Battle of the Guitar Gods, round 2: Eric Clapton VS Yngwie Malmsteen

[wilky61]

Originally Posted by StuntmanMike

Allman gets credit for the signature riff, but they both trade guitar licks throughout. From wikipedia:

Clapton originally wrote "Layla" as a ballad, with lyrics describing his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, but the song became a "rocker" when Allman reportedly helped to compose the song's signature riff.[9] With the band assembled and Dowd producing, "Layla" was recorded in its original form. The recording consisted of six guitar tracks: a rhythm track by Clapton, three tracks of harmonies played by Clapton against the main riff, a track of slide guitar by Allman, and one track with both Allman and Clapton playing duplicate solos.[9][11]

Shortly afterward, Clapton returned to the studio, where he heard Gordon playing a piano piece he had composed separately. Clapton, impressed by the piece, convinced Gordon to allow it to be used as part of the song.[7] "Layla's" second movement was recorded roughly a week after the first, with Gordon playing his piano part, Clapton playing acoustic guitar and slide guitar, and Allman playing electric and bottleneck slide guitar.[9][11] After Dowd spliced the two movements together,[9] "Layla" was complete.

Just listening to the first two tracks on this album right now, it sounds to me like Duane really dominates and that Clapton plays in more of a rhythm guitar role.

If the two of them were pitted against one another in a poll I'd have to take Duane. The man's tone is just unbeatable.

Surely a man of your background has heard the Taj Mahal slide guitar albums that inspired Duane, yeah?

[StuntmanMike]

Originally Posted by wilky61

Just listening to the first two tracks on this album right now, it sounds to me like Duane really dominates and that Clapton plays in more of a rhythm guitar role.

If the two of them were pitted against one another in a poll I'd have to take Duane. The man's tone is just unbeatable.

Surely a man of your background has heard the Taj Mahal slide guitar albums that inspired Duane, yeah?

I don't know if dominates is the right word when Clapton plays guitar on 5 of the 6 recorded guitar tracks and Allman plays on 2 of the 6. Plus, they play duplicate solos on one of them. It is truly a collaborative effort to my ears, but Duane had the signature opening riff.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

I'm giving in to Clapton just on the strength of the writing.

If we were talking ONLY guitar technique and ability, this would (obviously and immediately) go to Yngwie. But, I'm considering both artists' history and back catalogue, which Clapton wins (also obviously and immediately).

But, to be honest, I've never understood folks' adoration of Clapton, though I've been an accomplished guitarist myself for 35+ years. He's always been adequate, and a pretty decent songwriter, but he's never been a favorite, nor has his style influenced me much. There are other bluesmen I find much more tasty (SRV and [early] Angus Young immediately spring to mind).

Oh, and, Yngwie? Well....I like a couple songs by him, and can certainly understand the accolades that thrust upon him, but he bores me after less than 10 minutes, really.

I once met Yngwie (at a Dallas guitar show), and the first thing I did was check to see if he had hairy palms...because he sure does jerk off* alot. -LOL-


*referring to Yngwie's constant self-indulgent-masturbatory guitar soloing.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by Boris Lugosi

I'm giving in to Clapton just on the strength of the writing.

If we were talking ONLY guitar technique and ability, this would (obviously and immediately) go to Yngwie. But, I'm considering both artists' history and back catalogue, which Clapton wins (also obviously and immediately).

But, to be honest, I've never understood folks' adoration of Clapton, though I've been an accomplished guitarist myself for 35+ years. He's always been adequate, and a pretty decent songwriter, but he's never been a favorite, nor has his style influenced me much. There are other bluesmen I find much more tasty (SRV and [early] Angus Young immediately spring to mind).

Oh, and, Yngwie? Well....I like a couple songs by him, and can certainly understand the accolades that thrust upon him, but he bores me after less than 10 minutes, really.

I once met Yngwie (at a Dallas guitar show), and the first thing I did was check to see if he had hairy palms...because he sure does jerk off* alot. -LOL-


*referring to Yngwie's constant self-indulgent-masturbatory guitar soloing.

Beautiful post! I think part of being a soloist is you have to love to listen to yourself.

I like Clapton and Malmsteen almost equally. That should be a pretty good indication of how varying my musical taste is. Anyone who can play their instruments the way those two can definitely get the nod. I've always loved Clapton's style; it's bluesy (obviously), but has that early pseudo-metal tinge to it. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what it is, but there's just something about it that is classic.

For Malmsteen, he is obviously a technical virtuoso. Even though he is getting his due credit here, I think he is (unfortunately) automatically associated with the "hair band" movement of the 1980s, as well as the standard shredder from that same era, and therefore sometimes discredited for his work. He's above and beyond most of your standard hair band shredders, though. He, Satriani, Vai, Eric Johnson, and such are guys who always get this tag, but they are not just whammy bar, wire-bending, speed-only guys. This style of guitar playing is definitely an acquired taste, at least I would think anyway. Malmsteen can really bring it, and he also sometimes includes classical styles in his soloing, which is something I can tend to like, although it is not a requirement for me when it comes to who/what I like. That reminds me, was Eric Johnson ever in this bracket?

I still haven't voted on this poll, and I don't know how I'm going to cast yet.

[Almadacr]

Originally Posted by Boris Lugosi

*referring to Yngwie's constant self-indulgent-masturbatory guitar soloing.

Well said it , but in is genre he still puts down everything , on the G3 DVD he toke the advantage on the final jam playing Voodoo child , by the way one of the best DVD`s out there

[SDon1969]

I'll have to go with Slowhand on this one, I was never into Malmsteen all that much.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by Almadacr

Well said it , but in is genre he still puts down everything , on the G3 DVD he toke the advantage on the final jam playing Voodoo child , by the way one of the best DVD`s out there

I have the G3 album (CD) from 1996 I believe. That one didn't have Malmsteen, but it's an awesome CD. That's one of the coolest albums I have in my collection, and definitely my best live album (although honestly I don't have a lot of live albums; most of my live stuff is individual tracks acquired by other means [iTunes, etc.]).

[Almadacr]

The 1996/1997 tour was the G3: Live in Concert with Satriani , Vai and Eric Johnson , But i prefer the 2003 live in Denver , Steve playing is custom three-neck Ibanez JEM .