Do you think Clapton peaked with Layla?

I think he had a wonderful rise until and including Layla. Seems like after that he was never the same, like the intensity was gone. I'm not saying he didn't have quality work after that or wasn't working hard but maybe he was the best Eric when he was' the group Eric' not the 'solo Eric'.

Do you prefer Eric as the guitarist within the band or Eric as leader of the band?

 

I think you are absolutely right. He plays much better when he is just a member of a band. It seems he needs someone in a band to "push him" or inspire him. Maybe he doesn't want someone to "show him up" so he plays his best.

As you pointed out, when he did Layla he was at his best. He had Duane Allman in the band who gave him that extra push. When Eric played with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon Theater for two nights in 2009, he was great. In this case he had Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes on stage with him which inspired him. A third example is the tour he did with Steve Winwood. Again, he had that inspiration that contributed to him playing better.

 

Didn't we establish he peaked with "White Room"?

 

Of course, he peaked with Layla, but as it is among the greatest rock albums ever made, there was really nowhere else to go in the same vein. To his credit, his 70's solo albums, which sounded painfully laid back and uninspired when released, have aged quite well and sound wonderful today.

 

Still one of only a handful of rockers that can go out at the age of 70 and give a great performance with integrity, the blues really us an older man's music.

 

guitar rock might have peaked with "layla".
seriously even though he never made a better album, i've enjoyed everything between "layla" and "back home".
the last couple have been hard to listen to.

 

cream and winwood shows where awesome though

 

Clapton has made lots of great music-but imo Layla is his greatest album.Also one of the best rock- albums ever made

 

There's an awful lot of Clapton stuff I admire, but there is comparatively little I just flat-out love.

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a record I love pretty much without reservations. If you don't like it, I pretty much don't want to hear about it.

 

He probably peaked with "Layla," but for me his stock went down after "Just One Night."
He's never made it all the way back to "Just One Night." he came close with the
live and the blues cd, just not as good to me.

 

Oh i think he peaked with Layla ''the song'', but album wise i much prefer his S/T debut and ''Slowhand''.

 

I agree that he peaked ith Layla, Starting with 461 Ocea Blvd. he seemed to concentrate more on his singing rather than his guitar playing.

 

It was a superb album but wasn't an Eric Clapton album. Was his playing at its peak? I couldn't really say, not having intensly studied all his work.
My favourite solo albums are "461" and "Unplugged".

 

Right after Layla was recorded, Clapton embarked on a three-year heroin addiction. I agree that he never had the same intensity afterward, some of the effects of heroin are irreversible.

I agree. I saw Clapton twice in Chicago in recent years. In 2004, he was accompanied by Doyle Bramall II on guitar, a competent guitarist, but nothing special in my opinion. Clapton was "phoning it in", just going through the motions, and he put on a lackluster show.

In 2006, Derek Trucks was in the band, and Clapton was on fire. He and Trucks fed off of each other, and Clapton sounded better than he had in years.

 

Not peaked as I think his work in Cream was equally as strong, but Layla and Derek and the Dominos were the last truly great/epic thing he ever did. If he never made a single record after the Layla album, he'd still be as revered as he is now. Conversely, if his entire career was only what he'd done post-Layla, I don't think the same would hold true.

 

Without a doubt. Never cared for his solo stuff. Thought he became lame. I did still respect his legacy and went to see him in 76 and it was a boring,uninspired show. I remember the Charlie Daniels Band opened.

 

My answer to your thread question: no. In fact, he has gone on to do far superior vocals and songwriting in his "solo" years. He coaxed George Harrison back onto the stage and supported him in 1992. He was musical director for the outstanding Harrison tribute concert at Royal Albert Hall. As mentioned above, he did sterling jobs with Cream (e.g. Spoonful) and Winwood (e.g. Double Trouble) reunion shows. Then there are the great Crossroads guitar festivals. Clapton has done much valid work musically subsequent to Layla. Peaked? Not really sure what that means. I think there was much to be heard from and done by Clapton in the last 40+ years. Plus, he strikes me as a pretty good guy.

 

Maybe so with Layla, but I think he still has one of the most interesting and accomplished resumes in all of rock guitar history. I truly enjoyed seeing him tip his hat to all the blues inspiration he received when I saw his Nothing But the Blues concert tour. Very respectful on his part. And the variety of playing styles and racks upon racks of guitars was most satisfying. It took me back to school.

 

I do not know but the solo sounds like he did.

 

I never liked Layla.

I dont think the guy ever peaked really. Far as I'm concerned, his playing is still fantastic.

 

I really like Just One Night, Slowhand, 461 Ocean Boulevard and Unplugged, but for me too the Layla album was the high spot, and remains one of the greatest ever rock albums. Shame about the recording quality though...

 

I think he peaked with Disraeli Gears, but maintained that plateau through Layla.

I am agreed that it was his last great moment.

 

Yes. Although I'm always championing the later day albums of legacy acts as honest and accurate reflections of the aging artist, after Layla, Clapton becomes somewhat the tenured professor of rock; idyllic for a while, a few flashes and reminders of his initial brilliance at times but growing more and more complacent with each passing year and album thereafter.

With Layla, he's wild and in the moment. With everything afterwards, he's entirely too mindful in caring for his elbow patched, herringbone jacket. I think we'd all like to see him **** an undergrad every now and then.

 

The answer is yes. I don't think it was necessarily the heroin that did him in, but the hardcore alcoholism in the subsequent decade. Patti Boyd's book paints a devastating picture of him during those years. I for one will never forgive him for Wonderful Tonight, which I've had to sit through at every show I saw, though a few other songs from that album rate very highly in my book.