Erci Clapton (Cream Era) Style Analysis

Why I Suck... Series 2, Episode 9 - God Revisited! Cream Era Eric Clapton

 Get your strawberries, because here come the Cream....

I'll get my coat.

When we last investigated Eric Clapton, it was focusing on his playing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers on the iconic “Beano” album – now it's time to wind the clock forward and look at the next instalment of his career alongside bassist and singer Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, in the ill-fated supergroup Cream.

Cream formed when Clapton left John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for good in 1966 and met Bruce and Baker as the two were playing with the Graham Bond Organisation and were becoming progressively more frustrated and jaded with the band, Ginger Baker had decided to strike out on his own, and sought out Clapton – now something of a blues superstar. Bruce and Baker had – well, a checkered past, put it that way – but Clapton had been very impressed by Jack Bruce when he had briefly stood in with the Bluesbreakers on bass, and while Clapton agreed to join the new band Ginger Baker was setting up it was on condition that they brought in Jack Bruce as bassist and vocalist. The three were well known for their proficiency and Cream is widely regarded as the first “supergroup” - but ultimately the tensions between Bruce and Baker would cause them to split in November 1968.

They did keep busy, however – recording Fresh Cream (1966), Disraeli Gears (1967), Wheels of Fire (1968) and Goodbye (recorded in 1968 but released 1969). Indeed, one of their standout tracks - “Politician” - was allegedly written while in a waiting room at the BBC while waiting to perform live, so they clearly weren't ones to waste time. They even impressed Hendrix, who – on learning of their demise – stopped playing Hey Joe live on air for the BBC and dropped into a cover of their most famous song, “Sunshine Of Your Love”. Unfortunately the tensions between Bruce and Baker were never resolved, even at a reunion gig in 2006, and both men sadly died still carrying their enmity – Bruce in 2014, Baker in 2019.

However, sad as the eventual story of Cream proved to be, that's not why we're here – so on to the licks!

We begin with a fairly standard “tension and release” lick, based on the Magic Three Note concept in G minor pentatonic, taken from the cover of Albert King's blues standard “Born Under A Bad Sign”. Clapton begins with a brief walk up to the root note, played by bending the F (b7, 18^th fret on the B string) up to the root and holding it with some vibrato, before concluding it with a run down to the root again an octave lower on the 17^th fret D string.

The next excerpt is taken from the famous “Crossroads” solo, and Clapton is using A minor pentatonic, but notice his use of major 3^rd (C#, 6^th fret on the G string) – this run up serves as a kind of “launch pad” for his flurry of legato. Take note of the double stop in the second bar, where Clapton hammers G into G# before finishing on the E note (7^th fret A string), outlining the change to the V chord (E, in this key).So while we tend to think of EC as strictly pentatonic, in fact he's often more aware of chord tones.

Staying with the iconic “Crossroads” solo, this next lick is taken from the end solo where Clapton is up at the 17^th fret and and just burning, pedal absolutely to the metal. Notice the triplet phrasing (and the Magic Three Notes – see, even the big boys use them!) building the tension before releasing with a held bend up to the root note on the 20^th fret B and running down the scale.

Finally we take a look at the solo from one of the most famous Cream songs, “Sunshine Of Your Love”, based in D minor pentatonic. Notice the double stops in the opening bar, and the nifty position shifts in the second, moving into the 2^nd position minor pentatonic connected by slides.

It's also worth noting that at this point Clapton was very much into his “Woman Tone” era, using the famed psychedelic Gibson SG generally with the tone controls rolled right down, and generally with the bridge pickup selected. This can be quite tricky to get used to, akin to trying to run through mud or water, but it's an interesting effect to try.

See you next month as we revisit Jimi Hendrix with an examination of his “Are You Experienced” solos – stay safe out there and see you over on YouTube for the demonstration video!

Jimmy Page Style File

Why I Suck... Series 2, Episode 8 - Jimmy Page

 Whoops, just looking back at my plan it seems I got Jimmy Page & Cream-era Clapton round the wrong way.. ooops. Still, never mind, I'm sure you gentle readers out there (both of you) will forgive me..

There's a fair amount of controversy regarding some element's of Jimmy's life – largely centred around drug use, occultism and so forth – but seeing as Hello! Magazine has probably got that all covered, we're going to focus on the interesting stuff – the playing, and also the production tricks, as Jimmy was very skilled in getting the most out of the equipment of the day.

First, a brief potted history. Born January 9 1944 in London, Page moved to Epsom in Surrey aged 8, entering the legendary “Surrey Delta” that also included Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. When the family moved to their second house in the area, on Miles Road, Jimmy (now 12) discovered an old Spanish guitar, possibly left there by a previous owner, and inspired by Elvis Presley – in particular the song “Baby Let's Play House” began to play in earnest, devoting as much as six or seven hours to practice. His tastes expanded to include the skiffle craze (proto-rock & roll for British kids with no money to buy expensive instruments, essentially) that swept the UK in the early-mid '50s as well as the Chicago blues of players like Freddie & B.B. King – but interestingly, he always kept an affection for traditional folk music, something that would come to the fore frequently in his later years with Led Zeppelin.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't include this famous clip of a VERY young Jimmy Page's first television appearance:

His teenage years followed largely the same blueprint as most British guitar heroes of the time – art college (where he met and befriended Jeff Beck) and although he never joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, he did spend time as a member of the Yardbirds, which seems to have served as something of a finishing school for guitar heroes during this time, Clapton and Jeff Beck both having been members. However, while still a student, a young Jimmy was busy taking every gig he could get and was spotted by singer Neil Christian and asked to join his band, The Crusaders. Now 15 years old and having left school with 4 O levels with the intent of pursuing a career in music, this seemed like the perfect break but unfortunately an attack of glandular fever put paid to that- and if you've ever suffered from that yourself, you'll understand why.

Page kept playing through his recovery, and was spotted by John Gibb of the Columbia Gramophone Company who asked him to come and play on a few recording sessions with The Who and this break set him on the road to becoming an early unsung guitar hero of the 1960s along with Big Jim Sullivan (who I think deserves his own entry one of these days...) as he fast became the favoured session guitarist of legendary producer Shel Talmy, who was responsible for producing albums by The Kinks and The Who. Page played on a wealth of recordings by them and various other artists (including, incongruously enough, “Downtown” by Petula Clark) – in 1965 he was hired as a producer by Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham for their newly formed label Intermediate Records, and would have likely continued down this career path had it not been for the increasing influence of Stax Records on the popular music scene, which meant the phasing out of guitars in favour of brass and string arrangements.

Growing dissatisfied with this, Page reached out to the Yardbirds, who as early as 1964 had been in touch with him as a potential replacement for Eric Clapton. Now with Jeff Beck playing lead guitar, bass player Paul Samwell-Smith quit the group and Jimmy took up his slot. It didn't take long before rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja took over the bass slot and allowed Jimmy to play dual lead with Jeff Beck – understandable enough, I think I'd have done the same thing in his shoes...

Jimmy recorded the album Little Games with the Yardbirds and although it wasn't particularly successful the group had tour dates booked to promote it. However, singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim Mcarty both quit the band, leaving Page with the contractual problem of having a tour booked and no band! So, reaching back to an idea he'd had in 1966 whilst recording the single “Beck's Bolero” with Keith Moon, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins, he decided to put together a new group building on the heavier and more experimental aspects of The Yardbirds... fellow session player John Paul Jones was duly recruited to cover bass and any keyboard duties, and the Birmingham duo of Robert Plant and John Bonham took on vocals and drums respectively and The New Yardbirds was born. Over the course of the tour the name was changed to reflect a joke Keith Moon had made during the “Beck's Bolero” recordings, that a supergroup made up of them all would “go down like a lead balloon” - the group took on the moniker “Lead Zeppelin”, changed by their manager Peter Grant (in order to avoid mispronunciation) to “Led Zeppelin”.

And that is where our history lesson ends – let's get stuck in to some licks!

This first is the iconic opening to “Stairway To Heaven” - at first glance this might seem like a pretty stock “bend and widdle” tension and release idea using A minor pentatonic, but check out the last note – F. Jimmy moves outside the minor pentatonic to target the root note as the chord sequence moves Am- G – F. So simple, but so effective.

Moving on, the next example comes from one of my all-time favourite solos, “Since I've Been Loving You” from Led Zeppelin III – this is based on a 12 bar blues sequence in C minor, and was recorded as something of a middle finger to the music press that had lambasted Led Zeppelin for being all bombast and no depth, this song is a masterclass in dynamics and music as cinema. Using the C natural minor scale, Jimmy plays this line over the IV chord (Fm) which plays heavily on the D and Ab notes, 2^nd and b6th but which over the Fm sound as 6^th and b3rd, giving something of a jazzy Dorian vibe.

I couldn't do a piece on Jimmy Page without looking at some of the fast repeating licks which dazzled me as a beginner delving in to the world beyond Oasis and Nirvana, and to that end, here is the beginning of Communication Breakdown from Led Zeppelin I, played on the recording with a wah wah pressed down into full treble position. You can see how Jimmy uses the “Magic 3 Notes” plus the 12^th fret E creating a fast cycling blistering effect that hits you like a freight train straight out of the blocks.

Last up, this is from “Good Times, Bad Times” (again on Led Zeppelin I) – another E minor pentatonic blitz that had my beginner's jaw dropping. Initially I though this was going to be a simple E minor pentatonic sequenced in threes, but listening more intently and slowing it down I discovered that it's a little more involved than that, as he makes clever use of the C# on the 11^th fret D string “sweetening” the sound slightly and giving it a Dorian/ Mixolydian vibe that's subtly different from just the minor pentatonic. Take this one, practice each beat individually before putting it all together and take note of the overall sequenced in threes pattern.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this deep dive into these classic solos, it's surprising just how much of an influence it's had on my playing – even though I hadn't really listened to any Zeppelin for a while, straight away it took me back to my early days and being able to pull apart and transcribe these Holy Grail solos has been an absolute blast!

Next month we're revisiting God himself, in his 2^nd incarnation – get ready for some Cream!

Jeff Beck Style File

Why I Suck... Series 2, Episode 7 - Jeff Beck

 “Jeff's great, man. He's God's own guitar player”.

Thus spake Toto guitar legend Steve Lukather in an interview for Guitarist magaine way back when. And frankly, he's got a point – I remember getting the goosebumps when I first heard “Cause We've Ended As Lovers”, and being completely obsessed with the track, performing my own – probably hamfisted – version as my first performance piece at music college. Those eerie, poignant intro bends, the languid melody, the sheer disregard for anything resembling scale shapes, just chasing the melody down wherever it might lead you on the fretboard... I was hooked.

Of the Big Three of 60's British blues greats – Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton – it's Jeff Beck that has had arguably the most checkered of careers.Whilst EC is still going strong, if somewhat erratically, and Page has had his years of world domination with Led Zeppelin and it's various offshoots and descendants, Beck has always been something of an outsider, never quite reaching the levels of the other two. To be fair, he's not exactly languishing in obscurity, having twice been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, earned eight Grammy awards and sessioned with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner and Bon Jovi – but while everyone has heard of Clapton, and everyone knows about Zeppelin, Beck has never made it to the mainstream in quite the same way, remaining the guitarist's guitar hero.

My initial exposure to him was actually through this:

Yep, Lenny Henry, singing the blues! Check out the intro solo though – THAT got my attention.

So, before we dive in to some licks from this quirkiest and most distinctive guitarist, a little history. Born June 24 1944 in Surrey – the same “Surrey Delta” which produced Clapton and Page at around the same time – Beck's career followed a similar path, falling in love with the sound of an electric guitar after hearing Les Paul playing How High The Moon on the radio aged 6 and building various instruments of his own to try and replicate what he saw and heard. It's important to note that during his childhood and much of the 1950s, the UK was in tatters with wide ranging poverty and rationing still continuing for several years post-war. These were emphatically NOT the “boom times” that the USA was enjoying during the same period, the UK was a grey, miserable, poverty stricken place trying to recover from the enormous damage and cost of fighting WW2. An electric guitar, in these times, was as far out of the reach of most regular families as a Ferrari is now. So it's worth remembering that while we might scoff at the idea of white kids from Surrey having anything in common with the black musicians of the Mississippi Delta or Chicago, at that time both were coming from a place of deprivation, poverty and desperation.

As with many musicians, Beck went on to art college – specifically, Wimbledon Art College where he met Jimmy Page. During this time he was playing with many local covers bands and got a first taste of session work in 1964. In 1965 he went on to replace Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds – the group had turned away from the traditional blues that Clapton was interested in and started to become more pop-orientated with the release of “For Your Love”. The group had originally wanted Jimmy Page but at that time he was busy with session work so suggested his old mate from Wimbledon Art College, Jeff Beck.

His time with the Yardbirds was short – 20 months – but intense, including the recording of the instrumental “Beck's Bolero” which featured Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar and John Paul Jones on bass as well as The Who's Keith Moon on drums, and Page would join the Yardbirds initially on bass but subsequently as second lead guitarist, and the two featured in the 1966 film “Blow Up”. However, Jeff Beck at this point proved himself no easy person to work with – tales abound of relentless perfectionism, explosive outbursts and flat out not showing up to gigs which unsurprisingly led to him being fired from the band in 1967.

From here began the first tentative steps at a solo career – first as a session guitarist for the infamous pop producer Mickie Most, ironically producing probably his most successful foray into mainstream pop music – Hi Ho Silver Lining. Yes, that's Jeff Beck playing the solo. And no, I won't be tabbing it out here.

The next big step in his career was the formation of the Jeff Beck Group, featuring Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins (who had taken part in the Beck's Bolero recording) on piano and Aynsley Dunbar on drums. Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood would later go on to form The Faces before going their separate ways, Ronnie joining The Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart... well, you all know who Rod Stewart is. 

They released two albums “Truth” (1968) and “Beck-O-La” (1969), the former containing a cover of Willie Dixon's “You Shook Me” strikingly similar in arrangement to the version that would appear later on Led Zeppelin I. However, everything came to a halt in December of 1969 near Maidstone when Beck was involved in a terrible car accident and fractured his skull.

Moving into 1970, having rehabilitated and returned to health, with the help of Mickie Most, Beck set about forming a new Jeff Beck Group. He flew to the US and recorded several tracks at Motown Studio A with the help of various US session musicians and they toured briefly as “The Jeff Beck Group” but this new incarnation had a very different sound from it's previous one, much more towards a funk vibe. Beck recruited bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice and the band morphed into “Beck, Bogert & Appice” as a power trio – this lineup recorded a proto-heavy metal cover of Stevie Wonder's “Superstition”. However, they never really broke through commercially and dissolved in 1974, which is where we get to his first true solo album, “Blow By Blow” in 1975 which is where I took most of my examples from. This had much more of an exploratitive jaz-rock feel, as did it's follow up, “Wired”, released in 1976.

We'll leave the history there and start an exploration of Jeff's style from around this period.

This first example is from Freeway Jam in G (G Mixolydian to be exact) and illustrates his quirky and explorative approach to the minor pentatonic. Note the howling and aggressive harmony bend that starts it, the heavy use of quarter tone bends going between minor and major third, the chromatic passing tones (6, b6 and b2) finishing with an unusual bend on the b7 (F) into the root on the low E string.

The next examples are taken from “You Know What I Mean” on Blow By Blow, which at least starts in B minor but is pretty wide open harmonically. Beck uses a series of major and minor 6^th intervals, relatively common in blues and country music before morphing into what is more or less an F dominant 7 arpeggio, with the 6^th and minor 3^rd involved as passing notes.

The next example is broadly based in G minor pentatonic and with a variety of chromatic notes used to spice it up. 2^nd, major 3^rd, 6^th. There's some seriously complex stuff going on here so take it slow, watch for repetitive patterns. Jeff had his foot well and truly to the floor for this one.

This last is the conclusion to the previous line , and notice anything? Amidst all the blazing repetition and howling harmony bends, can you spot our old friends, the Magic Three Notes? That's right, even the big boys use them too! One final touch, Beck resolves to the root note, but an octave lower than where the rest of the lick takes place – those wider intervals represent another quirk of his playing that marks him out.

It's been a thoroughly enjoyable journey investigating this leftfield take on the conventional blues rock licks, and I've no doubt I'll be revisiting this iconic guitarist again sooner or later... there'll be a YouTube video demonstrating these licks along shortly so make sure you're subscribed! Meantime , stay safe out there and tune in next month for Led Zeppelin's own riffmaster, Jimmy Page!

Play The Blues Like BB King! A Style Analysis