Both great, both incredibly skillful.

Neither is a personal fave for 'continual' listening.

No, Muddy Waters

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I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk...

And Freddie King, there seem to be a lot of people who has been Eric's biggest influence....

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It's a mix between Jazz and Funk, it's called "Junk"

When Clapton first saw Hendrix, he was seen leaving the theater looking ashen saying he needed to go and practice. hendrix hands down, one of the greatest ever, Period. Eric wishes he could be Jimi...

Heres hendrix from early 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qMGJ56XjoE&feature=related

Am i the only person that thinks it sounds horrible. Guitars clunky, out of tune and a all round lack lustre performance. During the time when hendrix wanted to get away from onstage clown antics.


Clapton on the other hand even at times of personal self doubt has never to my knowledge put on a unproffesional performance. Bar the bonnie and delaney stuff this is about his worst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGHFbPOCn8&feature=related

Even when drunk he can command an instrument with absolute authority.

BTW when are we going to see a EC tele witha strat neck?

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No no and no

Hendrix got way too wasted at times. The hordes of rabid religious followers though will descend on anyone who dares to criticize anything. Hendrix was a fine player, but his legend has far surpassed anything to do with the man himself. Every acid soaked ramble, and drunken mistake is heralded as exciting and vital experimentation, not a mistuned drunken fumble. He had great tunes, and even moments of astonishing musicianship, but he wasn't without his fair share of off nights, bad ideas that didn't pan out, and a couple flat out bad songs.

i think there is a bit of that with Clapton too, though. Claptons best work was almost always a collaborative effort, but only he receives any accolades. Case in point is the "Derek and the Dominoes" album. it is in many ways his seminal recording. Arguably his biggest hit, and somewhat defining song 'Layla' is on it. yet really would that album(and/or song,) have been even close to as good without the absolutely stunning slide work by Duane Allman?
yet outside of hardcore guitar circles no one even knows Duane was on the album. So I feel in many ways that although Clapton is a phenomenal talent, at least part of (and a large part in my personal opinion,) of his reputation was built on the backs of other players, who don't get their due.

In many ways , the overinflated reputations of both these artists (and others, I'm sure) obscures their true musical contributions. I don't know how many times I have heard "jimi (or Eric) was/is the greatest guitarist of all time" form someone willing to fight over it, who owns maybe one album, and is only familiar with 1 or 2 songs. the music no longer stands on its own merit, but its esteem is there in large part because enough DJ's have said so.

Before people jump on me as a hater, i would point out, that i have literally several hundred(figuring my Vinyl all the way through my CD's to my MP3 purchases, that hundreds is a conservative estimate, easily spent into 4 digits,) dollars worth of material from their catalogues. I have played several songs by either in bands in the past, and I thoroughly enjoy listening to the music of both men. That said I think there is no objectivity left when discussing what they have done.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Here we go again.........

It's all subjective and opinionated and there's nothing wrong with that. In my opinion Hendrix is the most spectacular ELECTRIC guitarist ever. He wrote some great songs, did some producing and sang appropriatlely. Duane Allman is the overall best guitarist - he played superb acoustic, electric and slide guitar. He sang let's say, not up to his talent on the guitar and he wrote & produced little. Getting back to Clapton, I would match Rory Gallagher anyday up against him. Along with Allman, they rank as the top 2 guitarists who could do it all. Gallagher's acoustic playing is far more varied than Clapton and there is absolutely nothing Clapton has played on slide that can match Gallaghers. I do love Clapton's early & middle electric work - until he got soft and fuzzy ( Lay Down Sally, Wonderful Tonight, etc. ). There is a place for some romantic and gentile playing, but I think the man went overboard. Gallagher also played harmonica, mandolin, saxophone, sitar AND wrote, sang and produced the bulk of his almost 30 year career. I don't know of another TOP guitarist who could do ALL of that.

Some fine points have been made about clapton and Jimi and the addition of duane allman who was on par with both and his body of work is way too short, though he did play on a lot of great tunes as a session player. I was a young turk when Jimi made his splash onto the scene. No one could do what he was doing, no one. Do you realize he heard St. Peppers once and then played it at a club in front of the Beatles and they were amazed at his performance. As much as Eric was one of the better blues players, there was also Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck also on the British scene at the time and George Harrison, was quietly on par with all of them. The reason Hendrix is so revered, is that he was that good, sloppy performances and all. He was heads and tails above anyone at the time. They all knew it too. No one was doing what he was, he was breaking new ground with each and every riff. It's a shame that drugs have played a part of the lives of most musicians at the time. Its a shame Hendrix lived to such an extreme. You also have to understand that he was a black artist who burst onto the largest stage of a white world, that may explain some of his reasons for living to the extreme. It was an extreme time in the worlds history and Hendrix tried to grasp it all.

Clapton Clapton Clapton


Because he has done so much more the jimmi

Yeah....sure....you do know Hendrix died in 1970 ???

Pfff. Paul McCartney died in 1966 and that didn't let that interfere with a long and fruitful career!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Clapton is not God, nor is Hendrix but Hendrix over Clapton anytime.

My thoughts exactly, both superb but so different.

Sorry... forgot about that

I'm a big fan of both but there are others just as good - Duane Allman, Robert Cray, Santana, SRV, etc.

Most people seem to agree that they are number 1 and number 2 but argue about which is best. I'm not sure I'd pick either as number 1.