD
The Blues is about to set the right move by what happens in the surrounding. That includes not only the company of musicians, but the mood of the audience too. To channel that in this way, makes the great player. Remember Claptons approach to "While my guitar gently weeps", same thing, but now for his friend George, and as "audience", the Beatles.
He had some stock riffs but I think they were in the zone and played off each others intensity. Improvised. He never repeated it.
Certainly on fire in those days, Greg!
I haven't dug through all of the comments here but as a lifetime fan of EC, I think he probably improvised 90-95% of those early solos. Particularly the live stuff. If you listen to different versions, never played a solo the same way twice. He may have composed or "mapped out" certain parts on studio recordings, but I think the vast majority was completely improvised.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Matt. Much appreciated.
a worthy question, I agree that the Beano stuff like stepping out, hideaway, little girl and key to love was pre-planned in rehearsal. Cream stuff, harder to know. Strange Brew for example sounds planned, and an extension of Beano era playing, crossroads less clear.
The Strange Brew solo is more or less a direct lift from Albert King's "Oh Pretty Woman", so it was definitely worked out beforehand. For what it's worth, I think that the studio solos were all more or less rehearsed, and the live stuff was semi improvised, using Clapton's stock phrases. I can start playing the White Room solo, then find myself unconsciously putting in licks from Crossroads, or Sunshine, without even thinking about it. It just sort of happens. I suppose that is what you'd call improvising.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ben, and yes that's very true about Strange Brew, blueswailer!
Ok before I respond I do want to agree with how absolutely incredibly the solos are.Some of the finest ever.. It is hard to believe,,,-But still I totally believe it's Improvising ,Not saying he didn't think about it .Everybody does -and he is using a lot of "Go to ' licks.Plus he most likely had the just the perfect mix of "inspiration" which more than likely put him in just the right place so a groove just flowed that night .He played the song many times before .He played many of the riffs before.And it was him.His style .When it's you and you're being yourself it's not difficult.Plus ,He was well aware how long he had to play each solo .-I don't find it hard to believe that a musician of his caliber in his prime can have a incredible creative night that doesn't have to be written out ahead of time. Seen it all happen before..And Eric did say he was playing on the wrong accent beat like the 1-and it was wrong --which is what he said himself - That ' makes it that much harder for me to think that he would have Pre-worked it out. Just my thoughts..
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your very considered thoughts. It's so interesting to hear al the different opinions. I guess we'll never know the true facts unless the man himself chips in.
@@mybluesguitar Hahaha ! Yeah, That'd be kewl if we could get Eric to chip in here? "Yo Eric ! ! !" " Eric Clapton ! " " We got a question for ya!" .You need to reply here." "Only takes a second" "Now don't be shy",
btw > @mybluesguitar : Your capture of the Cream era Clapton tone ( down to the reverb) is 2nd to none...
Nailed that tone
Thanks doc. All done in Garageband on a Macbook
It's both (JAZZ) the "language" that Eric put together from signature phrases he developed during the Yardbirds and what he was thinking of while he improvised. Fans of Zappa, Hendrix, Santans and others have walked the same fine line. 😎
One thing that the availability of the many "bootleg" live recordings by so many bands - Cream, Hendrix, Allmans, Dead, and so many more - reveal is that the best live versions are the ones that made it on the record. For example, I've heard many live versions of "Elizabeth Reed" (with Duane) and to my ears the best one is the one on the record, and that version actually has Duane's solo spliced in from a different set from that weekend.
That's interesting, Mike. I didn't know that. thanks
Hi Mark 😊 l truly believe that Eric solos were always improvised, sometimes an improviser gets really connected and has a special night 🔥 l think that all of the official live Cream recordings were very well chosen from the material available! Of course Eric had an arsenal of his licks and ideas well and truly down….how was it going to come out on any given night..? ……none of us know.
One final left field statement from me, my two favourite all time guitarists are Eric and Allan Holdsworth. A strange combination you might think, but no l don’t think so, they are/were both uncompromising purists with incredibly elegant styles and a beautiful touch. I say this because despite Allan’s brilliance he always improvised when playing live.
Love the channel!!!
Thanks for your comments, Rob. I love the way you describe EC and AH: "uncompromising purists with incredibly elegant styles and a beautiful touch".
We always need to put this in context . Clapton was under 25 yrs old and learned the guitar by ear .
That says it all .
Amazing guitar player a very close second to Jimi . In my humble opinion
Two great players
The base was pre-defined but in live performance what he was playing was an improv over the base
This is traditional music. Every guitarist have those same licks in their toolbox. Advanced players seek their own sound and the personal way to express those common licks and maybe developing some of their own to drop in solos. Can be very well notice if you listen for individual versions on All Your Love performed by Otis Rush, Eric Clapton and Peter Green.
Yes, it's interesting to listen to the different versions by the other Greats. Thanks for your comment raakaroki.
Well, since experiencing this Vibrant Band, 'Live' in 68' . Have to say ,that they all we're so immensely crafted in playing together , that to this day "have not experienced anything of the calibur of this Band" .Period. Eric, definetely had the abilities to improvise flawlessy at any given moment and in the tunes they played. So, in conclusion He most certainly worked out themes of direction etc. but doubt seriously they we're written out . He was such a vibrant ,clean , artistic player then ,it just seems not to be written ,like so many have thought . Again ,who has heard or seen them ,"LIVE" should know .
Must have been great to see them back in the day, in the moment. Sadly I was just a bit few years too young.
I know what I do, I make stuff up then hone it a bit each time I play the song until it becomes a mostly structured thing with a bit of wiggle room. Can’t play like him but I reckon that’s what most guitar players do.
Clapton was a great improviser. Clapton during Cream was at his finest form. With Ginger and Jack Bruce pushing him to his best. 100% improvised in the moment live on stage. Why on earth would one of the greatest live acts of 67-69 get on stage every night and play a worked out solo? Clapton had excellent blues chops and technique. He got up there and let it rip at every Cream show. He was that good. And just like Hendrix and all the other top players. Jimmy Page as well. It was part of the times. In the studio they would record a few solos and pick the best one. Unless they were playing live which they also did plenty of. No working out solos live, no mapping, didn't repeat himself, he got up and let it rip every night. Just listen
I'm sure that being on stage with Jack and Ginger pushed him to his absolute limits and brought out the genius in him, like you say.
Live totally improvised based on his stock phrasing...but studio different story all based on chords also playing modal mixolydian in I am so glad Dorian in do what you like., which i am sure was kinda worked out. Crossroads second solo came in early but wow...band fell in with him causing all this tension and when he resolves its magic of course he hates it lol
Ha! Yes, he has stated his hate for it very clearly. Thanks for commenting, Rick.
Clapton, from his own writing & interviews, was so heavily into drinking & drugs while in Cream, you have to question his ability to concentrate long enough to construct such long complex solo's...maybe bits & pieces & would stitch together everything when the red light was on? Others like Charlie Parker or a Van Halen have similar stories...severe addictions but a jaw dropping ability to play effortlessly but mostly while in an altered state. Who knows but the recordings & performances can just be stunning.
Cool comment Zoot Sims was a wonderful Tenor sax player but an incredibly hard drinker,someone asked Zoot who was pounded them down between sets how he managed to still play so well while being intoxicated ,Zoot replied because I have an awful lot of practice at it!