Crossover appeal can mean a number of different things when it comes to music. It can stem from the style of music that is played to the race of the fans, black and the white, red and the brown, the purple and yellow. In this blog I will be discussing how the actually style or genre of the music that is played by an artist can open up more fans to the artist. Clapton is probably one of the most well respected guitarists of our era, if not ever. He is able to play everything from blues, to rock, to country and does it all so effortlessly.
The original fans of Eric Clapton will remember that he was originally the guitarist for the group the Yardbirds. This single group started the careers of guitar greats Jimmy Page (future guitarist of Led Zeppelin) and Jeff Beck. This was a very early version of rock and roll, mostly based on blues riffs that took over Europe and trickled over to America. A popular song that you may know from this group would be “For Your Love.” This was a big hit for the group that got the name out there.
Then came the Cream years, with a little more blues, which was Clapton’s idea as he left the Yardbirds due to the creative differences. Some of the songs that became hits for the group were “Crossroads,” “I Feel Free,” and “The White Room.” I have yet to meet anyone that listens to music that has not heard at least one of these songs, even if he or she cannot name the song, the song is familiar. Something to keep in mind however is the fact that “Crossroads” is not a Cream original, it is actually a re-imagining based of the song “Crossroad Blues” by Robert Johnson, first recorded in the late 1930s. So far, Clapton has acquired fans based on the Pop section of music with the Yardbirds, and the immense Blues fan base from Cream, but there is still a whole other section of his musical career.
This brings us to the solo department of Clapton. This time brought us hits like “Layla” and the “country-inspired” song of “Lay down Sally.” This time, Clapton had hung up Blackie (his favorite Fender Stratocaster electric guitar) for a bit of time, and start strumming on the acoustic. This single step allowed him to write songs with more feeling, and a more intimate approach that connects the writer and the listener with a lack of cables and amplifiers; it is just the singer, the guitar, and the listener. This may be the style that most people today know of Clapton without really looking into his musical career, which would be a grand mistake.
With all the different styles of music that Mr. Clapton has played throughout his life, he has been able to rally fans of blues, popular music, country, and good ole acoustic genres. But the thing to remember is that Clapton did not simply move on from one style to the other, he continued writing and playing songs in all the genres, and this is what has given him the crossover power of drawing a fan base from all walks of life with all types of musical preferences.
It was easy for me to immediately see which blog to respond to this week since you wrote about my idol, Eric Clapton. You are absolutely right when you describe Clapton as being able to play every type of music effortlessly. I had the opportunity to see him in concert several years ago and it was the most memorable concert of my life. There was even a guest appearance by the great J.J. Cale, whom he had recently collaborated with on an album. Clapton is truly, in every sense of the word, an artist. It had been a lifelong dream of mine and on my bucket list, to see him in concert, so I took my son, who was all of 16 at the time. We both had a blast and he still thinks “Clapton is god”. The summary of Clapton’s career in your blog was excellent and definitely pointed out some of his best work. The music he has created, the artists he has collaborated with, his life struggles, including overcoming his own heavy drug and alcohol addictions, and his work to create a drug rehab and addictions treatment center, aptly named “Crossroads” all make him a musical icon in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of crossover appeal is very powerful, and should never be underestimated. I understand that it involves a great deal of skill and talent to be able to provide such prowess, but it does not go without notification. In our text of Music & Culture, I can recall that one of the authors mentioned had claimed that music acts as a unifying power. This can only be seen in a stronger sense through crossover appeal, because it can draw the attention of more than one particular group of people who favor one genre over the other. By having a common interest in an artist, networking occurs and it goes about bringing people together, more so than artists who delve extremely deep into their genre. Society requires both to coexist, and there is no disadvantage to this, but artists with the ability to maintain crossover appeal simply hold a greater ability to unite people into a better network between each other. It makes you wonder though, is it more talent than hard work? Can one attain such strong appeal to the people through mostly talent or mostly hardwork?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this piece. I do agree that Clapton is one of the all time greats as a guitar player. He has had a major hit with ever band he has been apart of including his solo career. Many guys go off on there own to show they can make it without the other band mates and it usually just doesn’t pan out. Not because they lack talent but the magic that it takes to make a great hit usually goes beyond just one artist. But in this instance with Clapton he has done amazing things with every band he has been in. Seem like it’s just hit after hit with him. The beginning with the yard birds set the tone as they were a great band and had many great artist but after Clapton left he started playing more blues songs that really showed how versatile he really was. The guy could flat out play everything like you mentioned and make it sound like a master piece. Layla was a great song because it took a good rock beat and intertwined a classical feel with a piano and it really was something different.
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