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Musician Clapton: Criticism for slave comparison
Photo: Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images
When the relatively unknown American blues musician Robert Cray played in London's Mean Fiddler in 1986, Eric Clapton - by then a world star - surprised him by joining Cray on stage and jamming with him.
Since then, the two musicians have had a close relationship, and Cray went on a world tour several times in the opening act for Clapton.
But in the corona pandemic, the relationship between the two has been severely disrupted.
So much so that Robert Cray declined to perform in front of Eric Clapton again.
The 68-year-old reported this to the Washington Post, which in a large article pursued the question: "What happened to Eric Clapton?" - What became of Eric Clapton?
Eric Clapton, solo and as a musician by bands such as Cream, Derek and the Dominos and the Yardbirds, celebrated as a virtuoso and style-defining blues and rock guitarist, released a song called “Stand and Deliver” in December 2020, composed and written by Van Morrison , who at this time had already attracted sharp criticism of the restrictions on his appearance due to the Corona measures.
In the text of “Stand and Deliver” it says, among other things, “Do you wanna be a free man / Or do you wanna be a slave? / Do you wanna wear these chains / Until you're lying in the grave? ”Cray, who grew up as a black man in Georgia, which was still segregated at the time, angry that the needs of fighting pandemics were compared with those of slavery. An email exchange with Clapton did not provide a satisfactory explanation, says Cray of the Washington Post.
In addition, the relationship between the two musicians was strained by the fact that Eric Clapton had himself photographed with the state governor Greg Abbott during a performance in Austin, Texas in September of this year. Especially since Cray reminded the pose of a photo taken together with the blues hero BB King, who were admired by both of them, in 2013: »What's wrong with this picture? Why are you doing this? ”Cray wondered.
The Texas governor Abbott is a hardliner of the US Republicans, in particular his restrictive abortion legislation made him a symbol of the right.
Greg Abbott had suspended all regulations in his state to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for certain occupational groups.
He was thus on a political line with Eric Clapton, who had announced in the summer that he would not perform if the audience asked for proof of vaccination.
Clapton himself had been vaccinated, but then suffered from side effects according to his own statements.
After the second dose, his hands and feet would have alternated between feeling frozen, numb, or burning for two weeks.
"I just don't have anyone to play with"
The Washington Post spoke to numerous companions of the 76-year-old musician for the article. Some express understanding for his attitude, others describe him as a particularly unsuspecting person. In connection with Clapton's recent remarks, however, some observers recalled his racist outbreak in 1976 when he called from the stage in Birmingham to keep Britain white. Clapton apologized for this in the documentary "Life in 12 Bars" in 2017 and justified the failure with his serious alcohol problems at the time.
In the Washington Post article, bassist Nathan East, who has played with Clapton since 1985, suggests treating the Birmingham incident like a prank in a sports competition: “You can't just measure a person by the very best they've ever done did, but not the worst either. "
East goes on to say that more recently, Clapton's wife and manager advised him not to speak on political issues.
The bass player was also involved in the recordings for an acoustic live album, which will be released this Friday under the title "The Lady in the Balcony - Lockdown Sessions".
Clapton then wanted to release a version of his anti-lockdown song "Stand and Deliver" - the album's producer, Russ Titelman, wanted to intervene but didn't have to because Clapton's record company talked him out of the plan.
The musician Richard Feldman, who was in contact with Clapton via Zoom during the lockdown period, compared the 17-time Grammy winner with a pouting 17-year-old: "I just don't have anyone to play with," Feldman quoted Clapton in the newspaper article.
In any case, Robert Cray no longer wants to be available as a teammate in the future.
Clapton has changed a lot over the years, he has lost his sense of humor, Cray told the Washington Post.
He no longer wants to be in touch with someone who has become so extreme and selfish.
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