Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 1, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press entertainment b1 guitar Eric Clapton blues roots Call and he answers with a vengeance by Nell Strauss new York times news service London talking with Eric Clapton is like handling a sheathed on the he seems Calm and harm but occasionally his protective covering revealing a Man so raw and incisive that his words or simply his gaze can be As piercing As a Clapton guitar playing is similar it sometimes seems As if Hes plucking emotions instead of this is one reason some consider him the greatest living guitarist his fans in the 1960s called him its also Why he Seldom Grants inter views to the in the 49yearold English musician ise Scruci tingly honest and whether Hes discussing his passion for the the accidental death of his son or his slow dances with heroin and Clapton last a recording of his unplugged performance on mtg in stole the show at the grammy awards the following sold More than seven million copies and paved the Way for a slew of popular unplugged albums by other it was also a Way of grieving publicly his four year old had fallen to his death from the 53rdfloor win Dow of a Manhattan apartment the year on the biggest hit from that tears in Clapton made an attempt to come to terms with the his new from the the Al blues record that he has been promising to make for some is part of his recon the which became the first blues record to go to 1 on the Bill Board pop Chart is a return to the blues prism of his years spent with John mayans blues Breakers in the except that the arrogance of youth has been replaced by the humility of rehearsing for his first extensive tour since 1992 in a Large shed on the out skirts of Clapton and his band played two songs from the new a breathtaking version of Leroy Carrs How Long blues and a shambling interpretation of Carrs blues before Sun before he sat Down to dressed in a shirt and jeans and sporting a close cropped Beard of Brown and White he looked More like a polite studio musician than a Timera aged guitar he talked not like a survivor of lifes hardships but like a survivor of the therapy that Clapton plans to perform at Arenas for a month and then return to smaller nothing matters when a Guys got and Eric has got 11 clubs in some theres a slim Chance of a Winnipeg says Shannon a spokeswoman for local promoter Nite out they will be Al blues he no matter How Many people scream for hits like cocaine and White its a decision he might not have been Able to make earlier in his what Ive done in the past was Ive been a Little afraid of sticking to my inner he i probably have chosen to write or play material that i thought would be More acceptable to other but with this blues As with i was entertaining myself i had no idea that unplugged would be let alone at that stage in my i probably had very Little Faith in since Ive come a Long Way in terms of its been proven to me that i can be me and people will like recorded live and produced from the Cradle lives up to Clapton definition of the blues True music of the without the it features his versions of songs by Willie Elmore Freddie King and other musicians who influenced him As he wound his Way through various legendary 1960s groups the the Blind Faith before establishing him self As a Solo artist and band buddy the blues Man whose 1965 performances in England inspired Clapton to form Cream the following said he considers Clapton one of his blues each and every one of lightning everybody got some thing of their and that Guy just got he said of when in around that All i want to do is hear him nothing mat ters when a Guys got and Eric has got this gift comes from the fact that for music is not All technique and it is also a Means of communication and until How it want the Only form of therapy for recorded in 1970 As a Way of releasing frustration Over his a reciprocated love for George Harrisons Pat tie was followed by three years of isolation and heroin Addic Clapton and Boyd were married in 1979 and divorced 10 years after he withdrew from heroin in Clapton lapsed into he now says he Hast taken a drink since he left an alcohol rehabilitation Centre in i cant play around with this he leaning Forward in his chair As if divulging a i have no idea How to moderate anything Emo in a very obsessive i will use anything to fix to Stop myself from drugs and alcohol Are just the for abstinence is the Only it has to Alice a former girl Friend of once suggested that he abused drugs and alcohol to play the he thought it necessary to walk Down the hard Road that legendary bluesman like Robert John son i think i needed to put myself in the fire a bit with drugs and with All the other Clapton and there have been times in my life where i didst think that i was suffering but in actual it didst have to be that i dont believe any of us has to suffer More than we already Are suffering not for not for because i actually like and appreciate life too much now to wish myself into some Brown study in order to write a stupid it just int Worth despite Clapton More life affirming its unlikely that he has emerged from the darkness entire besides the guitar and the his Only other Lon term relationship has been with in the words of Robert theres a hell hound on his when Clapton heard about the suicide of Nir Vanas Kurt last the Circum stances sounded All too he was quoted As saying things that i totally identified Clapton like being backstage and hearing the crowd put and in not Worth in a piece of and there fools if they knew what the truth was about they like Ive identified with that a million As in Cobain Clapton friends tried to help rehabilitate him when he was addicted to he no one could help Eric Clapton except Eric Morley Walker 6977307 words from on High legend Eric Clapton rarely talks to the heres what he says on a variety of topics dose to his guitar playing heart on the death of his Foury Earold Conor i didst know the True nature of me until that and then it was shown to me that everything can be taken away at any and i have to look for the and i was Able to do that by continuing to so it became a gift in a on his Sonc tears in written for for months and just hundreds and hundreds of tetters came in from people who i Felt had been helped by wanted to help me or it was important for me because that Healing process is that very simple thing of letting other people know what you feel and then receiving their on the Power of music its so int it that in a time of trouble some piece of music will take me out of myself or my self pity or my and ill be in another place for a Little and where music became a journey for if s an escape that int an escape because most of my problems come about when in looking at the past or the future through the eyes of on his Druc problems in a very obsessive i will use anything to fix to Stop myself from drugs and alcohol Are just the pot abstinence is the Only it has to on his reaction to cd it Cobain death me was quoted As saying things that i totally identified like being backstage and hearing the crowd out and in not Worth in a piece of and there fools if they knew what the truth was about they like in the Pete Steve Ronnie Wood and a whole Host of friends were trying to save me by having me play a the Rainbow i was doing a lot of they got me to rehearsals they did everything for All i had to do was show and i didst care one i did the but i dont remember being i dont remember anything about and i carried on using it had no effect on me Clapton did concede that in the Long its possible that something filtered through because i didst Clapton has Learned a better method of dealing with his prob lems sharing one Way he unburden himself is by talking on the phone once a week with a family i have such a deluded idea of what the world is about that if in left to my own i would go he i because my head tells me All kinds of things that just Arent All this therapy does is keep me in the land of the living and reasonably Jurassic dinosaurs invade Homes this coming tuesday sees the video release of Jurassic director Steven Spiel bergs dinosaurs on the prowl the highest grossing film of All time its taken in Over Mil lion worldwide its appearance on tape and disc is sure to take a tree sized bite out of the video Jurassic Park is appearing in four video on tape it will be available in both a full screen version and a letter boxed As Well As regular and High Speed laser local outlets Are stocking the title in Large John mar tin of the video Stop Chain Esti mates his locations will be starting with Over of which Are already spoken for through customer reorder suggested retail Price for the tape editions is but Many merchants will he Selling it for video Copic Don Anderson were priced at just Well keep Selling it at that Low Price for a couple of Fol lowing a pattern that been established by the discount department Martin then Well take a look at the Market and con Sider a change in Mca video is hoping that Jurassic Park will set a new record for video to do so it will have to surpass the current Disney which has sold Over 20 million copies in North on Disney itself will be releasing another contender for the vid00 sales run in Snow White and the Martin that Jurassic f Park will outstrip Aladdin sales its had More and it appeals to a broader Range of viewers than Disney animated David ringer of movie Village Doest think Jurassic Park will top Aladdin sales outside of the family Trade the people who collect Disney Fea Tures most of the viewers who Are interested in Jurassic Park Arent the Type that buy ringer there More Likely to rent a copy than Purchase is Jurassic Park a family film that question has dogged the picture since it was released in june for the theatrical it received a pg13 which carries the parents strongly cautioned some material May be inappropriate for children under in the video release has been rated pc parental not mutable for Young one of the main reasons for these Strong classification is the movies most powerful and terrifying it occurs about Halfway when a Carload of characters is attacked by a tyrannosaurus Rex during a that its two children who suf Fer the most intense jeopardy Dur ing this which is presented in an utterly realistic has created concern about the effect Jurassic Park can have on Young these fears Are being reawakened As the film makes its Way into Homes across the after its kids who Are going to be spending the most time watch ing and their parents wont always be available to supervise what there looking Jurassic Park clearly want meant for Young mar tin parents should use their judgment and discretion in determining if its suitable for their kids to ;