The famous writing on the wall read “Clapton is God” but not everyone was a believer. Sure, he helped write the book on British blues-rock, was electric guitar point man in the archetypical rock power trio Cream, and made acoustic blues platinum in the MTV era, but still there were doubters.
Some had little faith. Angus Young was one of them. Speaking to Guitar World in 1986 – granted, six years off Clapton’s triple-Grammy-winning turn on MTV Unplugged – the AC/DC lead guitarist admitted that he never understood all the fuss. Given Clapton or the Godfather of Rock ’n’ Roll, there was just no contest.
“Everyone always used to rave about Clapton when I was growing up, saying he was a guitar genius and stuff like that,” said Young. “Well, even on a bad night, Chuck Berry is a lot better than Clapton will ever be.”
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When Clapton broke out, he was on a mission. He wanted to bring the blues to the world. Speaking to Guitarist in 1994, he saw his life’s mission to make others feel what he felt when he put the needle down on a Freddie King record.
“I thought everyone else was either in it just to be on Top Of The Pops or Ready Steady Go, or to score girls or for some dodgy reason,” said Clapton. “I was in it to save the world. I wanted to tell the world about blues and to get it right. Even then I thought that I was on some kind of mission, so in a way I thought, ‘Yes, I am God; quite right.’”
Clapton always cited his sources. He was devoted. But that didn’t wash with Young.
“Clapton just sticks licks together that he has taken from other people – like B.B. King and the other old blues players – and puts them together in some mish-mashed fashion,” said Young.
He did, however, give Slowhand some credit. Clapton’s work with John Mayall cut the mustard. And Cream – Sunshine of your Love, White Room, et cetera – were OK.
“The only great album he ever made was the Blues Breaker album he did with John Mayall, and maybe a couple of good songs he did with Cream,” continued Young. “The guy more or less built his reputation on that. I never saw what the big fuss was about Clapton to begin with.”
Young was more impressed with Clapton’s fellow Yardbird alumnus, Jeff Beck, whom he argued was… well, he wasn’t boring.
“There are guys out there who can play real good without boring people. Jeff Beck is one of them,” said Young. “He’s more of a technical guy, but when he wants to rock and roll he sure knows how to do it with guts. I really like the early albums he did with Rod Stewart.”
But Young’s all-time favorite is the irrepressible Chuck Berry, from whom Young took much of his sound – not to mention stagecraft. Berry was brilliant because he just didn’t care. Put an electric guitar in his hands he would light up.
“Chuck Berry was never a caring person. He didn’t care whether he was playing his tune, out of tune or someone else’s tune,” said Young. “Whenever he plays guitar, he has a big grin from ear to ear.”
On that note, Young and Clapton have something in common. Chuck Berry played a huge role in both players’ musical education. In his interview with Guitarist, Clapton said it was players like Berry and Bo Diddley who encouraged him to investigate the roots of rock ’n’ roll and explore where it came from.
“I remember hearing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and not really knowing anything about the geography or the culture of the music,” Clapton said. “But for some reason it did something to me – it resonated.”
