Episode 53: Eric Clapton after The Yardbirds

After his short career with The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton teamed up with blues purist and strict bandleader, John Mayall. The music was good but can Eric Clapton put up with the persnickety attitude of John Mayall who would fine his band members for drinking or smoking or even staying up too late? Listen and find out how much patience Clapton has for this new chapter in his musical career.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Hello. Who cares? Hello. Welcome back to Jay's Rock and Roll Stories. I'm your host Jay. Putting along in this hot summer. I'm sweating my ass off. Just cracked open a little brewski here. I'm just gonna go through my notes, you know. Not like anybody's listening. You know. Alright, so guess what? We did an episode a while back on uh Clapton and the Yardbirds, and the book where I got all my notes from, I thought it was great. It was called The Edge of Darkness by Christopher Sanford. And I jumped back into that book and I wanted to know what happened after the Yardbirds. So this is that story. Where's Clapton after the Yardbirds? So this is called Clapton after the Yardbirds. Duh. So it's 1965. He's a 20-year-old Clapton, right? He's got no band to call home. Like he quit, he quit the Yardbirds. Uh he's enjoying having no ties, but also expressing doubt about you know returning to music business. He's kind of maybe maybe this is not what I want to do. In an interview with uh Rave magazine, Clapton's statement, uh, he said, for me to face myself, I have to play what I believe is pure and sincere in uncorrupted music. So a statement seized on by a 31-year-old blues aficionado recently arrived in London suburbs, John Mayle. So he saw that, he saw that little quote about you know uncorrupted music, and he's like, hey, maybe this is my guy here. Who is John Mayle? He's a dedicated blues musician. He fronted a blues band called Powerhouse. I'm sorry, Powerhouse 4, and uh who would open for uh Touring American Blues Axe. You know, real real blues musicians from the states, they would they would open for these guys. And according to one musician who knew who knew him, John Male was a total eccentric. John used to leap on stage naked to the waist, live with a like a geriatric Mick Jagger, kind of. And uh when he sang, you couldn't believe it. He he sounded as bluesy as as your grandmother. What uh John what John had was enthusiasm. That was a quote. Bluesy as your grandmother. So John Male calls upon Clapton to join his band, right? The Bluesbreakers. And even impressed with the band name, Clapton agrees. He's like, shit, yeah, let's go. So Clapton moves in with Mail, his wife, and their two little kids. He takes a little attic room upstairs. Uh, Pamela Mail, that's John uh John Mail's wife, writes how Clapton kept to himself, you know, he's a quiet guy. But one day, when they uh when when they had a little outing to the London Zoo, you know, John, the wife, the kids, and uh Eric, you want to come? Um, a little excursion to the zoo. Clapton had such a great time, like he was so transfixed with the chimpanzees that when they got home, it was like he was pleading to go back. He was pleading to can we go back to the zoo another day? She called it endearing, but also kind of strange. So Clapton meets his uh fellow blues breakers, Huey Flint, uh that was the drummer, John McVee on bass, and um both had been impressed with uh the song Got to Hurry by the Yardbirds. Uh funny story, which uh Mayo, who also admired the song, uh spluttering with rage when the jukebox at first erroneously played For Your Love. Like he he put the song on the jukebox um Got to Hurry, but uh For Your Love came on. Here's a story I want to tell you. That happened to me one time. When I was um when I was 18 or 19 years old, I was in a a band called the Jet Set Lipstick. I I played bass, and my buddies Nick was lead singer and sang, and my bro, my buddy Fern um played guitar, and my buddy Danny played uh drums. So one time we uh we went down to Tijuana, a little sidetrack. Whatever, big deal. You know, you're not listening anyway. We went down to Tijuana and a little patio where you get a bucket of beers. It's like I don't know, you get it's like I think it was like 12 bucks for like a bucket of like like 15 beers or something like that, and his little jukebox, but it's outside, it's kind of nice. And uh I found on the jukebox they had the Beatles um rain, which is the B side to um Paperback Writer, and I was like, hey, check it out. They they got a rain on here, and then both Nick and my buddy Fern admitted they've never heard it before. And I was like, what's wrong with you guys? You've never heard it before. So um I put it on. Well, I I put my I don't know if it's a dollar, I put a I think it's like a dollar, you get five plays, right? 25 cents gets you one play, one dollar gets you five plays. This is back in 1990, whatever. So anyway, I I click it in. I'm about to hear it, and I don't know, it erroneously played something else. It played uh the the German I Wanna Hold Your Hand, the Beatles song. The um uh what was I I called I wrote that down like uh whatever. It's just like they started laughing, like, oh great, yeah. We've heard this song before, buddy. We don't need to hear this. The German uh you know translation of I Wanna Hold Your Hand. It's like no, it's not it. Well, I don't know. I I always thought this kind of sad because like my buddy, uh my buddy Nick and friend both died of uh they both died of overdoses like back when uh when they were young, and um they still never got to hear that song. Kind of that bums me out. Bums me out that they're gone, but it's also bums me out that like shit, man, that's a good song to not hear. Anyway, back to our story. Anyway, so erroneously it played uh for your love, which he hates just as much as Clapton hates. Alright, yeah, that's the song Clapton hated the most. Maybe also did Male. So this happened uh so Male and the other guys have uh they have mixed feelings toward Clapton. They enjoy his opinion, you know, in in Bluesbreakers. Because the Bluesbreakers are a true true band, and the yards yard birds were shit. That that's what they're kind of saying. Sort of uh camaraderie. They all agree on that. But there's also the the comments from Clapton towards Mail expressing he's not good enough, he he's not a good singer, he's too flamboyant, he's too much, you know, showy, but he really doesn't really deliver. So Clapton sort of takes lead on the band and male, uh quoting the book, Male's already a middle-aged uh craving the prestige of success without the commercial focus to achieve it. Uh increasingly increasingly do deferred to his guitarist. So he's always depending on the guitar player. You know, he's like an old schmuck up there. Alright. Um all expressing a lot of uh all expressing a lot of love for the blues and a commitment, it could be pointed to uh an album that came out in 1958 uh on chess records, a record called The Best of Muddy Waters. And uh this was a record that everyone like if you're true blues, you're listening to this one. In answering to that honest, um that honest purity and commitment, they released a song called Telephone Blues by John Mail and the blues and the bluesbreakers, and uh I listened to it. It's a good song, definitely Pierce Blues. Um the 45 is uh side A of uh I'm your witch doctor, and the B side is telephone blues. It was uh it was produced by Jimmy Page. Look at that, right? So okay, here in Time 1965, Clapton is actually actually gaining fame from a Melody Maker uh article at the time, Clapp Clapton, a knockout. Clapton is the best blues guitarist in Britain. Quoting from the book, uh the ensuing money and female adoration were a bonus. He began to v he began to develop or extend a personality wholly devoid of security while not lacking in ego. Clapton was brash but not but never confident. Naturally, thin skinned, he was easy to offend, and by his own later admission, took things too seriously. So his look of uh unmitigated doom was animated by uh by eyes that appeared to be hungry for approval. May 1965. Clapton is already bored with the bluesbreakers. Clapton moves from Black uh Blackheath, dividing his time between Ripley, um, a writer's flat in Redcliffe Gardens, and sort of like a commune above a warehouse at 74 Long Acre Covent Garden, which also housed a piano player named Ben Palmer, a puppeteer named Ten Milton, and the actor John Hurt. Clapton and John Hurt living together in this little commune and little house. According to a young girl named Kay Monday, her quote is it was it was chaotic, a big open planned place in which half a dozen people would be sprawled out drunk. At four in the afternoon you'd see Clapton asleep. His main drink was cheap red wine, then he'd get up and play the guitar, hunched over it, mumbling. That was his whole life then. Drink, sleep, and music. You never saw him eat. End quote. So John Mail John Mail. Uh John Mill is a Tino Tower. He does he doesn't drink. He tr uh he traveled separately from the rest of the band, and he would dock you. He would dock your wages uh for lateness, like if you smoked or drank too much. On Fridays, Clapton and uh Flint and McVee were each handed an envelope, right? Containing 20 pounds, minus the sums deducted as penalties. He's a band leader, John May. I talked about this before in other episodes. Uh uh James Brown was a band leader. He he would deduct uh money. I think uh it was not Eddie Floyd, um shit. I forgot who it was. Band leaders, yeah. It's it's not one and all, one for like you know, uh all for a one and one for all. It's this is my band. You fuck up, I'm docking you some fucking money. So I thought this line was kind of funny. In hotels, Male turned in early. You know, he go to bed early with his blues records and pornography. His pornography collection, only Clapton was allowed access to either. So Clapton could get some of his porn mags and his uh records. The other guys weren't allowed to. Clapton deemed the bluesbreakers equally boring as the Yardbirds. Um, it just wasn't enough. He was appalled at the polished-up cover versions of old blues tunes lacking any raw ability. Clapton quits the band, puts together a ragtag band of musicians from the commune, calling the band the Glands. They play around Europe, but it's uh a complete disaster. Realizing he's screwed up, he calls up John Mail asking to get back into the band. Back in the Bluesbreakers, John Mail had a uh had oh yeah, John Mail had fired John McVe for turning up late to practice drunk too many times, and had hired Jack Bruce from the band Graham Group, the Grambon Orchestra uh organization. Alright, but with all Clapton's frustrations, he is getting noticed. Uh people are noticing him. His blues is seen as the best British blues of all groups at the time. He's greeted warmly by Keith Richards, Brian Jones, the Beatles like him, the Beatles sought him out to meet him. Uh there's this, okay, quote unquote Clapton is God going around, right? This Clapton is God graffiti. Here's the story. 1966, a typist named Sally Prescott was at the stage door at the Marquee in London. Her words were The rest of the group came out, followed by Clapton with a face like thunder. I looked around and said, Here comes God Himself. Alright, her friend watched him. Her friend watched him go, walking uptight, frustrated, and responded, That's a good name for him. God, he likes he looks like the Almighty. Melody Maker like kind of picks up on that. Melody Maker magazine repeated the sentiment, and then other papers as well. They're repeating this little idea here. Uh, fans at Live Gigs started shouting, God, God, God, give him a solo, God, God, we want God. Like ridiculous, right? Clapton is God. So it started appearing on walls, it's graffiti by fans, you know. Uh Clapton's uh reaction was um it was like a mixed bag. Um it began as uh fashionable, right? It was it was a very funny, very strange, and there's nothing you can do about it. That's what he said. This is fashionable, it's strange, and there's nothing we can do. He's digging it. 1966, McVee comes back on base, Jack Bruce uh gets recruited to to a Manford man. A swap. Remember uh John McVee was a fleet with Mac. July 22nd, 1966, the Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton is released. Uh it doesn't get that the record, right? It doesn't get a lot of attention, doesn't get to be top 10, and also was a pain in the ass uh in the studio. Clapton um always demanded you turn me up, you turn me up, right? And the other members were like, come on, dude, keep it equal. But I have to uh agree, um, I have I I had an original copy, I don't know what I did with it, but that that original um that record, 1966 The Blues Briggers with Eric Clapton, it's really good because that that guitar is so in your face. Um and then in the studio, Eric Clapton uh by saying by singing uh Do what it what was his name? John Mail was like, Do whatever God wants. But Noah, if you had if you had kept the if you had kept his guitar equal with the bass and the drums, it would just sound kind of flat, like something lame, like you know, Dave Clark 5 or something. Like the guitar is it's it's you never heard a record like that that early. You gotta hear that one. It's the uh blues breakers with Eric Clapton. It's forefront guitar playing, you know. Um, Jeff Griffin is a veteran of the BBC, he produced uh he's a producer, and he calls it the very moment the guitar hero was born, which I agree with because at the at the time of 1966, um you don't have a forefront member just you know throwing it in your face. And that record, uh The Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, it's just like wow, this stands out. Like who is like, geez, check it out. That that's a good record to listen to. Alright, so um here's a bit from a magazine article from uh from that time. So he readily puts down English artists that we're talking about Clapton and says that he'll he'll get out of England when he can. I don't think there will be room for me here much longer. None of my music and none of my music is English. It is rooted his music, it is rooted in Chicago. I represent what is going on Chicago at the moment. So he's talking about blues, he's talking about electric blues, B.B. King, Muddy Waters. Um, I feel that the English are rooted in rock and roll, like Tommy Steele. That stuff coming out of England now makes me puke. I'll be the first to put Chris Farlow down, which is kind of funny because I I had to go back and listen to uh Tommy Steele and Chris Farlow. So it's kind of like it's very poppy. It's not really rock and roll. It's it's it's kind of like showy show tunes. I think some of those I think those two guys were in movies. It's really not like kind of in your face. It's just uh it's very pedestrian, pedestrian rock and roll. I wouldn't even call it rock and roll, I would call it like uh pop show. It's like showman, it's like Vegas, it's like it's just mix that with English rock and roll. So that's his mindset. Okay, he's ready to fly the coop, he's ready to leave England. There's a party for him celebrating his 21st birthday at uh John Mayle's house. He, the bluesbreakers, a poet named Pete Brown, also British pop singer Lulu, uh, who would go with Clapton. Uh Clapton's dressed in a gorilla costume, and uh uh the gorilla and and uh Lulu, the pair, they would disappear into one of the bedrooms and like you know, who knows, right? Alright, so uh the next week, Ginger Baker, the drummer from uh the Grand Bond organization, uh played in uh informal, informally with the bluesbreakers and declaring himself knocked out. Uh knocked out by Clapton, just just hearing what he's doing. So uh Ginger Baker, he's the drummer. Uh he was amazed by what Clapton was doing, and so he agreed to stay in touch. Don't forget, you know. Jack Bruce was in the Grand Bond organization as well. So um, so between Clapton, Baker, and Bruce, the that began in April of 1966. Joe Boyd is a famous English producer. He was putting together a compilation album. Um a little group was formed called Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, and they do a few songs on the album. They do Crossroads, the Robert Johnson song, I Wanna Know, and Steppin' Out. Um, the other bands on the compilation are this is uh still 1966. The other bands are um But Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Al Cooper, uh Tom Rush, and the band lineup for Eric Clapton, the powerhouse is Clapton on guitar, Steve Wynwood. Uh well, okay, so they took. Took fake names. Steve Winwood as Steve Englow on vocals. Paul Jones as uh Jacob Mathewson on harmonica, Jack Bruce on bass, Pete York as Peter Heirald on drums, that was released in May of 1966. So it's kind of like some studio, some studio stuff, going in the right direction. Um this chapter also talks about how uh Eric's moods, his little tempered tantrums, or like a like a pet a little petulant little child here. He would do this thing while in the studio or warming up where Well uh he would act like you offended him as a way to make himself stand out uh as like different than anyone else, and then you would question, like, wait, what what happened? Like, who upset Eric? He would you would say something and he would act all offended, and like it would just kind of cause this chaos where what what like why is a why is Eric upset again? And the same time, then he would approach you and compliment you on your playing or something and saying, like, yo, you're such a good guitar player or whatever. Really, really kind of bitchy, really kind of like you know, navigating like this gossipy kind of crap. Um it it empowered him. So uh back to the bluesbreakers. Clapton and John Mail are now regularly getting into arguments privately and publicly, mostly about Clapton's annoyance of John Mail's stage performance. Um Eric Clapton thinks the bluesbreakers are just doing a polished-up version of a classic blues song. It's like there there's nothing original to it, right? At this point, uh he realizes that he can do this on his own. I don't need Mayo. I don't need John Mail to do this. Uh the the I and then the idea of a blues trio comes to his mind. So what what he's driving. But who, right? Clapton's words, who is gonna do this with you? He says, me, me, or more me. Of course, right? Alright, so Winwood, Steve Winwood declines because uh he was having too many responsibilities with the Spencer Davis group. Uh Pete Hogman, who also practiced with Clapton, said uh he said something to Eric that set him off. And uh he was the guy that was hit in the head with Eric's guitar. So he's like, I'm not fucking hanging out with that guy. Um so the word got around, it was incredible that Clapton was creating a band. Clapton's leaving John Mail. John Mail, who thought of Clapton having never shown any leadership qualities at all, was um was not was aware that he was friendly with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, but those guys hated each other, right? Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker from uh the Grand Bon organization, they all they they don't like each other. So so the seeds have been planted here. Ginger Baker with the uh the tentative idea of forming a group in April of 1966. Baker, uh Ginger Baker, definitely not having Jack Bruce. That that that's what his idea was. So uh he approaches uh he approaches Eric like uh let's do this, but let's not have uh let's not have Jack Bruce. Let's definitely not have Jack Bruce. It talks about how Ginger Baker would throw his drumsticks at uh Jack Bruce's head. But Clapton insisted uh to Ginger Baker that no, I I want I want Jack in the band too. Alright, so Ginger Baker then goes to Jack Bruce's house, who is surprised to see Ginger, but agrees to join the band when he's asked. Alright, so wow, look at this. Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker. Alright, so a witness to their first jam heard from outside of Ginger Baker's window. This is way out in the countryside. This is 1966. Out in the countryside, a 12-year-old uh boy named uh Gary Lawson uh was riding his bike. He stopped to listen. Soon about half a dozen kids stood outside uh next to him with their mouths agape, their mouths on the floor. It sounded like nine or ten people playing inside different instruments. I couldn't believe it when they're when the three came out and said, we're it. Alright, so Ginger and Jack Bruce uh both suggest Robert Stigwood uh to manage them from having worked with them uh with Stigwood in the grand uh grandbond organization. He signs each musician to personal contracts at the line contract to be signed, the line marked title of artist, title of artiste, right? Jack Bruce said Clapton came right out and said it. Where the cream? That's the name of the band. Okay, fast forward to 1988. Clapton states, I was only turning 21. You have this dichotomy of a guy who was a serious blues musician and who was also very young, wild man. There was this adolescent side of me that wanted to get out and see the world. I was feeding on a lot of other directions, and I started to look on the whole male thing as a dead end street. I wanted to be a star. Alright, let's let's wrap this up here. Quick end story here. John Mail opens up a Melody Maker magazine in in June of 1966. It reads the following Eric, Jack, and Ginger team up a sensational new group groups group starring Eric Clapton. Jack Bruce uh Ginger Baker is formed. Top groups will be losing star instrumentalists. As a result, Manford Mann will be losing his bassist, harmonica, and singer Jack Bruce. John Mail will lose his brilliant blues guitarist Eric Lapton, and Grand Bun organization will lose his incredible drummer Ginger Baker. Enter the band cream. So when John Mayle read that he went freaking ballistic, Clapton's gone. Uh Clapton's gone anyway, but John still fired him. He's gone, you're fired, right? On principles, you know what I mean? On principles, right? So moving on. Bluesbreakers hired Peter Green. But that's uh that's the Green and McVee that that goes to the uh that goes to Fleawood Mac there. But that is the story of After the Yardbirds. So we will see you next time taking up on um the beginning of Cream. And you have to keep in mind it's this isn't a band of best friends. This isn't a band of brothers, the Beatles, right? Rolling Stones. These guys don't like each other. It's it's weird. I mean, I've I've cream is probably one of my favorite bands since I was like 12 years old. And uh it it's like you would think these guys are like you know best buddies and make music together. No, they can't stand each other. So, whatever, we're gonna stop right there and we're gonna talk about cream next time. So I hope you enjoyed that story. And if you like it, come back. If you like it, give me five stars, whatever you want. If you want to reach the show, go ahead and reach me at uh James Robin stories at book.me. And I'll see you next time.