Music has a way of rendering people full of emotion, and it can be in different ways for different people, and perhaps one of the most emotive guitarists who has ever lived is Eric Clapton.
Perhaps all you need to hear is a handful of notes from ‘Layla’ to render you a complete wobbling mess, or maybe its ‘White Room’ that will have you in raptures for how his playing perfectly mirrors what the violas are doing before going on to launch into bluesy soloing. To put it simply, Clapton has always been a master of making his instrument talk in a way that conveys so much meaning, energy and emotion, and there are plenty of examples from throughout his career that succeed in doing this.
But what is it, exactly, that makes his music so brimming with emotion. This is clearly the very ethos of blues music, and not only was Clapton a huge proponent of the genre from the 1960s onwards, but he was also a true scholar of the genre as well. Having studied the music of the original masters of blues in the the first half of the 20th century, he was able to take many of the elements that made that so emotionally charged and instil it in his own compositions, allowing blues to evolve and arrive at a much more rock-adjacent sound at the height of his career.
However, that doesn’t mean that everything that has always tickled his fancy is blues-oriented, but everything that he was inspired by certainly came from a place of pure emotion. Clapton’s output may have morphed in many different ways over the course of his career, but this is one thing that has always remained true about it.
It’s probably fair to say that music has saved Clapton on many occasions, helping him through the darkest moments of his life where he has struggled with drug addiction and grief, and in these moments, he’s always been able to turn towards music as something which has the ability to heal him. “Listening to music became just as important as being able to play,” Clapton told Rolling Stone during a 2017 interview.
“During all of those periods of my life, I found new or old music that helped me, that got me through even when I wasn’t playing well or I wasn’t playing at all.”Eric Clapton
He went on to explain how certain artists and pieces of music have always had the power to bring emotions to the forefront, mentioning how Maria Callas’ vocals and Tommy McClennan’s blues guitar had the power to do this, before proclaiming that one piece of music hits him directly in his feelings upon every listen.
“I remember coming out of the smack period in the early ‘70s, anything I heard would reduce me to tears, especially if it came from the heart,” he said. “The music from Carousel still does bring me to tears.”
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s work on the musical is perhaps some of the most sublime theatre, with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ being the most famous tearjerker from the soundtrack, and if Clapton is left a blubbering sap after hearing it, we can’t really blame him. It’s powerful and emotive in the purest way, and shedding a tear or two after listening to it feels like the most appropriate reaction.
