BEATLES, THE 170
BROOKS, GARTH 128
PRESLEY, ELVIS 120
LED ZEPPELIN 111.5
EAGLES 100
JOEL, BILLY 79.5
PINK FLOYD 74.5
STREISAND, BARBRA 71.5
AC/DC 71
JOHN, ELTON 70
JACKSON, MICHAEL 69.5
STRAIT, GEORGE 68.5
AEROSMITH 66.5
ROLLING STONES, THE 66
MADONNA 64
SPRINGSTEEN, BRUCE 64
CAREY, MARIAH 63
METALLICA 59
VAN HALEN 56.5
HOUSTON, WHITNEY 55
U2 51.5
ROGERS, KENNY 51
DION, CELINE 50
FLEETWOOD MAC 48.5
DIAMOND, NEIL 48.5
KENNY G 48
TWAIN, SHANIA 48
JOURNEY 47
ALABAMA 46
GUNS 'N ROSES 43.5
JACKSON, ALAN 43
SANTANA 43
CLAPTON, ERIC 42.5
SEGER, BOB AND THE SILVER BULLET BAND 41
MC ENTIRE, REBA 40.5
PRINCE 39.5
CHICAGO 38.5
SIMON & GARFUNKEL 38.5
FOREIGNER 37.5
2 PAC 37.5
DYLAN, BOB 37
BACKSTREET BOYS 37
STEWART, ROD 37
MC GRAW, TIM 35.5
NELSON, WILLIE 35
DEF LEPPARD 35
BON JOVI 34.5
COLLINS, PHIL 33.5
TAYLOR, JAMES 33
KELLY, R. 33
QUEEN 32.5
DOORS, THE 32.5
DENVER, JOHN 32.5
SPEARS, BRITNEY 32
MATTHEWS, DAVE BAND 32
PEARL JAM 31.5
BOSTON 31
DIXIE CHICKS 30.5
RONSTADT, LINDA 30
PETTY, TOM 29
OSBOURNE, OZZY 28.75
PETTY, TOM & THE HEARTBREAKERS 28.5
'N SYNC 28
LYNYRD SKYNYRD 28
MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER 28
BOLTON, MICHAEL 28
MANILOW, BARRY 27.5
MELLENCAMP, JOHN 27.5
SINATRA, FRANK 27
EMINEM 27
JAY-Z 27
BOYZ II MEN 27
ENYA 26.5
BROOKS & DUNN 26.5
BEE GEES 26
CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL 26
JACKSON, JANET 26
HILL, FAITH 25.5
RUSH 25
NIRVANA 25
ZZ TOP 25
CREED 25
VANDROSS, LUTHER 25
MILLER, STEVE BAND 24.5
CARPENTERS, THE 24.5
KEITH, TOBY 24
GILL, VINCE 24
MOTLEY CRUE 23.5
CARS, THE 23.5
EARTH, WIND & FIRE 23.5
BUFFETT, JIMMY 23
HENDRIX, JIMI 22.5
CHESNEY, KENNY 22.5
GREEN DAY 22.5
SADE 22.5
POLICE, THE 22.5
TLC 22
R.E.O. SPEEDWAGON 22
KID ROCK 22
DOOBIE BROTHERS 22
BEASTIE BOYS 22
RICHIE, LIONEL 22
OUTKAST 22
HEART 21.5
GENESIS 21.5
USHER 21.5
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS 21.5
BEACH BOYS, THE 21.5
MEAT LOAF 21
WHO, THE 21
CASH, JOHNNY 21
NELLY 21
MORISSETTE, ALANIS 20.5
NICKELBACK 20
HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH 20
R.E.M. 20
BRAXTON, TONI 19.5
WILLIAMS, HANK, JR. 19.5
WONDER, STEVIE 19.5
KISS 19
LINKIN PARK 19
SMASHING PUMPKINS 18.75
MC LACHLAN, SARAH 18.5
JEWEL 18.5
MATCHBOX TWENTY 18.5
BROWNE, JACKSON 18.5
STING 18.5
BLIGE, MARY J. 18
TRAVIS, RANDY 18
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG 18
YOUNG, NEIL 17.5
GROBAN, JOSH 17.5
GRATEFUL DEAD 17.5
MONKEES, THE 17.5
DESTINY'S CHILD 17.5
STYX 17.5
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS 17.5
JONES, NORAH 17
RASCAL FLATTS 17
MATHIS, JOHNNY 17
GRANT, AMY 17
NOTORIOUS B.I.G. 17
ADAMS, BRYAN 17
RAITT, BONNIE 17
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK 16.5
KORN 16.5
RIMES, LEANN 16.5
MARLEY, BOB & THE WAILERS 16.5
LIMP BIZKIT 16.5
CONNICK, HARRY, JR. 16
CROW, SHERYL 16
HAMMER 16
STEVENS, CAT 15.5
KANSAS 15.5
JOPLIN, JANIS 15.5
DIRE STRAITS 15.5
BAD COMPANY 15.5
MC CARTNEY, PAUL 15.5
ESTEFAN, GLORIA 15.5
ISLEY BROTHERS 15.5
NO DOUBT 15
KEYS, ALICIA 15
CLINE, PATSY 15
FOGELBERG, DAN 15
BLACK SABBATH 15
MICHAEL, GEORGE 15
INXS 15
POISON 14.5
AGUILERA, CHRISTINA 14.5
MURRAY, ANNE 14.5
KING, CAROLE 14.5
OFFSPRING 14.5
CRANBERRIES, THE 14.5
MONTGOMERY, JOHN MICHAEL 14
NUGENT, TED 14
DMX 14
NEWTON-JOHN, OLIVIA 14
BOCELLI, ANDREA 14
MC BRIDE, MARTINA 14
LENNON, JOHN 14
YES 13.5
TEMPTATIONS, THE 13.5
DANIELS, CHARLIE BAND 13.5
COLE, NATALIE 13.5
SIMON, PAUL 13.5
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE/STARSHIP 13.5
ETHERIDGE, MELISSA 13
CHAPMAN, TRACY 13
SWEAT, KEITH 13
HALL & OATES 13
YEARWOOD, TRISHA 12.5
WHITESNAKE 12.5
BLACK, CLINT 12.5
BENATAR, PAT 12.5
BONE THUGS 'N HARMONY 12.5
L.L. COOL J 12.5
CHER 12.5
SNOOP DOGG 12.5
SMITH, WILL 12
LIVE 12
COUNTING CROWS 12
COLE, NAT KING 12
DURAN DURAN 12
LUDACRIS 12
MIDLER, BETTE 12
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA 12
BAKER, ANITA 12
3 DOORS DOWN 12
LEWIS, HUEY & THE NEWS 12
WEBBER, ANDREW LLOYD 12
TRITT, TRAVIS 12
ALICE IN CHAINS 11.5
50 CENT 11.5
VAUGHAN, S.R. & DOUBLE TROUBLE 11.5
ABDUL, PAULA 11.5
COLDPLAY 11.5
JENNINGS, WAYLON 11.5
HENLEY, DON 11.5
LOPEZ, JENNIFER 11
SPICE GIRLS 11
LOVERBOY 11
YOAKAM, DWIGHT 11
UNDERWOOD, CARRIE 11
JETHRO TULL 11
STEELY DAN 11
YANNI 11
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD 11
WHITE, BARRY 11
MARTIN, RICKY 10.5
DEPECHE MODE 10.5
BUSH 10.5
JUDDS, THE 10.5
NICKS, STEVIE 10.5
BRANDY 10.5
SCORPIONS 10.5
CYRUS, BILLY RAY 10.5
NINE INCH NAILS 10.5
WILLIAMS, ANDY 10.5
HARRISON, GEORGE 10.5
ABBA 10.5
KRAVITZ, LENNY 10.5
LAVIGNE, AVRIL 10.25
Frusciante finally quits... again.
Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has confirmed that he has “quit” the band, writing in a MySpace blog post, “To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction.” The Peppers are reportedly working on their follow-up to 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, and rumors began circulating last week that Frusciante had permanently left RHCP and was replaced by guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who along with Frusciante toured with the band in 2007 and also appeared on Frusciante’s 2009 solo album The Empyrean. Until now, representatives for the RHCPs would not confirm the news of Frusciante’s departure to Rolling Stone. Frusciante clarifies in his MySpace post that he actually left the band over a year ago when they were on indefinite hiatus.
“I really love the band and what we did,” Frusciante writes, adding that there was no drama or anger involved in his decision to leave. “Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.”
Frusciante’s statement ends his second stint with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After appearing on 1989’s Mother’s Milk and 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992. Following RHCP’s brief Dave Navarro era, Frusciante rejoined the band for their three most recent albums: Californication, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium. In September, the band was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; as RS revealed earlier this week, the Peppers will not be a part of the Hall’s class of 2010.
Read Frusciante’s full letter to fans here:
“When I quit the band, over a year ago, we were on an indefinite hiatus. There was no drama or anger involved, and the other guys were very understanding. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways.
To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction. Upon rejoining, and throughout my time in the band, I was very excited about exploring the musical possibilities inherent in a rock band, and doing so with those people in particular. A couple of years ago, I began to feel that same excitement again, but this time it was about making a different kind of music, alone, and being my own engineer.
I really love the band and what we did. I understand and value that my work with them means a lot to many people, but I have to follow my interests. For me, art has never been something done out of a sense of duty. It is something I do because it is really fun, exciting, and interesting. Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.
Sending love and gratitude to you all.”
“I really love the band and what we did,” Frusciante writes, adding that there was no drama or anger involved in his decision to leave. “Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.”
Frusciante’s statement ends his second stint with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After appearing on 1989’s Mother’s Milk and 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Frusciante left the Peppers in 1992. Following RHCP’s brief Dave Navarro era, Frusciante rejoined the band for their three most recent albums: Californication, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium. In September, the band was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; as RS revealed earlier this week, the Peppers will not be a part of the Hall’s class of 2010.
Read Frusciante’s full letter to fans here:
“When I quit the band, over a year ago, we were on an indefinite hiatus. There was no drama or anger involved, and the other guys were very understanding. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways.
To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction. Upon rejoining, and throughout my time in the band, I was very excited about exploring the musical possibilities inherent in a rock band, and doing so with those people in particular. A couple of years ago, I began to feel that same excitement again, but this time it was about making a different kind of music, alone, and being my own engineer.
I really love the band and what we did. I understand and value that my work with them means a lot to many people, but I have to follow my interests. For me, art has never been something done out of a sense of duty. It is something I do because it is really fun, exciting, and interesting. Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.
Sending love and gratitude to you all.”
Jeff Beck and Eric "Slowhand" Clapton
On February 18th Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck took to the stage at Madison Square Garden. The long-running rivalry between these two guitar idols has been legendary. The significance of their sharing a stage has brought full circle a battle that began more than 40 years ago when Beck replaced Clapton as the lead guitarist for The Yardbirds.
The concert at Madison Square Garden, along with an unprecedented joint interview Beck and Clapton gave in the March 4, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, proves that both men have grown beyond the competitiveness that marked their younger days.
They have finally begun to show one another the respect they deserve as two of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock and roll. It's a credit to Clapton that he has been able to overcome his past rigidness and give Beck the credit he has long been due.
There is, once or twice during their Rolling Stone interview, a feeling of cloying, mutual genuflection; an ingratiating, ego-stroking that feels purely saccharine. Even as they poke one another in humorous fashion a few statements stand out. For instance, after being asked, Clapton admits that there are things Beck can play on a guitar that he can't. When Beck is asked if Clapton can do things on a guitar that he can't his response is "no." Both men laugh, but Clapton replies that "it really is true." Beck responds "No, bollocks" and takes his turn to compliment Clapton's playing. No bollocks, indeed.
The one thing woefully missing from this triumphant reunion story is a historical overview of these men, the musically incestuous, and often ugly, relationships between the original members of the British rock explosion and the rift that has now become a part of rock and roll lore.
In the Rolling Stone interview Clapton admits that he was "very disagreeable — intolerant" during the break-up with The Yardbirds. Over the years, mixed reports have accumulated of Clapton's battles with his contemporaries. Couple that with Beck's notoriously violent on-stage temper tantrums, and this reunion would seem unlikely at best. The fact that it happened at all can probably only be attributed to the passage of time and life's lessons hard learned.
Eric Clapton Vs Jeff Beck: The Rivalry Years
In the mid 1960s graffiti proclaiming 'Clapton is God' began springing up all over brick buildings of London. Eric Clapton had recently vacated his position as lead guitarist for The Yardbirds. He let it be known that he had no interest in being in a band that was veering away from hardcore blues into more experimental psychedelic and pop music. Clapton packed his guitar and joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. It was during this time that his phenomenal blues guitar playing began spawning a devoted group of followers. These followers would proclaim his holiness by word of mouth and, most famously, in paint across the dirty facade of London's Underground stations. By the time The Yardbirds' single "For Your Love" hit the charts Clapton was already long gone.
The Yardbirds, looking for a replacement, turned to friend and fellow musician Jimmy Page. Page, who was making a name for himself, and a good income as a studio musician, turned them down but directed them to Jeff Beck. It wouldn't take long for Beck to gain his own acclaim within The Yardbirds. He was a fearless innovator when it came to experimenting with new sounds. As The Yardbirds began to rack up hits, Jeff Beck was racking up fans, including worshipful writers from some of London's most influential music magazines. It was during this time that he developed the fuzz, feedback and distortion that would become his trademark, and his legacy.
It's no surprise that a rivalry would develop between Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. It wasn't only the critical and commercial success that The Yardbirds achieved during Beck's time with the band that drove a wedge between them, these two musicians harbored entirely antipodal views on guitar playing as well. Clapton was always a purist, almost elitist, blues guitarist. The pop/blues/psychedelic musical anomalies that The Yardbirds and others (such as The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request) were creating held no attraction for him. When Jimmy Page decided to join The Yardbirds, taking a backseat by playing bass and rhythm guitar to Beck's lead guitar, the Clapton/Beck rift was firmly set in stone.
The late 1960's marked a turning of the tides. Clapton found his own commercial success and critical acclaim in Cream. His reputation as a first class blues guitarist had grown rapidly within British music circles. Beck and Page, now playing dual lead guitars, had taken The Yardbirds about as far as they could go. Beck would be fired in the middle of a US tour for being a consistent no-show; his perfectionism and explosive temper were reaping havoc on the band and his own health. After his departure, The Yardbirds were unable to recapture their former popularity. Jimmy Page would leave to form Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton would move into one of the darker periods of his career, a period that would lead to great commercial success, but would also put him at odds with friends and fans alike.
After the death of founding member Brian Jones Jeff Beck was approached to join The Rolling Stones. Mick Taylor had initially filled that spot but left complaining of poor treatment by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Beck's post-Yardbirds project, The Jeff Beck Group, originally started with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, although musically successful, was cementing Beck's reputation for being tempermental and difficult to work with. Stewart and Wood would finally jump ship to join The Faces. Ironically, it would be Ronnie Wood who would take the position that Beck had coveted in The Stones.
The Jeff Beck Group would go on to cycle through impressive line-ups featuring some of the best musicians in the UK. This project allowed Beck the freedom to experiment, to surround himself with other creative artists, to grow at his own pace musically. During his career Beck has been credited with creating the sounds that would become psychedelic rock and heavy metal. He has won five Grammy awards.
At the same time that Beck was becoming renowned for musical combat, Eric Clapton was entering a period of personal turbulence that would prove to intensify his reputation as both an incomparable guitarist and a deeply troubled, often self-destructive, man. If there were a grave marker at the end of each of Clapton's musical phases and I could write the epitaph, this period would read Broken on the wheel, I climbed their corpses to reach the Gods.
This period would see Clapton vilified for rumors of his mistreatment of Brian Jones just prior to his death. Even as his place as a world renowned musician was secured, his reputation for erratic behavior was growing. He was facing down the dual demons of heroin and alcohol addiction and the implosion of Cream. When his next effort, Blind Faith, failed to rise above mediocrity, Clapton took off for the U.S. He worked on the studio sessions known as Music From Free Creek, as did Jeff Beck, although they managed to avoid one another during recording.
It was also during this period that Clapton was introduced to Jimi Hendrix. As much as he had been critical of Jeff Beck and Brian Jones' musical experimentation, he embraced Hendrix's reverb and feedback-laced acid rock. The fact that Jimi Hendrix was the only guitarist at the time to usurp Clapton's place as the world's greatest guitarist might also have made Clapton more tolerant towards his musical bastardizations.
Whatever the reason, Hendrix was one of the few musicians with whom Clapton never found fault. It has long been rumored that Clapton even went so far as to buy Hendrix a left-handed guitar for his 28th birthday (An extremely thoughtful gift). Hendrix was known to re-string right-handed guitars and play them upside down. A skill born of necessity during the days when he couldn't afford the more expensive left-handed guitars. It would be a birthday that Hendrix would never celebrate, a gift that he would never receive.
Clapton worked with The Plastic Ono Band on the Live Peace in Toronto album as well as recording his self-named first solo album. He also began spending time with close friend George Harrison as they worked on Harrison's album All Things Must Pass. It was during this time that Clapton developed an intense infatuation with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd. His unrequited passion would lead him to form Derek and the Dominos and release the song "Layla", written to woo her. The song marked a dynamic change in Clapton's musical style. It was raw, fiery and passionate. It was rock and roll.
With the addition of Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band) and his searing guitar work to the Dominos, his growing friendship with Jimi Hendrix and inspiration from his (still unattainable) musical muse, Pattie Boyd-Harrison, Clapton seemed to be overcoming the demons of his past. And then it all came crashing down around him.
The devastating deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, along with public criticism over the discovery that "Layla" was written for Harrison's wife, sent Clapton further into the depths of drug addiction. In a drunken rage he took to the stage in Birmingham England and went on a tirade saying that England was turning into "a black colony" and people should vote for Enoch Powell to "keep Britain white." The media and his fans turned against him. The response from his fellow musicians was the creation of the crusade Rock Against Racism.
His reputation seriously tarnished, he would disappear from the public eye while he fought his heroin addiction and reappear with Pattie Boyd, now divorced from George Harrison, finally by his side. He would release the critically acclaimed album Slowhand featuring "Wonderful Tonight," another song written for Boyd, although it would still be years before she would agree to marry him.
I recall once reading an article after the break up of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall in which Hall was asked about gifts given her by Jagger. Although I do not recall her exact reply it was something along the lines of 'I always knew when Mick cheated. He would return home with a sheepish look and expensive gifts'.
I imagine that it was much the same for Boyd. In 1979, after years of public criticism for dumping Harrison and pressure from Clapton, she finally agreed to marry him. During their marriage Clapton would father two children by women he had affairs with. Ruth, whom he did not acknowledge publicly as his daughter until well after his divorce from Boyd, and Conor, whose death after a fall from his mother's 53rd story New York apartment window at the age of four inspired the song "Tears In Heaven." That song earned Clapton six Grammy Awards. It also marked a change in Clapton's attitude. He has become less rigid and competitive over music and musicianship. Willing to give credit where credit is due. For the most part.
Clapton ranked #4 to Beck's #14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists, published in 2003. The one thing that is consistently said about Clapton's playing is that he plays as if his guitar is merely an extension of his own body. The heights that Clapton has risen to as a musician would be viewed by most as an achievement, but for Clapton it was an obstacle that he needed to overcome. No one can truly appreciate success when they take themselves too seriously. Clapton seems to have found his humor at last.
Jeff Beck's re-emergence into the spotlight is introducing his music, and his unique approach to guitar playing, to a new generation of fans. His determination to dissect every chord and note, to move it, bend it and stretch it until it holds no secrets from him. He knows his instrument intimately. He has explored it like a lover. But it is the precision of his fretwork that still impresses most. His fingers seem to fly in a blur, yet he hits every note distinctly. While fellow guitarists bemoan Beck's lower ranking on the lists of guitar players there really is no one to blame but Beck himself. He has never courted, nor even seemed to care for, commercial popularity.
Eventually Eric Clapton ditched the raw, emotional wailing that has made "Layla" consistently rise to the top of Greatest Songs lists for the more adult contemporary/pop oriented sound that led to heavy radio rotation and record sales, while Jeff Beck continued to work in a different realm entirely, gaining critical praise for his innovative guitar explorations and becoming the sort of guitarist that other guitarists use as a measuring stick. There are few guitarists who can do what Beck does with a guitar. They may be able to emulate him, but the process by which he creates is a secret that lives within him only.
The point where these two artists diverged musically made their 'guitar rivalry' moot. They were no longer competition for one another. They weren't even playing for the same audience any more. But they have now. To sold out audiences in London, New York and Canada.
In a minuscule musical community that offers no more than two degrees of separation between members (that fishbowl known as The British Invasion), Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck have managed to keep their distance from one another for more than forty years. The end of their rivalry leaves a faint ray of hope for future collaborations--and a certain sense of mourning; a nostalgic longing for the good old days of piss and spit, rock and roll rivalries.
The concert at Madison Square Garden, along with an unprecedented joint interview Beck and Clapton gave in the March 4, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, proves that both men have grown beyond the competitiveness that marked their younger days.
They have finally begun to show one another the respect they deserve as two of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock and roll. It's a credit to Clapton that he has been able to overcome his past rigidness and give Beck the credit he has long been due.
There is, once or twice during their Rolling Stone interview, a feeling of cloying, mutual genuflection; an ingratiating, ego-stroking that feels purely saccharine. Even as they poke one another in humorous fashion a few statements stand out. For instance, after being asked, Clapton admits that there are things Beck can play on a guitar that he can't. When Beck is asked if Clapton can do things on a guitar that he can't his response is "no." Both men laugh, but Clapton replies that "it really is true." Beck responds "No, bollocks" and takes his turn to compliment Clapton's playing. No bollocks, indeed.
The one thing woefully missing from this triumphant reunion story is a historical overview of these men, the musically incestuous, and often ugly, relationships between the original members of the British rock explosion and the rift that has now become a part of rock and roll lore.
In the Rolling Stone interview Clapton admits that he was "very disagreeable — intolerant" during the break-up with The Yardbirds. Over the years, mixed reports have accumulated of Clapton's battles with his contemporaries. Couple that with Beck's notoriously violent on-stage temper tantrums, and this reunion would seem unlikely at best. The fact that it happened at all can probably only be attributed to the passage of time and life's lessons hard learned.
Eric Clapton Vs Jeff Beck: The Rivalry Years
In the mid 1960s graffiti proclaiming 'Clapton is God' began springing up all over brick buildings of London. Eric Clapton had recently vacated his position as lead guitarist for The Yardbirds. He let it be known that he had no interest in being in a band that was veering away from hardcore blues into more experimental psychedelic and pop music. Clapton packed his guitar and joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. It was during this time that his phenomenal blues guitar playing began spawning a devoted group of followers. These followers would proclaim his holiness by word of mouth and, most famously, in paint across the dirty facade of London's Underground stations. By the time The Yardbirds' single "For Your Love" hit the charts Clapton was already long gone.
The Yardbirds, looking for a replacement, turned to friend and fellow musician Jimmy Page. Page, who was making a name for himself, and a good income as a studio musician, turned them down but directed them to Jeff Beck. It wouldn't take long for Beck to gain his own acclaim within The Yardbirds. He was a fearless innovator when it came to experimenting with new sounds. As The Yardbirds began to rack up hits, Jeff Beck was racking up fans, including worshipful writers from some of London's most influential music magazines. It was during this time that he developed the fuzz, feedback and distortion that would become his trademark, and his legacy.
It's no surprise that a rivalry would develop between Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. It wasn't only the critical and commercial success that The Yardbirds achieved during Beck's time with the band that drove a wedge between them, these two musicians harbored entirely antipodal views on guitar playing as well. Clapton was always a purist, almost elitist, blues guitarist. The pop/blues/psychedelic musical anomalies that The Yardbirds and others (such as The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request) were creating held no attraction for him. When Jimmy Page decided to join The Yardbirds, taking a backseat by playing bass and rhythm guitar to Beck's lead guitar, the Clapton/Beck rift was firmly set in stone.
The late 1960's marked a turning of the tides. Clapton found his own commercial success and critical acclaim in Cream. His reputation as a first class blues guitarist had grown rapidly within British music circles. Beck and Page, now playing dual lead guitars, had taken The Yardbirds about as far as they could go. Beck would be fired in the middle of a US tour for being a consistent no-show; his perfectionism and explosive temper were reaping havoc on the band and his own health. After his departure, The Yardbirds were unable to recapture their former popularity. Jimmy Page would leave to form Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton would move into one of the darker periods of his career, a period that would lead to great commercial success, but would also put him at odds with friends and fans alike.
After the death of founding member Brian Jones Jeff Beck was approached to join The Rolling Stones. Mick Taylor had initially filled that spot but left complaining of poor treatment by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Beck's post-Yardbirds project, The Jeff Beck Group, originally started with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, although musically successful, was cementing Beck's reputation for being tempermental and difficult to work with. Stewart and Wood would finally jump ship to join The Faces. Ironically, it would be Ronnie Wood who would take the position that Beck had coveted in The Stones.
The Jeff Beck Group would go on to cycle through impressive line-ups featuring some of the best musicians in the UK. This project allowed Beck the freedom to experiment, to surround himself with other creative artists, to grow at his own pace musically. During his career Beck has been credited with creating the sounds that would become psychedelic rock and heavy metal. He has won five Grammy awards.
At the same time that Beck was becoming renowned for musical combat, Eric Clapton was entering a period of personal turbulence that would prove to intensify his reputation as both an incomparable guitarist and a deeply troubled, often self-destructive, man. If there were a grave marker at the end of each of Clapton's musical phases and I could write the epitaph, this period would read Broken on the wheel, I climbed their corpses to reach the Gods.
This period would see Clapton vilified for rumors of his mistreatment of Brian Jones just prior to his death. Even as his place as a world renowned musician was secured, his reputation for erratic behavior was growing. He was facing down the dual demons of heroin and alcohol addiction and the implosion of Cream. When his next effort, Blind Faith, failed to rise above mediocrity, Clapton took off for the U.S. He worked on the studio sessions known as Music From Free Creek, as did Jeff Beck, although they managed to avoid one another during recording.
It was also during this period that Clapton was introduced to Jimi Hendrix. As much as he had been critical of Jeff Beck and Brian Jones' musical experimentation, he embraced Hendrix's reverb and feedback-laced acid rock. The fact that Jimi Hendrix was the only guitarist at the time to usurp Clapton's place as the world's greatest guitarist might also have made Clapton more tolerant towards his musical bastardizations.
Whatever the reason, Hendrix was one of the few musicians with whom Clapton never found fault. It has long been rumored that Clapton even went so far as to buy Hendrix a left-handed guitar for his 28th birthday (An extremely thoughtful gift). Hendrix was known to re-string right-handed guitars and play them upside down. A skill born of necessity during the days when he couldn't afford the more expensive left-handed guitars. It would be a birthday that Hendrix would never celebrate, a gift that he would never receive.
Clapton worked with The Plastic Ono Band on the Live Peace in Toronto album as well as recording his self-named first solo album. He also began spending time with close friend George Harrison as they worked on Harrison's album All Things Must Pass. It was during this time that Clapton developed an intense infatuation with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd. His unrequited passion would lead him to form Derek and the Dominos and release the song "Layla", written to woo her. The song marked a dynamic change in Clapton's musical style. It was raw, fiery and passionate. It was rock and roll.
With the addition of Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band) and his searing guitar work to the Dominos, his growing friendship with Jimi Hendrix and inspiration from his (still unattainable) musical muse, Pattie Boyd-Harrison, Clapton seemed to be overcoming the demons of his past. And then it all came crashing down around him.
The devastating deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman, along with public criticism over the discovery that "Layla" was written for Harrison's wife, sent Clapton further into the depths of drug addiction. In a drunken rage he took to the stage in Birmingham England and went on a tirade saying that England was turning into "a black colony" and people should vote for Enoch Powell to "keep Britain white." The media and his fans turned against him. The response from his fellow musicians was the creation of the crusade Rock Against Racism.
His reputation seriously tarnished, he would disappear from the public eye while he fought his heroin addiction and reappear with Pattie Boyd, now divorced from George Harrison, finally by his side. He would release the critically acclaimed album Slowhand featuring "Wonderful Tonight," another song written for Boyd, although it would still be years before she would agree to marry him.
I recall once reading an article after the break up of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall in which Hall was asked about gifts given her by Jagger. Although I do not recall her exact reply it was something along the lines of 'I always knew when Mick cheated. He would return home with a sheepish look and expensive gifts'.
I imagine that it was much the same for Boyd. In 1979, after years of public criticism for dumping Harrison and pressure from Clapton, she finally agreed to marry him. During their marriage Clapton would father two children by women he had affairs with. Ruth, whom he did not acknowledge publicly as his daughter until well after his divorce from Boyd, and Conor, whose death after a fall from his mother's 53rd story New York apartment window at the age of four inspired the song "Tears In Heaven." That song earned Clapton six Grammy Awards. It also marked a change in Clapton's attitude. He has become less rigid and competitive over music and musicianship. Willing to give credit where credit is due. For the most part.
Clapton ranked #4 to Beck's #14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists, published in 2003. The one thing that is consistently said about Clapton's playing is that he plays as if his guitar is merely an extension of his own body. The heights that Clapton has risen to as a musician would be viewed by most as an achievement, but for Clapton it was an obstacle that he needed to overcome. No one can truly appreciate success when they take themselves too seriously. Clapton seems to have found his humor at last.
Jeff Beck's re-emergence into the spotlight is introducing his music, and his unique approach to guitar playing, to a new generation of fans. His determination to dissect every chord and note, to move it, bend it and stretch it until it holds no secrets from him. He knows his instrument intimately. He has explored it like a lover. But it is the precision of his fretwork that still impresses most. His fingers seem to fly in a blur, yet he hits every note distinctly. While fellow guitarists bemoan Beck's lower ranking on the lists of guitar players there really is no one to blame but Beck himself. He has never courted, nor even seemed to care for, commercial popularity.
Eventually Eric Clapton ditched the raw, emotional wailing that has made "Layla" consistently rise to the top of Greatest Songs lists for the more adult contemporary/pop oriented sound that led to heavy radio rotation and record sales, while Jeff Beck continued to work in a different realm entirely, gaining critical praise for his innovative guitar explorations and becoming the sort of guitarist that other guitarists use as a measuring stick. There are few guitarists who can do what Beck does with a guitar. They may be able to emulate him, but the process by which he creates is a secret that lives within him only.
The point where these two artists diverged musically made their 'guitar rivalry' moot. They were no longer competition for one another. They weren't even playing for the same audience any more. But they have now. To sold out audiences in London, New York and Canada.
In a minuscule musical community that offers no more than two degrees of separation between members (that fishbowl known as The British Invasion), Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck have managed to keep their distance from one another for more than forty years. The end of their rivalry leaves a faint ray of hope for future collaborations--and a certain sense of mourning; a nostalgic longing for the good old days of piss and spit, rock and roll rivalries.
Billy Corgan News
Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan definitely knows how to write a sonic epic.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, his two-disc opus from 1995, remains a modern alternative rock classic—spawning multiple hits and a journey that was definitive for an entire generation. You'll never forget that "Zero" shirt or the "1979" video…Given the breadth, scope and vision of Corgan's work, he might as well be rock 'n' roll's equivalent of Tchaikovsky. There's always a symphonic, orchestral and cinematic thread tying together Corgan's music. Siamese Dream had it, and his most recent studio release Zeitgeist exhibited the same progressive cohesion. However, Corgan's releasing his most epic work to date right now with Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, 44 new songs, released one-at-a-time forming a larger vision. Released via the band's official site for free, the tracks are classic Pumpkins—haunting, hypnotic, heavy at times and simply undeniable. "Widow Wake My Mind" and "A Stitch In Time" show just how diverse Corgan is, while "A Song for a Son" is one of the legend's most poetic and pensive offerings.
The Smashing Pumpkins visionary sat down with ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino for an exclusive interview about how crucial "the song" is for Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, the importance of social networks, what an honor it'd be to work with Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino and why the world can always thankfully just go back to Shakespeare.
Given the engaging, visual nature of the songs, if Teargarden By Kaleidyscope were a movie, what would you compare it to?
I would say if Teargarden were to be a film, it would be best served as directed by the great Russian director Tarkovsky. I wish it was more like Alice in Wonderland, but alas I have not had a life so charmed.
Do these 44-songs tell one complete story?
I don't feel like a single life tells only one story. So in that way my album will tell many different stories about my life.
How important is it for artists to tell stories sonically?
I don't think it is important at all. Many great rock songs are more like perfect snapshots of a moment in time that can never be reclaimed, only visited.
The Teargarden songs have a pronounced poetry lyrically that's very poignant. Where you reading a lot while you were writing?
Usually when I'm writing lots of songs I can't read, which drives me crazy because I love to read. I find these days I am writing a simpler lyric, which I am OK with but I would prefer to be writing more like F. Scott Fitzgerald instead.
Are there any authors or works of literature that are especially inspiring to you?
Shakespeare and Bob Dylan I find are always best when trying to goad oneself into a higher level of written communication.
Did you go into recording Teargarden with all 44 songs completed?
So far I've written something like 50+ songs but I think many of them are good but not great. My guess is many of the good ones won't see the light of day, and I'll just have to write more in the hopes of besting what I have. I would prefer if every song were great from now on.
"A Song for Son," "Widow Make My Mind" and "A Stitch in Time" all standalone wonderfully, but at the same time, they share the same spirit. Would you say that's the case?
I agree with that, and thank you for the compliment. They all, I feel, are born of the same 'wandering bard, folkish' root. I might be a closet hippie.
Do you have a favorite song from these Teargarden sessions? It almost seems like the songs blend the classic distorted psychedelica of Gish with the epic nature of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
There is a song called "Spangled" that I love very much that is sitting in a box waiting to come out. It is not often that the songs I love are the ones others love. but this one might be one of those. It has one of my favorite lines I think I've ever written, something about butterflies not being able to make it in the movies. As far as the mix of distorted psychedelia in the music with the epic quality of say the Mellon Collie album, that is probably true about it re-appearing. It is kind of surprising to me because it is a sound I thought I had lost for good but it seems to have organically re-appeared to support these songs. I love the sound a lot and it is exciting to be in this amusement park of fuzz and blurry colors again.
Your guitar playing and lyrics align so seamlessly. Do you feel like you speak through both at the same time?
I would say with 25 years and counting behind me I communicate best when my guitar playing is well married to my voice and whatever it is I am trying to say. I learned to sing by playing lines on the guitar and so maybe that's where that all comes from?
In some ways, do you feel like you're bridging the gap between the modern and classic methods of releasing an album with Teargarden? You're embracing the online platform of sending out a song at a time, but you've certainly created an intricate whole vision with the entire record.
I think we are back to the old way of connecting with people, which is one song at a time. And maybe it isn't such a bad thing that you are as only as good as your last song. It is exciting to be more in the moment with the songwriting and recording. I'm sure I'll make some funny choices about what should or shouldn't come out, but I want to see if I can reach a level that the old way of releasing didn't seem to afford me.
How crucial are online tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to music? Do you feel like they bring fans closer to the music or make the experience more impersonal?
The social networks, as they are known, are fantastic places to connect the dots between something exciting and how to gain quick access to it. If people are finding friends and, even in some cases, husbands and wives and partners online, then music would naturally be a part of the way that they would share who they are.
Are there any Teargarden iPod or iPad apps in the works?
It has been discussed but someone tried to tell me that it was a mixed bag, that stuff. I am not tech savvy enough to know what is and isn't cool in that world.
How do you stay so prolific? Are you constantly finding new avenues of inspiration?
I believe the source of all creativity comes from the same place that keeps the Sun hot and the Earth spinning. In essence since each moment is unique in our lives there is always something new to discuss.
The visual aesthetic of The Smashing Pumpkins has always been so unique and unforgettable. Do you have ideas for the stage show, album covers and video concepts when you're writing the songs or do the songs dictate that aesthetic once they're complete?
I have tons of ideas but often times I don't have the support or resources around me to help me make them real. I wish I could do all that I dream of.
If you could work with any director on scoring a film, who would you want to collaborate with and why?
I would be honored to work with Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorcese in that capacity because they use music in very important ways in their films. Woody Allen as well.
What's on your playlist right now? Who are you listening to? Also, have you seen any movies that were particularly inspiring as of late?
I mostly listen to Fred Astaire and Vaughn Monroe these days, if any one wants to look them up. As far as movies, I mostly watch movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
What inspired you to come up with the "open audition" online process for the band?
The open process of audition seems to me to be the best way to say that The Smashing Pumpkins as a band is really about creating an opportunity, and trying to find whoever out there might be most drawn to that opportunity. It has more to do with faith and the laws of attraction than music in many ways.
What's next for you?
I am currently writing a long-form story version of the old myth of Medea that will be published in book along side a story by my friend Claire Fercak. Once I finish that, I am writing a spiritual memoir that would be finished next year. Also planning a tour with the Pumpkins, which is exciting.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, his two-disc opus from 1995, remains a modern alternative rock classic—spawning multiple hits and a journey that was definitive for an entire generation. You'll never forget that "Zero" shirt or the "1979" video…Given the breadth, scope and vision of Corgan's work, he might as well be rock 'n' roll's equivalent of Tchaikovsky. There's always a symphonic, orchestral and cinematic thread tying together Corgan's music. Siamese Dream had it, and his most recent studio release Zeitgeist exhibited the same progressive cohesion. However, Corgan's releasing his most epic work to date right now with Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, 44 new songs, released one-at-a-time forming a larger vision. Released via the band's official site for free, the tracks are classic Pumpkins—haunting, hypnotic, heavy at times and simply undeniable. "Widow Wake My Mind" and "A Stitch In Time" show just how diverse Corgan is, while "A Song for a Son" is one of the legend's most poetic and pensive offerings.
The Smashing Pumpkins visionary sat down with ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino for an exclusive interview about how crucial "the song" is for Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, the importance of social networks, what an honor it'd be to work with Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino and why the world can always thankfully just go back to Shakespeare.
Given the engaging, visual nature of the songs, if Teargarden By Kaleidyscope were a movie, what would you compare it to?
I would say if Teargarden were to be a film, it would be best served as directed by the great Russian director Tarkovsky. I wish it was more like Alice in Wonderland, but alas I have not had a life so charmed.
Do these 44-songs tell one complete story?
I don't feel like a single life tells only one story. So in that way my album will tell many different stories about my life.
How important is it for artists to tell stories sonically?
I don't think it is important at all. Many great rock songs are more like perfect snapshots of a moment in time that can never be reclaimed, only visited.
The Teargarden songs have a pronounced poetry lyrically that's very poignant. Where you reading a lot while you were writing?
Usually when I'm writing lots of songs I can't read, which drives me crazy because I love to read. I find these days I am writing a simpler lyric, which I am OK with but I would prefer to be writing more like F. Scott Fitzgerald instead.
Are there any authors or works of literature that are especially inspiring to you?
Shakespeare and Bob Dylan I find are always best when trying to goad oneself into a higher level of written communication.
Did you go into recording Teargarden with all 44 songs completed?
So far I've written something like 50+ songs but I think many of them are good but not great. My guess is many of the good ones won't see the light of day, and I'll just have to write more in the hopes of besting what I have. I would prefer if every song were great from now on.
"A Song for Son," "Widow Make My Mind" and "A Stitch in Time" all standalone wonderfully, but at the same time, they share the same spirit. Would you say that's the case?
I agree with that, and thank you for the compliment. They all, I feel, are born of the same 'wandering bard, folkish' root. I might be a closet hippie.
Do you have a favorite song from these Teargarden sessions? It almost seems like the songs blend the classic distorted psychedelica of Gish with the epic nature of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
There is a song called "Spangled" that I love very much that is sitting in a box waiting to come out. It is not often that the songs I love are the ones others love. but this one might be one of those. It has one of my favorite lines I think I've ever written, something about butterflies not being able to make it in the movies. As far as the mix of distorted psychedelia in the music with the epic quality of say the Mellon Collie album, that is probably true about it re-appearing. It is kind of surprising to me because it is a sound I thought I had lost for good but it seems to have organically re-appeared to support these songs. I love the sound a lot and it is exciting to be in this amusement park of fuzz and blurry colors again.
Your guitar playing and lyrics align so seamlessly. Do you feel like you speak through both at the same time?
I would say with 25 years and counting behind me I communicate best when my guitar playing is well married to my voice and whatever it is I am trying to say. I learned to sing by playing lines on the guitar and so maybe that's where that all comes from?
In some ways, do you feel like you're bridging the gap between the modern and classic methods of releasing an album with Teargarden? You're embracing the online platform of sending out a song at a time, but you've certainly created an intricate whole vision with the entire record.
I think we are back to the old way of connecting with people, which is one song at a time. And maybe it isn't such a bad thing that you are as only as good as your last song. It is exciting to be more in the moment with the songwriting and recording. I'm sure I'll make some funny choices about what should or shouldn't come out, but I want to see if I can reach a level that the old way of releasing didn't seem to afford me.
How crucial are online tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to music? Do you feel like they bring fans closer to the music or make the experience more impersonal?
The social networks, as they are known, are fantastic places to connect the dots between something exciting and how to gain quick access to it. If people are finding friends and, even in some cases, husbands and wives and partners online, then music would naturally be a part of the way that they would share who they are.
Are there any Teargarden iPod or iPad apps in the works?
It has been discussed but someone tried to tell me that it was a mixed bag, that stuff. I am not tech savvy enough to know what is and isn't cool in that world.
How do you stay so prolific? Are you constantly finding new avenues of inspiration?
I believe the source of all creativity comes from the same place that keeps the Sun hot and the Earth spinning. In essence since each moment is unique in our lives there is always something new to discuss.
The visual aesthetic of The Smashing Pumpkins has always been so unique and unforgettable. Do you have ideas for the stage show, album covers and video concepts when you're writing the songs or do the songs dictate that aesthetic once they're complete?
I have tons of ideas but often times I don't have the support or resources around me to help me make them real. I wish I could do all that I dream of.
If you could work with any director on scoring a film, who would you want to collaborate with and why?
I would be honored to work with Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorcese in that capacity because they use music in very important ways in their films. Woody Allen as well.
What's on your playlist right now? Who are you listening to? Also, have you seen any movies that were particularly inspiring as of late?
I mostly listen to Fred Astaire and Vaughn Monroe these days, if any one wants to look them up. As far as movies, I mostly watch movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
What inspired you to come up with the "open audition" online process for the band?
The open process of audition seems to me to be the best way to say that The Smashing Pumpkins as a band is really about creating an opportunity, and trying to find whoever out there might be most drawn to that opportunity. It has more to do with faith and the laws of attraction than music in many ways.
What's next for you?
I am currently writing a long-form story version of the old myth of Medea that will be published in book along side a story by my friend Claire Fercak. Once I finish that, I am writing a spiritual memoir that would be finished next year. Also planning a tour with the Pumpkins, which is exciting.
30 Seconds To Mars
While it seemed that struggles with their record label would lead to the end of 30 Seconds to Mars, the Los Angeles-based rock band made sure that this wouldn't get them down and marched on to record and release 'This Is War' in 2009. Following 2005's 'A Beautiful Lie,' the new album showed fans just how much the band has grown over the years and that they still had something to say.
"It's an accurate depiction of the interests we have at this time in our life," 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto told Spinner when the band stopped by our NYC studio. "It's really what we wanted to say in musical terms, and that's what's great about making music -- you have an opportunity to redefine, rediscover, to reinvent, and we're really excited about the songs."
Taking two years to record the album, the band didn't only just lock themselves up in the Hollywood hills and write songs, but they also invited fans to sing on the album when the band hosted its "Summit" last year. With more than 701,000 MySpace friends and over 79,000 followers on Twitter, the band is more than thankful for the dedicated fanbase they've had over the years.
"I suppose, when you think about the fans, the audience around the world, it's like this amazing dysfunctional family -- just a sense of gratitude and awe, respect, pride, a lot of great people around the world that we've been able to share this journey with," Leto said. "We're very blessed."
The band is currently on their world tour, 'Into the Wild,' which kicked off in the UK in February. However, there's one city in particular that the Leto is very excited about. "It's the biggest tour we've ever done," he said. "We've sold out Wembley arena, and those milestones are really just a lot of fun. It's surreal that we're playing these legendary places."
With three albums under their belt and sold-out shows all over the world, 30 Seconds to Mars aren't doing too shabby. But there's one still on thing they'd like to do. "I would really like to hear Barack Obama on a 30 Seconds to Mars song," Leto says. "He's got the voice. He's got the timbre."
"It's an accurate depiction of the interests we have at this time in our life," 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto told Spinner when the band stopped by our NYC studio. "It's really what we wanted to say in musical terms, and that's what's great about making music -- you have an opportunity to redefine, rediscover, to reinvent, and we're really excited about the songs."
Taking two years to record the album, the band didn't only just lock themselves up in the Hollywood hills and write songs, but they also invited fans to sing on the album when the band hosted its "Summit" last year. With more than 701,000 MySpace friends and over 79,000 followers on Twitter, the band is more than thankful for the dedicated fanbase they've had over the years.
"I suppose, when you think about the fans, the audience around the world, it's like this amazing dysfunctional family -- just a sense of gratitude and awe, respect, pride, a lot of great people around the world that we've been able to share this journey with," Leto said. "We're very blessed."
The band is currently on their world tour, 'Into the Wild,' which kicked off in the UK in February. However, there's one city in particular that the Leto is very excited about. "It's the biggest tour we've ever done," he said. "We've sold out Wembley arena, and those milestones are really just a lot of fun. It's surreal that we're playing these legendary places."
With three albums under their belt and sold-out shows all over the world, 30 Seconds to Mars aren't doing too shabby. But there's one still on thing they'd like to do. "I would really like to hear Barack Obama on a 30 Seconds to Mars song," Leto says. "He's got the voice. He's got the timbre."
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