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Trying to Find an Identity: Eric Clapton's Changing Conception of “Blackness”

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03007760802052809

1740-1712

Ulrich Adelt,

Musicology and Musical Analysis

Abstract This essay seeks to connect rock star Eric 's music from the 1960s with the history of Norman Mailer Mailer, Norman. 1957. The White Negro, San Francisco, CA: City Lights Books. [Google Scholar]'s notion of the “white negro” in a particular British context. In his search for an authenticated identity, turned to a problematic construction of black masculinity. employed a more fluid approach to the racialization of musical genres with the group Cream, but eventually returned to essentialist notions of “race” in his music as well as in his endorsement of British politician Enoch Powell Powell, Enoch. 1991. Reflections of a Statesman: The Writings and Speeches of Enoch Powell, London: Bellew Publishing. [Google Scholar]'s anti‐immigration campaign in 1976. You know, I'm not black, but there's a whole lot of times I wish I could say I'm not white. (Zappa Zappa, Frank. 1966. “Trouble Every Day.” The Mothers of Invention.”. In Freak Out! [Google Scholar]) Notes 1. Since I focus on the racialization of Eric 's music in this essay, I only occasionally touch on the problematic intersections of “race” and gender that play out in the process of white males asserting power through constructions of black masculinity. For the psychological ramifications of this process, see Kovel Kovel, Joel. 1984. White Racism: A Psychohistory, New York: Columbia UP. 1970 [Google Scholar]; Pfeil Pfeil, Fred. 1995. White Guys: Studies in Postmodern Domination and Difference, New York: Verso. [Google Scholar]; Stecopoulos and Uebel; DiPiero DiPiero, Thomas. 2002. White Men Aren't, Durham, NC: Duke UP. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. 2. Eldridge Cleaver Cleaver, Eldridge. 1968. Soul on Ice, New York: McGraw‐Hill. [Google Scholar] was not alone in attempting to bridge the gap between the white counterculture and black politics as the formation of John Sinclair's White Panther Party and their rejection of “white honkie culture” and appropriation of the Black Panther Party's masculinist discourse shows. See Waksman Waksman, Steve. 1999. Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience, Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP. [Google Scholar] (217–21). 3. I borrow this term from Tate Tate, Greg. 2003. Everything but the Burden: What White People are Taking from Black Culture, New York: Broadway Books. [Google Scholar]. 4. Not much research has been done on the British blues movement of the 1960s. In my description of the British jazz and R&B scene of the 1950s and ’60s, I am drawing on Groom Groom, Bob. 1971. The Blues Revival, London: Studio Vista. [Google Scholar], Brunning Brunning, Bob. 1986. Blues: The British Connection, Poole: Blandford Press. [Google Scholar], and Red White and Blues 2003. Red White and Blues DVD. Dir. Mike Figgis. Vulcan Productions and Road Movies [Google Scholar]. 5. Among the blues performers who played in Great Britain were Josh White (1950), Big Bill Broonzy (1951, 1952, 1955, 1957), Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (1958), and Champion Jack Dupree (1959). 6. Of course, the British blues musicians were not alone in their fascination with US culture. During the 1950s, popular culture from the US was a dominant force in Great Britain (see Hoggart Hoggart, Richard. 1957. The Uses of Literacy: Changing Patterns in English Mass Culture, Fair Lawn, NJ: Essential Books. [Google Scholar]; Donnelly Donnelly, Mark. 2005. Sixties Britain: Culture, Society and Politics, Harlow: Pearson Longman. [Google Scholar]). 7. A number of Eric biographies have been published over the years (see Pidgeon Pidgeon, John. 1985. Eric Clapton: A Biography, London: Vermilion. 1976 [Google Scholar]; Coleman Coleman, Ray. 1986. Clapton! The Authorized Biography, New York: Warner Books. [Google Scholar]; Roberty Roberty, Marc. 1991. Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton, New York: Harmony Books. [Google Scholar]; Shapiro Shapiro, Harry. 1992. Eric Clapton: Lost in the Blues, New York: Da Capo Press. [Google Scholar]; Schumacher Schumacher, Michael. 1995. Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton, New York: Hyperion. [Google Scholar]; Sandford Sandford, Christopher. 1999. Clapton: Edge of Darkness, New York: Da Capo Press. [Google Scholar]). 8. Houston Baker Baker, Houston A. Jr. 1984. Blues, Ideology, and Afro‐American Literature: A Vernacular Theory, Chicago, IL: U of Chicago P. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] has described material poverty as an integral part of blues consciousness. 9. Eric devoted two of his major hits from the 1970s, “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight,” to Pattie Boyd. They married in 1979 and divorced in 1988. 10. For a more in‐depth look at the Yardbirds, see Clayson Clayson, Adam. 2002. The Yardbirds: The Band That Launched Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, San Francisco, CA: Backbeat Books. [Google Scholar]. 11. The term “psychedelic” was initially coined to describe the sensory effects of LSD‐25 but it has been widely used to describe music and art related to these effects. Musical characteristics of psychedelia include the slowing down and lengthening of songs, non‐directional or contrapuntal solos, and electronic reverberation (see Hicks Hicks, Michael. 1999. Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions, Urbana, IL: U of Illinois P. [Google Scholar] 58–59, 64–65). 12. The gender politics of the term “woman tone” can be read in various ways. Eric is expressing his “feminine” side by creating plaintive sounds, yet he is also animating and ultimately controlling the feminized guitar‐as‐fetish. 13. That the band was not taking itself completely seriously was also evident in the title Disraeli Gears, a play on words mixing derailleur gears for bicycles with the former British prime minister and colonialist. 14. See the timeline in Welch Welch, Chris. 2000. Cream: The Legendary Sixties Supergroup, London: Bantam Books. [Google Scholar] (160–87). 15. These albums with recordings from 1968 were entitled Live Cream Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Cream did not play together again until their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1993. The group also played four highly publicized reunion shows in May 2005, which were released on CD and DVD. 16. Sheila Whiteley Whiteley, Sheila. 1992. The Space between the Notes: Rock and the Counterculture, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar] has attempted to show the sociopolitical impact of psychedelic rock groups (including Cream). As I hope to have made clear, my positive assessment of Cream is solely on musical grounds. Contrary to Whiteley Whiteley, Sheila. 1992. The Space between the Notes: Rock and the Counterculture, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]'s claims, there is little evidence that the group was concerned with any kind of countercultural political agenda. 17. The only other 1960s acts on the poll were Jimi Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and Led Zeppelin (see Walser Walser, Robert. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, Hanover, NH: Wesleyan UP. [Google Scholar] 174). 18. Eric 's rejection of “pop” sounds needs to be seen in the context of the aforementioned feminization of pop music. After all, the sounds was authenticating were both black and male. 19. Christopher Sandford Sandford, Christopher. 1999. Clapton: Edge of Darkness, New York: Da Capo Press. [Google Scholar] quotes an anonymous musician who overheard the telephone conversation as saying that “it read like a Harold Pinter script…he couldn't understand a word Bob said. Eric may have been a big fan of the Rastas, but coming from Guildford he wasn't exactly on their frequency” (140).