Eric Clapton How Is Authenticity Constructed

Eric Clapton - How is Authenticity Constructed? Authenticity is a major issue in discourses on popular music, and seems to be the bedrock of the distinction between 'pop' and 'rock', i.e., whether musicians can be trusted ('rock') or not ('pop'), which comes down to the distinction of whether musicians are 'authentic' or 'commercial' (Moore, 2002). In these discourses, authenticity is assumed to mean 'true to its origins'.

Certain authors have pondered that this distinction may be illusory, but even so, have divided authenticity into several categories (Moore, 2002): first person authenticity, where original music is performed in a manner that makes the audience believe the music is authentic: that is, authentically created, and performed; and third person authenticity, where a performer of music succeeds in conveying the impression of having accurately conveyed the expression of an - absent - other (Moore, 2002).

Authenticity is assumed, by many authors, to be inscribed to a musician or performer, yet this assumption is wholly wrong, in that authenticity is actually ascribed to musicians and performers. Authenticity, as a value, is something that must be constructed by each and every listener personally, according to their own response to the music in question.

It is only after the listener sees the performance of the music by the musician, that they can begin to understand the musician's relationship to the piece, and their interpretation of the piece, and only then can the musician be said to have any authenticity. The following is based on this view of authenticity as an ascribed value.

Eric Clapton and his music are used as an example by many authors on the subject of authenticity in music, and these discussions invariably fall into Moore's (2002) second category of authenticity: third-person authenticity. Eric Clapton, a highly able and respected musician, gained a huge worldwide following in the 1960's for his interpretations and performances, solo and with his band, Cream. I say 'interpretation' as many of the songs that Clapton, and Cream performed, such as Crossroads, were not original songs, and were re-worked by Clapton.

Crossroads was a song originally written and performed by the country blues star Robert Johnson (Moore, 2002). Johnson led a tragic life, dying early in mysterious circumstances, and living his life as a poor man, with only his guitar for comfort, on which he composed blues music, through which he explored his own life through distorting the sound of the instrument to provide an analogue for his own tortured soul (Moore, 2002).

It is argued that, to a certain extent, when Clapton performed Crossroads, he did not authenticate Johnson's music by reinforcement, rather his interpretation of Johnson's song authenticated Clapton's own musical presence (Moore, 2002). It was the appropriation of the 'black' blues tradition, of which Johnson was a part, which gave Clapton the material through which he constructed himself as an authentic performer (Moore, 2002).

Clapton's appropriation of the 'black' blues tradition was then cemented by his full discovery of this tradition, from BB King to Freddie and Albert King, from country blues through to Robert Johnson (Moore, 2002).

This tracing of the origins of a practice back to the originator of the practice thus reinforces the tradition to the tracer: this phenomenon, and is well-known in discussions of authenticity in popular music (Moore, 2002); this process is also necessarily circular, as Clapton was authenticated via his appropriation of Johnson, who was then authenticated by his appropriation by an artist he himself had a great deal of respect for (Moore, 2002), since only music that is worth acquiring will be appropriated.

As Moore (2002) argues, Clapton conveyed the message 'this is what it is like to be me' to his audience, using the message 'this is what it was like to be Johnson'. Thus, authenticity of execution (Moore, 2002) arises when a performer succeeds in conveying the impression of accurately conveying the expression of an absent other (Moore, 2002), and Clapton is a particularly apt example of this third-person authenticity.

Thus, during his performances of particular songs (for example, Crossroads) Clapton speaks the truth of his own situation, as during his performances, he can only convey his own particular expression of a particular song openly, honestly and therefore, truthfully. As to whether Clapton manages to convey the truth of the situation of absent others, this is a difficult one to answer.

In order for an audience to believe that Clapton is conveying the truth of an absent other, the audience needs to know that Clapton has respect for that absent other, enough respect to have made a thorough study of the tradition to which that musician belonged, a study which allows Clapton's interpretation of that particular piece of music to be authentic in the sense of being true to its origins.

As to whether Clapton speaks the truth of his own culture and thereby represents present others when performing the music of absent others, this is an even more difficult point of discussion. This point needs to rely on a meaning for the word 'culture' in order to fully answer this question, and this is difficult.

Can Clapton, a white man, from a white culture, ever delve deeply enough in to a tradition to be able to authentically convey music from an entirely different ('black') culture? Cultural purists would argue not, but in today's multicultural society, the answer to this question is increasingly (and increasingly believably) likely to be yes, at least for white audiences, and for 'blacks' who agree with the idea, and principles, of cross-cultural artistic expression.

However, it has to be recognized that there are certain tensions and resistance encountered in the process of cross-cultural appropriation of music, particularly in this case, as it concerns the black community, who see their musical heritage as something pure, a badge of identity entirely their own. This is entirely understandable, particularly in reference to appropriation of the blues tradition by whites, as blues is a black music, which arose out of unspeakable.