Clapton’s racist rant in 1976 was the main inspiration for Rock Against Racism, which hopefully annoyed him.
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Yeah, I loved that line too! That’s what I came to comment on 
I’ve always been puzzled that Clapton is so revered and admired. I don’t get it and never have.
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Thanks! A good read.
I agree that the pretending is dishonest and cheap. If liking Chinatown somehow means I have something to atone for, then lying that I never liked it would make me more guilty, not less.
But there is a case for re-evaluating art in light of its poison roots. I see why people like “Tears in Heaven”, but I’ve always been vaguely uncomfortable with the sentimentality, and reading the track as the mawkish sentimentality of a racist drunk actually clarifies that discomfort. People can have deep and poignant feelings which demand empathy, and at the same time use those feelings at you in an ugly way.
I think the lesson here is that you can’t think about art seriously if you insist on labeling it as “good” or “bad”. Even knowing nothing about Polanski, it’s weird to call Chinatown a “good” movie – it’s worth seeing, but it’s not fun or uplifting or something to base your life on. It costs you something to watch, and knowing bad things about its author helps frame that.
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Exactly. What did Waters do besides not allow his music to be used commercially by Mark Zuckerberg? Hardly comparable to Clapton and Townsend.
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This topic will automatically close in 4 days.
Sooner, if we’re lucky.
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OMG I forgot about this gem. The keyboard slays me every time.
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By J.J. Cale.
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I would have been happier never knowing Clapton felt this way.
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When we see people as monsters, it dehumanizes them by eliminating the possibility that anything they ever did could have been good in any way.
Conversely, when we see people as heroes, it dehumanizes them by eliminating the possibility that anything they ever did could have been bad in any way.
We can look at the art and the artist as two separate things, not subject to these overarching good/bad absolutes, even as our understanding of the one complements our understanding of the other.
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Mason Williams
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Aw 
You’re going to learn an unfortunate truth today
If Eric Clapton didn’t want to be called racist, he should have kept his dumb ass mouth shut and played his guitar like a good boy. Instead, he just had to stan Enoch Powell, a vile human being at a time of true vileness. He can go take a long walk off a short peer while wanking his guitar.
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Yep. No disagreement here.
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I never heard that version, got a link @ChuckV?
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“We can look at the art and the artist as two separate things, not subject to these overarching good/bad absolutes, even as our understanding of the one complements our understanding of the other.”
It’s easier with an “artist” like, say, Picasso, whose art has influence but the artist personally has very little.
In our time, though, music is an industry. People like Clapton have actual power, they hire other artists, create opportunity. They are cliquish like any other industry, and as such they can create an environment that reflects their social and political values. Producers, executives, all end up reflecting particular sets of ideals.
People adhere to popular dogma to be part of the clique and it becomes a self-perpetuating racist monstrosity that took generations to overcome.
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He also had the support and active participation of the police.
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ETA: Probably should have sent this privately, as we risk even more derailment.
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Good Lord, some of the people defending Clapton here…yeesh.
I’m comfortable with saying I adore some of Clapton’s songs while also saying he’s a world-class asshole/racist/anti-vaxxer/twit. This isn’t the first time I have had to recognize some of my artistic heroes aren’t really heroes.
And honestly, that’s one of the things that’s so amazing about humanity and art. We’re not great to each other, generally. On the shithead scale, we skew poorly. And yet, a complete shithole can make a bit of art or music or drama or comics or writing that absolutely inspires and moves us like nothing else. Does that mean I want to praise said shithead for their dealings with humanity, or emulate them? Nope. But sometimes, I can still listen to the songs at times and enjoy.
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