Magical Eric

While Listening to Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton


Eric Clapton is one of the greatest and most consistent musician in the world. He was born in England (one of my favorite countries in the world). His productive time in music field is infinity alike. this dude has released so many albums in his lifetime. from 1970 until last year, mr. clapton has constantly given contributions to this world in a form of music. and about acknowledgement? of course he nails it. He earned 17 Grammy. And if that wasn't amazed you, i don't know what will.

How come i ever get the chance of knowing him? how did i get so lucky? well, thanks to my dad, he introduced me to the one and only Eric Clapton when i was just a little girl. i'm sorry if this is getting a little bit personal, but who am i kidding, this is my freakin' blog (lol). Anyway, the first song i ever heard mr. clapton sang and played was Tears in Heaven. This particular song took my attention. because my dad told me that this song was about a son that died and his dad (eric clapton) channelled his despair through song which was entitled 'Tears in Heaven'. i found it very touching and i started loving mr. clapton's works from that time.

i must admit, i don't know much of his songs and of course i don't know all of them. because that's a loadsome of masterpieces to go through and he lived practically before my time but that doesn't deny the fact that he has affected my childhood and my love for music and that's the reason i write an article about him. this is a gratitude for letting me know the taste of a good music. and it was indeed delicious.

The second song from him that i heard was Wonderful Tonight. i may have read an article mentioned the origin of this song like who inspired it. this time was different, my dad wasn't told me anything about the background story of this song. i found it myself. This song is a love song. it's a story of how a man was enchanted by this particular girl that so beautiful that night. see? musicians are sensitive, they're deep. they actually appreciate things that matter to them. they thought about it in long good time and bam! a masterpiece is born. This particular girl, suspected to be Pattie Boyd, and she was married to George Harrison (guitarist of The Beatles) at that time. His affection continued as he created another song about her which i also love so much called 'Layla'. This song was about a man that is madly in love with a woman but he could not marry her. more like an infatuation. man, that is insanely romantic. but in the end he married that girl but got a divorce as well. but my concern wasn't on that part. he created a good song because of this girl and i think a lot of people in the world are thankful for it. we can always get a bright side over things, right?

Those two songs i mentioned above was introduced to me when i was a little girl, as the time went by, i started to looking to another piece from mr. clapton. These are my favorite songs from him,
1. Wonderful Tonight
2. Tears in Heaven
3. Layla
4. Crossroads
5. Let it Rain

i also love his colabration with BB. King like 'key to the highway' and 'Come rain or come shine'

Eric Clapton, magical eric, well at least to me. he holds one of the keys of my growing love for music. and i learned that, even in the worst of times and conditions you can still manage to get a good thing out of it. like songs. and people can enjoy it, they'll be thankful to you and your story would be immortal (in a good way) eventhough it's the story of the death of your child. Thanks for the lesson mr. clapton :)

Eric Clapton

Baby Blues

While Listening to Come Rain or Come Shine by BB. King feat Eric Clapton

I love music. I don’t know when exactly i began loving it, perhaps as long as I can remember. I love almost all of music genres. From Blues to Punk. And I’d like to know more about what I love. That’s why I’m sharing it here. Keep in mind this isn’t some kind of lecture or me being know-it-all, it’s simply just pouring out what I know and hopefully I get criticized or maybe corrected. 

Blues is one of the oldest genre of music there is. It was started in 19^th century and mostly being performed by African-American.When you think of blues, you probably think about misfortune, betrayal, sadness, misery or regrets. Just like Rolling Stones said in one of their songs “as i stand by your flames, i get burned once again, feelin' low down, i'm bluee....”. The term blues in music may have a connection with its original term as a word which is sadness or depressed. 

But listening to the music itself, i usually don't get that sad. i heard Eric Clapton, BB. King, Muddy Waters, Rod Stewart, Robert Johnson etc and the songs that performed by those artists most of the time didn't get me that sad feeling that really identical with the word blues. So, in my conclusion, blues isn't a sad genre. it is a soulful genre. you have to really feel it in order to enjoy it. it's intimate, really. That's why people tend to be so honest, it gets personal and then maybe that 'sad' thing came as a result of an honest thoughts. That is a unique charm i got every time i listen to blues music. i cannot put it in one word, but if i have to it's "eargasm". a nice blues music always gets me there. an ultimate satisfaction. i can listen to other music genre while working, cycling, running or whatever activities i got in between, but blues, man, you cannot cheat on it with your other activities. you have to listen to it without distraction. or maybe you should try to close your eyes to really enjoy it.

I think the most well-known blues song of all time is Mannish boy by Muddy Water. That song, in my opinion is blues signature. and it's so famous too. but not my personal favorite.

Muddy Waters

my personal favorite from this genre are these :

1. Rod Stewart feat Ron Wood - I'd rather go blind

2. Eric Clapton feat BB. King - Key to the highway

3. Pee Wee Crayton - Texas Hop

4. Rolling Stones - I Got the Blues

5. Robert Johnson - Sweet Home Chicago

Those were some kick-ass blues songs if i may say. 

Other not-so-usual stuff from blues is that i can't listen to it all day long. it's heavy somehow. i need to focus to listen in order to get that satisfaction feeling and it's tiring. But once you listen to some good ol' blues, you'll fly,,,,and you'll thank god for inventing such an amazing thing.One instrument that is very familiar in blues family is Saxophone. and Saxophone is my second favorite instrument after guitar.

There is one new band from England that is so amazing and have a blues taste in their music. the band name is The Strypes. I fell in love instantly after hearing two or three of their songs. they made a remake of ol' blues song titled "you can't judge a book by its cover". it was amazing and it made me dig more about them. their song felt like blues had a marriage with rock n roll, and i think that's awesome. Funny thing is, the strypes personal is very young, their age were about 16 and they play an old music. so not mainstream and so skillful because, you know, playing blues need a lot of instrument skill. like i said, it's hard to listen to it, then it is harder to perform it. 

The Strypes

Okay, back to the blues music. maybe the term blues fits. according to lyric, most of blues songs related to sad events to someone's lives, heartbroken, homesick etc. but it's not a mushy kind of music. it's simply just picturing a less-happy part of your life and you can still enjoy it in a form of good music. like a diary, but more elegant. The inventors of blues were slaves, ex-slaves and descendants of slaves back in American. Most of slaves were African-American, maybe that's why blues is best sang by African-American. They sang it in their difficult times as a slave and they still wanted to enjoy some good music, singing songs to pass the time as well as pouring out their heart out to the world. it's deep, like way deep. Music is a sanctuary, it really is then.

Eniwe, the blues grew up in Mississippi Delta just upriver from New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Blues and jazz have always influenced each other, and they still interact in countless ways today. But i don't really dig jazz eventhough its relations with blues is so close.

Today there are many different sahdes of the blues. Forms include :

• Traditional county blues - A general term that describes the rural blues of the Mississippi Delta, the Piedmont and other rura; locales;
• Jump blues - A danceable amalgam of swing and blues and a precursor to R&B. Jump blues was pioneered by Louis Jordan;
• Boogie-woogie - A piano-based blues popularized by Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, and derived from barrelhouse and ragtime;
• Chicago blues -  Delta blues electrified;
• Cool blues - A sophisticated piano-based form that owes much to jazz;
• West coast blues - Popularized mainly by Texas musicians who moved to California. West Coast blues is heavily influenced by the swing beat.

You can't talk about one music genre without really connecting it with other genre. Just like blues. in my opinion -correct me if i'm wrong- blues really have a close relation with jazz, R&B and rock n roll. Cool old stuffs :)