https://www.avclub.com/still-not-tired-of-all-this-eric-clapton-continues-pro-1847097548 Clapton’s 25-minute interview is a map of his radicalization. Like many people who fell down the Qanon rabbit hole, old “Slowhand” details being disillusioned with the government during Brexit and turning to, you guessed it, YouTube. He discovered lockdown skeptics promoting “focused protection,” a widely criticized theory that would mean lockdowns for the most vulnerable and free and open spread for everyone else. As the pandemic continued, Clapton found himself frequenting COVID-skeptic channels on the encrypted chat app Telegram, where he found a community more welcoming to his distorted worldview and, in turn, alienated him from friends and family. It’s a tale as old as time (or, at least, the last five years or so). “I would try to reach out to fellow musicians and sometimes I just don’t hear from them anymore,” Clapton said. “My phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t get that many texts and emails any more. It’s quite noticeable.” For his part, Clapton, once again, tells of his vaccination story, which he says left him bedridden for two weeks. Exacerbated by his pre-existing medical conditions, such as emphysema and nerve damage, the Astra-Zeneca (AZ) vaccine, he says, gave him many of the well-reported symptoms like chills, fever, and aches. Nevertheless, the experience he outlines was undoubtedly a little more intense than others:
Hes always been a sketchy human being and Trump-level narcissist. See Pattie Boyd and George Harrison.
I had no idea he was a raging racist. It seems thier was a lot that stuff going on. Harrison and Boyd had married in 1966 but as the years went on they grew apart from each other rather than growing together. Their split would finally come in 1974 and their divorce would be finalised by 1977. The result of the divorce was largely down to George’s frequent infidelities, Boyd once stating that his affair with Ringo Starr’s then-wife Maureen was the final straw which ended their marriage. The guitarist would then go on to remarry to Olivia Arias in 1978 who he would spend the rest of his life with. Ringo would subsequently be granted a divorce in 1975 which, he later admitted, was mainly because of extramarital activities on his part rather than Maureen’s affair with Harrison.
most overrated guitar player of all time. i will never understand how he always ends up in the top 5 of greatest guitar players. i always read that george was the one who initially proposed "swapping" wives so hes the one who opened that door. the fact that clapton married his best friends wife is one of the less sketchy aspects of his life. his racism and anti-immigrant beliefs have been well documented for decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Against_Racism Originally conceived as a one-off concert with a message against racism, Rock Against Racism was founded in 1976 by Red Saunders, Roger Huddle, Jo Wreford, Pete Bruno and others. According to Huddle, "it remained just an idea until August 1976", when Eric Clapton made a declaration of support for former Conservative minister Enoch Powell (known for his anti-immigration Rivers of Blood speech) at a concert in Birmingham.[2] Clapton told the crowd that England had "become overcrowded" and that they should vote for Powell to stop Britain from becoming "a black colony". He also told the audience that Britain should "get the foreigners out, get the wogs out, get the coons out", and then he repeatedly shouted the National Front slogan "Keep Britain White".[3][4] Saunders, Wreford and Bruno, who were members of the agit-prop theatre group, Kartoon Klowns, together with Huddle, responded by writing a letter to NME expressing their opposition to Clapton's remarks. They claimed these were all the more disgusting because he had his first hit with a cover of Bob Marley's 'I Shot the Sheriff': "Come on Eric... Own up. Half your music is black... Who shot the Sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!" At the end of the letter, they called for people to help form a movement called Rock Against Racism, and they received hundreds of eager replies from fans who recognised the hypocrisy and wanted to proclaim the black roots of the music they loved.[2]
Clapton's connection to the Beatles is a big part of his being overrated. Just see Clapton's "While my Guitar Gently Weeps": vs. Prince's solo from the 2004 Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction (Unrehearsed). And just for good measure: Guess who I think is better.....
1) He is not overrated as a guitarist. 2) He is right on lockdowns. I have changed my mind on lockdowns. I see governments going in a totalitarian direction. Civil liberties die inch by inch.
Damn... I knew about Clapton and QAnon, Harrison's wife but I hadn't heard about this. Anyway I still think he's a great guitarist with some very classic riffs but you can be great artist and not a great human being.
Last night I was talking to some friends about the response various governments have had toward's COVID-19. While in the US we are celebrating now how our COVID-19 numbers have dropped to about 15,000 a day, a low we haven't seen in more than a year. In my state of Minnesota we had 113 new cases yesterday. Meanwhile Singapore is panicking as they are seeing a rise of new cases with 16 new cases yesterday. For comparison Singapore and Minnesota are about 5 million people but Minnesota is 300 times the area of Singapore. Total COVID-19 cases in Minnesota are: 604,409 Deaths: 7,629 Singapore total cases: 62,403 Deaths: 34 The US has done a piss poor job on controlling the disease with restrictions and lockdowns. MN has been one of the better states. Singapore is a controlled society with restrictions unlike the US even before COVID-19. The numbers though show that lockdowns work.
If all you care about is keeping rates of infection low, then everyone should just lock themselves up in their basements forever. Civil liberties die inch by inch. Life is not all about keeping incidence rates down. There needs to be an exit strategy from endless lockdowns.
That strategy is called vaccinations. Nobody wants lockdown. I haven't seen how they infringe on civil rights.
These aren't binary nor absolutist choices. Life is also about life. If hospital systems are overwhelmed and people are dying from a preventable disease that's not a free society either. Freedom and liberty aren't do what you like whenever you feel like it. Civil liberties can only exist when there is a social structure and legal structure that can guarantee it.
are we not in the exit strategy phase now? im fully vaccinated and havent worn a mask anywhere in weeks. i played a show with my band for time in over a year last week. nobody has ever advocated for endless lockdowns and it was never the plan to impose them. i love how the guy who thinks clapton belongs in the top five greatest guitarists list also thinks wearing a mask during a pandemic is a violation of his civil liberties...sounds about right!
The narration by Ray Liotta was on par with the score. It's amazing how some made guys couldn't even fathom the type of power and control Jimmy Burke had as an associate. Remember Burke also setup college ball gambling schemes.
Say what you want about his politics, but Eric Clapton isn't a top 5 rock guitar player? That's the most insane thing I've ever read in the D&D.
Clapton has had clearly racist rants going back decades. Nothing new here. Hasn’t stopped him from getting signature guitars from Fender among other guitar brands that have paid him long after he’s created Jack. Apparently “Cancel Culture” has been asleep at the wheel on Clapton or he’s gotten a pass for some reason. Honestly though… in the music world the guy is pretty irrelevant. He’s mostly a Fender/GC salesperson at this point. Look at who contributed to McCartneys last record. Look at who has lined up to collab with Clapton in like… forever. He’s a guy who people buying their first Squire at GC think is a good guitar player cause he has a poster on the wall there at GC. That’s kinda of his role in music at this point.
