If I am correct, Eric Clapton said this one time:

"When people die, they're made for life."

I ponder sometimes if he, in fact, was right.

Think about it: if Clapton died, would he then become a guitar God? Would Hendrix be so popular if he hadn't died young? Janis Joplin? Brian Jones?

Maybe it's wrong. Discuss...


-The Screamin' J

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2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

Well, I would submit that Clapton has achieved guitar god status even while living.

However, there is something to be said for an artist dying in his prime and leaving people to wonder what more he might have done. In addition to the artists you've already mentioned, think of Buddy Holly, Duane Allman, Jim Croce, and actors like James Dean. Contrast these with artists who have hung around to the point where they become parodies of themselves. Little Richard and Madonna immediately come to mind, but I'm sure there are plenty others.

I was actually thinking about this when Michael Jackson died a couple weeks ago. I almost wish he had died after releasing Bad, when he was still known more for his music than for all the weirdness and controversy that followed.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

To quote some graffiti put up in a tunnel "CLAPTON IS GOD"

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Current Gear:
1968 Kay Strat
Kramer Focus 111S
Johnson 15w amp
Squier Black and Chrone Special Tele

+1

I was thinking the same thing, especially for Hendrix.

Hendrix: Absolutely. If you extrapolate his career assuming he did not die, based on what he accomplished in his few short years, then likely he'd be even more popular and guitar-god-like. There is really no reason to think otherwise. People are still trying to figure him out.

Brian Jones: His big place in history -- in my humble opinion -- is more the band he played in, than his musicianship. If he was in the Turtles instead, I'd bet he'd be little more than a one-line footnote. I hope that does not upset any body...

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I definately agree with you about both musicians 01GT eibach. Hendrix did so much in the short time he was with us, if he was still alive or lived 20 years longer, he would have had even more great music. I mean after he died they released many albums full of good songs he had recorded in the studio. The song Dolly Dagger being one of them I believe. Brian Jones on the other hand, he was a good musician, dont get me wrong but I think he was more of a fashion statement than a great musician.

I'm sorry, but Clapton already has achieved guitar god status.

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I tried to think of something clever to put here but- OH! Something shiny!!!

Dying young and at the top of your game = immortality status. It raises your level and people always remember you young. John and Paul were always cosidered dead even in talent John being harder edged and probably a better wordsmith Paul being more melodic and probably the better musician. But after Johns death he was elavated to a higher standing than Paul which sometimes borders on the ridicules. Now I would think the same thing would have happened if the roles were reversed and Paul would be elevated. James Dean Starred in 3 films 2 of them being released after his death and his star still shines as bright as ever. Buddy Holly and Richie Valens the same.Kurt Cobain is on a plateau that without him dying young would have slipped. I think he was a excellent writer as a guitarist he was fair at best but as the grunge movement died I believe Nirvana would have banged out some clunks and I think they would be right where Pearl Jam are today but because of his death we never got to see him fail and so he will always be remembered young and at the top of his game.Every great artist I dont care who it is if they have a long career are going to have failures and hit a wall sometimes that does not happen when you die young.

Read Clapton's book. It answers all the questions.

It isn't death, but something similar happened to Shoeless Joe Jackson - he was banned from baseball during his prime, and there was never a chance for him to decline. It kept his averages up, and he has the third highest batting average to this day, 90 years after he was banned.

I half-agree with the statement of "...if Brian Jones were in the Turtles, he would have been a one-line footnote..." You could say that about anyone in the Turtles--they were just a sucky pop band!

Before the Stones were formed, Jones was one of the few slide guitarists in the early Brit Blues scene, which made him a hot commodity. He was also respected as a great fill-in-the-blanks sideman (he could play harmonica as well as the esteemed Mr. Jagger, he could play that freaky sinewy rhythm + lead guitar). He also played sax (later, he played it on a Beatles song, no less!), piano and several other instruments. Had he stuck with blues (and not died), he would be on the level of John Mayall or maybe Peter Green as a great innovator of British Blues.

But you have to also remember that HE was the one who formed the Rolling Stones--it was his band. When Andrew Loog Oldham took over as the Stones' manager, Jones was pushed aside in favor of the Jagger/Richards dual leadership role.

Jones, at first, took it in stride; he became the ultimate fill-in-the-blanks guy--he played sitar, mellotron, piano (he was the one who played it on "Let's Spend the Night Together"), harmonica, slide/rhythm/lead guitar, percussion instruments and more...he, by turning away from his original role as resident bluesman in the group, took the Stones in many directions they probably wouldn't have gone, such as their funky psychedelic pop stuff just prior to Beggar's Banquet.

...Charlie Watts said (and I'm paraphrasing), "He just wanted to be in a band, and we took that away from him."

As he got heavier into the drugs and drink, he started making himself more dispensible to the band as well.

(**on a side note, I used to have a guy in my band who did the same thing with alcohol; by the third or fourth set, we would have to take his guitar out of the mains and just feed it to him on one little monitor in the corner. He was playing something, just not the same song as the rest of us! He quit when we told him to either stay sober on stage or leave. Great guitarist, nice guy, I love him, but we couldn't deal with that.)

We've all seen the film of Jones bleary-eyed and stoned out of his gourd while they were recording "Sympathy for the Devil"--but he still had flashes of brilliance, too. The simplistic slide on "Parachute Woman", the sitar on the "Jumpin' Jack Flash" outtro, even some of the flourishes throughout the Beggar's Banquet album.

The Pipes of Joujoukou (or whatever they were called) album was one of the earliest forays anyone ever had into World Music...and Jones was the one who had enough vision to go and record those primitive guys.

It is true Jones is more famous nowadays for being a dead Rolling Stone than anything else, but that's discounting what he was famous for while he was alive...in about eight years he went from being a upper-mid-level bluesman to a somewhat brilliant sonic tinkerer that could play almost anything.

...and as much as I love him, I still don't think he's as good as Mick Taylor!

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I suppose on the other side of the coin, you could look at some of the great musicians that haven't gotten a break and were still out on that long lonesome highway playing gig after gig, night after night until they finally couldn't deal with it anymore.

RIP Joe, Kenny & Alainna.

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True Clapton is an awesome guitarest but the kid that wrote that ment to say CLAPTON IS GOOD.

who ever asked the question probably caught him at a bad moment because thats about the silliest thing ever. That does'nt explain away all of those examples, I don't know maybe I'm nuts.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.