Thursday, December 01, 2005
Songs With Lyrics About Bruce's Rheumatism
PBS this evening aired a concert featuring the recently reformed Cream, filmed back in May at London's Royal Albert Hall. I watched the first hour or so, and while it was nice to hear some great songs performed live again by the original artists, one overriding thought colored the whole experience...
Why?!?
I mean, I know why, someone offered them a shitpile of money. But looking at the three of them up there, doddering through time changes and harmonies, was just painful. When Eric Clapton is the best looking and most lucid guy in your band, you know you're in deep, deep trouble. I swear Clapton has had some work done, he has that frozen upper lip and nose that you see on middle-aged actresses and desperate housewives. Jack Bruce looked mentally and physically spent, like some lunatic tenured psych professor just back from lobbying the Dean to form a Phrenology department.
Finally, Ginger Baker.... Holy shit. If Rolling Stone reported that Clapton found him sitting in a Wembley bus terminal with a note pinned to his chest reading "Please care for me gramps, he's a decent bloke, just a bit hard in the arteries," I wouldn't be at all surprised. He was stiff armed, wooden, and awkward - he made Charlie Watts look spry. The few times he showed any signs of life, like the break near the end of 'Badge', I was waiting for his teeth to come flying out of his mouth.
The worst part came right at the end of the first song. They had a brief shot from behind his kit, I think they were trying to show Clapton through the drums while in the foreground you could see the bottom of his legs working the kick pedals. I couldn't tell if he was wearing shorts or high-waters, because all you saw were his bare calves... and black socks half-way up his shins. Ginger Baker, the driving engine behind the first supergroup and the band that 'power trio' was coined to describe, up on stage at Royal Fucking Albert Hall dressed like your crazy Uncle Merle a Labor Day picnic.
Unngggg-gg-ggh *shudder* *spit*
Well I hope they all earn enough money to assuage the complete loss of their dignity. Maybe Clapton will be sport enough to pin a fresh note to Ginger's vintage concert T-shirt when the tour is over and he drops him back off at Wembley... "Pleaes care for me drummer, he's a decent bloke but a bit slow on the downbeat..."
SeanQ ¶ 12:34 AM
Why?!?
I mean, I know why, someone offered them a shitpile of money. But looking at the three of them up there, doddering through time changes and harmonies, was just painful. When Eric Clapton is the best looking and most lucid guy in your band, you know you're in deep, deep trouble. I swear Clapton has had some work done, he has that frozen upper lip and nose that you see on middle-aged actresses and desperate housewives. Jack Bruce looked mentally and physically spent, like some lunatic tenured psych professor just back from lobbying the Dean to form a Phrenology department.
Finally, Ginger Baker.... Holy shit. If Rolling Stone reported that Clapton found him sitting in a Wembley bus terminal with a note pinned to his chest reading "Please care for me gramps, he's a decent bloke, just a bit hard in the arteries," I wouldn't be at all surprised. He was stiff armed, wooden, and awkward - he made Charlie Watts look spry. The few times he showed any signs of life, like the break near the end of 'Badge', I was waiting for his teeth to come flying out of his mouth.
The worst part came right at the end of the first song. They had a brief shot from behind his kit, I think they were trying to show Clapton through the drums while in the foreground you could see the bottom of his legs working the kick pedals. I couldn't tell if he was wearing shorts or high-waters, because all you saw were his bare calves... and black socks half-way up his shins. Ginger Baker, the driving engine behind the first supergroup and the band that 'power trio' was coined to describe, up on stage at Royal Fucking Albert Hall dressed like your crazy Uncle Merle a Labor Day picnic.
Unngggg-gg-ggh *shudder* *spit*
Well I hope they all earn enough money to assuage the complete loss of their dignity. Maybe Clapton will be sport enough to pin a fresh note to Ginger's vintage concert T-shirt when the tour is over and he drops him back off at Wembley... "Pleaes care for me drummer, he's a decent bloke but a bit slow on the downbeat..."
SeanQ ¶ 12:34 AM
