Guitar War: Stevie Ray Vaughan vs. Eric Clapton

[bobthedrummer]

Stevie Ray Vaughan link
http://www.awpi.com/SRV/

Eric Clapton link
http://www.repriserec.com/ericclapton/

[Beetwasher]

1. No Contest! SRV All The Way!

I love Clapton, but SRV was another level all together...

[southpaw]

4. Damn Skippy! SRV

There's something to be said for chops and passion AS WELL AS a good vibrato.

[livetohike]

2. Stevie Ray

without a doubt!

[redqueen]

3. Gotta go with the hometown boy on this one

Clapton's great, but Vaughan was better. Slow hand just doesn't do too much for this Southern gal.

[arcane1]

5. with all due respect for Clapton...

it's SRV all the way baby :toast:

[bobthedrummer]

6. As a musician, sometimes I just get sick of Eric Clapton tunes,

know what I'm saying?

[Bake]

17. So which is it bob? Musician or drummer?

Seriously -- a DRUMMER critiquing one of the great guitarists of all time??? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I refuse to vote. I love both EC and SRV, and music isn't a contest. They'd both be on the same side -- good music.

Tragically, SRV's premature demise cut short a career that might have produced tons more great music. Clapton's crime, judging from some of the remarks around here, is that he lived and continues to make good music -- e.g., his newest, Me & Mr. Johnson.

Bake

[bobthedrummer]

39. Yep, I've that right as I come from a musical family and play the oldest

musical instrument, one that was banned in North America for centuries. Besides this is The Lounge and I do this a lot here, lol.
:hi:

[geniph]

7. Even Clapton would vote for SRV

I've heard him say so, at a tribute to SRV. He said Stevie Ray picked up that guitar and closed some sort of cosmic circuit, and pure music flowed through him. He was an open channel for divine music.

...but you can't GET Jon fucking Bon Jovi on a fucking helicopter...

[johnnie]

8. Sorry...

I have to go with Clapton on this one. SRV was good, no doubt, but he had about 3 licks. I got to see both of them live, and Clapton blew me away, although Stevie was fun to watch.
Maybe if SRV had a longer chance to show us other styles, he would have made a bigger impression on me.

[Loonman]

9. No contest: SRV

Clapton is about as interesting as staring at brickface.

"Wonderful Tonight" is a good song if you enjoy throwing up all over yourself.

[ComerPerro]

15. I DO enjoy throwing up all over myself

[Red_Viking]

10. Gotta go with my homey, SRV

There's a nice bronze statue of him near the lake in downtown Austin.

We love us some SRV in Texas!

:dem:

RV

[Canuckistanian]

11. Ooooh, tough one!

I went with SRV, 'cause I've been humming a tune of his all last week.

[LastKnight]

12. SRV, end of story. nt

[Bonhomme Richard]

13. Come on......Clapton, it's not even close.

SRV was a Blues/Blues rock player while Eric was excellant in many styles.
Grant it not all of his albums were great but:
Cream
Delaney & Bonnie
Layla
The Blues albums

IMHO

[blindpig]

14. you people got to be kidding me........

SRV was a very technically proficient guitarist but he lacked soul. As a Texas blues/rock guitarist Johnny Winter blows him out of the water. Clapton I divide into 2 periods; heroin & post-heroin. The heroin Clapton had more soul in one tune(spoonful) than Stevie has in his entire catalog. Now the post-heroin Clapton is technically proficient but lame. Tough Muse, that one.

[redqueen]

16. Oh no you did *not* just say that SRV lacked soul.

I can compare him to early Clapton and still prefer SRV. I can't compare him to Hendrix and prefer him, but Clapton? Oh yes.

[bobthedrummer]

18. No way is Johnny Winter in the same class of Texas guitarists as SRV

or Albert Collins-SRV IS soul!
:hi:

[rocktop15]

19. Trey Anastasio has got them all beat

Sure he might not muster up straight blues as well BUT what he lacks in that he more than makes up for in his ability to improvise on the spot. This man can come up with technical riffs and licks at the tip of a hat. I think he knows more music theory than Clapton and SRV combined.

Between Clapton and SRV, I would pick SRV any day of the week. Clapton has mellowed out so much since Cream that it is rediculous.

[demgrrrll]

23. I must go with SRV. Remember when people wrote Clapton is God

graffiti? Then some witty fellow wrote I meant Clapton is GOOD!

[mitchum]

26. Giorgio Gomelsky must have had some severe writer's cramp...

after scrawling "Clapton Is God" all over London. I've always had my money on that hypemaster as being the one responsible for that "spontaneous" sentiment

[mistertrickster]

20. Apples to oranges, my friends--SRV is (was) a POWER blues player

with the feedback and the rockin' chords. Clapton is the sustained bluesy crooner, the soulful crying guitar. It's not really the same.

It's like who's better BB King or Muddy Waters . . . two unique styles that can't be compared really.

[mitchum]

21. Neither. Roy Buchanan

[Beetwasher]

22. Buchanan Friggin' Kills!

Love that guy!

[bobthedrummer]

24. Yes, but he couldn't work with most players.

He was another truly great guitarist.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

Amen and Ronnie Earl

[zauberflote]

37. I saw him on a bad night

I saw Buchanan in concert in Boston back in the 70s in which he was the only act. He put on a concert that lasted 45 minutes and it was nothing but shtick. He couldn't hold a musical idea together for more than two bars. "Roy's a rip!" somebody yelled at the end. Have to agree.

[RT Atlanta]

25. SRV!!!

Give EC his due, but of guitarists, SRV plays second fiddle to one person - Jimi Hendrix (and that is something I think SRV would've acknowledged too - Lord knows he could play Jimi's music as well as anyone but the man himself).

[XNASA]

27. Can't stand either one. Sorry.

Been playing a long time myself. Both of them are as overrated as the 'Olive Garden'. I can't imagine less innovation coming out of the instrument I myself have been playing for nearly 35 years.

However, they both excel at mimicry.

There. I said it.

[Whitacre D_WI]

28. Neither.

Clapton is more technically proficient, but hasn't done anything worth a damn since "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs," or whatever it was called. And THAT was mostly thanks to Duane Allman. Take him out of the equation, and Clapton hasn't done nothin' since Cream.

Vaughan (and Clapton, for that matter) is just about the nadir of what I consider the greatest abomination in music history: the "electric blues."

What I mean to say is -- there are great blues being played that happen to be electric; but electric blues as a genre of its own turns my stomach.

I know you disagree with me on that one, Bob, but I ain't gonna back off. :)

[bigwillq]

29. I voted for Clapton

Always been a big fan.

[Westegg]

30. Apples and oranges---why must they battle?

I love both the apple and the orange. But they don't come from the same tree or the same climate. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Some times you don't.

SRV had the chops, no doubt. Best channeler of Hendrix I ever saw (and yeah, I've seen Frank Mahogany!). Of course, SRV was much more than that, but again, why do SRV and E.C. need to go head-to-head in a poll? I'm sure every E.C. fan has respect for SRV and vice-versa. Didn't Clapton, early on, help lay the groundwork for someone like Hendrix to come along? Or Beck and Page for that matter? Clapton's work with Mayall, Yardbirds, Cream was groundbreaking. This can't be denied! SRV was from an entirley diffrent generation, and while you could say he inspired an American blues-rock revival in the '80s, can you say he was as important to rock in general as E.C. has been?

Where does it end? I'll never say that Stevie was "better" than Clapton, though I've seen them both many times and Stevie blew Clapton away when it came to concerts. But ---big BUT--- I never saw E.C. in the '60s or '70s. By the same token, I've seen many great guitarists play live---including Buchanan, Vai, Blackmore, Page, Clapton, Beck, SRV, David Gilmour, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Steve Howe, Van Halen, ah shit, the list goes on and on. Who moved my soul the most? Buchanan, Page, SRV, Waters. And Brian May.

If that answers your question...

[gpandas]

31. how about roger moore? i voted for clapton n/t

[Zorra]

SRV. But EC is a great player also. n/t

[Mrs. Venation]

32. Doc Watson

No doubt about it; Doc is one of the greatest guitarists ever.

[Whitacre D_WI]

33. YES!

THANK YOU, kpharmer!



(Doc is on the left. His late son, Merle, is on the right)

[Mrs. Venation]

34. You're Welcome

I have seen Doc in concert many times; he just gets better and better. Doc had a difficult time accepting Merle's death, and he didn't tour for quite some time.

I love Doc; he is an awesome musician and a wonderful man.

[Bake]

35. While we're on this kick, TONY RICE!

And Doc is another of my heroes! Tony is undeniably the KING of the acoustic flatpicked guitar, and he gives his respect to Doc!

Bake

[sgrayhem]

36. Clapton

Jeff Beck can rock too!

[zauberflote]

38. Is this a generational thing?

As a geezer who as a kid saw Clapton in concert during the Derek & the Dominos tour and who has listened to and liked a lot of SRV over the years, for me it's no contest. Clapton wins hands down.
But I also saw Clapton at Madison Square Garden a few years ago and while he's still as technically proficient as ever, he's lost whatever fire he used to have. Anyone who only knows the recent Clapton would and should pick Stevie Ray.
I have to agree with the comments concerning Clapton's soul and SRV's comparative lack. Clapton in his early days moved me to exaltation.
To my ears Vaughan has technique to die for (though certainly no better than Clapton's) but he never touched my heart the way Slowhand did. And while Stevie Ray put out some nice records he never had anything that even approaches "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs," as good a rock record as has ever been made.

[Kat45]

40. Clapton: his guitar has the ability to reach into my heart and soul

And that is a rare talent.

[lucidmadman]

41. Clapton Clapton Clapton Clapton

...saw Capt. Clapton back in the day on the same bill with The Butterfield Band (w/Bloomfield and Bishop) and Charley Musselwhite(sp?) (with Harvey Mandel). There really was nothing like Clapton ...I respect SRV (and Jimmy), but Clapton was so great.