Eric Clapton Borrows The Beatles' "Day Tripper" Riff in Cover of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say"
The late Ray Charles—the great American singer, songwriter, musician and composer—was born on this date (September 23) in 1930.
No, this factoid doesn't have a lot to do with guitars.
It does, however, bring to mind John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers' interesting 1966 version of Charles' 1959 hit "What'd I Say." The Bluesbreakers version features a young Eric Clapton on guitar.
To put it bluntly, even though it appears on a groundbreaking, legendary guitar album—Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton—"What'd I Say" is not a standout track by any means. It just sort of sits there, and its lengthy drum solo (played by Hughie Flint) isn't exactly "Moby Dick." Who knows, maybe it was a crowd favorite at the Bluesbreakers' live shows.
Anyway, there is this oddity to consider: When the rest of the band comes back into the song after Flint's drum solo (at 3:36), Clapton is playing the very-hard-to-miss guitar riff from the Beatles' late-1965 single "Day Tripper"—over and over again. Blues Breakers was recorded in March 1966, so there's no question as to whose riff it was.
Is it theft? Plagiarism? Maybe by today's standards. But in reality, it's just a 21-year-old guitarist being irreverent and having fun, quoting a famous song within another song, just as he did when he quoted the melody to Rodgers & Hart's "Blue Moon" in the guitar solo to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love."
By: Damian Fanelli
Source: Guitar World
