Is Eric Clapton’s classic hit, “Cocaine,” the greatest rock song ever?

I was reading this list and thought Credence should be in there! And there they are! Good list. Moody Blues?

Clapton may be a significantly better guitarist than Prince was, but didn’t Prince play ALL the instruments on hit albums? He was a freakishly talented musical auteur.

It's a JJ Cale song

Not even close, although it is a great song. Good grief, that stinker of an album needed a "high" note (heh heh), so I guess this did the trick. "Wonderful Tonight" is a contender for worst song of all time, that's for sure.

But EC's first 2 solo records were all-time classics, so there's that.

For me it's Purple haze by Jimi Hendrix. And loved how Stevie Ray plays it seemingly effortlessly.

This is a better Cocaine song

I didn't know that, I intially I thought maybe you were confusing him with Mike Oldfield but did some research and apparently he played most of the instrumental parts on his debut album, impressive! Thanks for that factoid.

Yes. I think the list is different if we are talking influence vs. technical skill vs enjoyability. For example, I think Stevie Ray Vaughn is much better than Clapton and even Hendrix as a pure guitar player, but from an influence perspective, there is no comparison between SRV and the latter two. Van Halen is another example of someone who influenced those who followed him significantly.

And from a technical standpoint, people can argue about this rock guitarist vs. that, but they are ignoring the elephant in the room. Classical guitarists are generally far more technically skilled than rock guitarists. They can play faster, play more complex pieces, and play them incredibly cleanly. So it seems of limited use to rank rock guitarists on technical skill.

And then there is enjoyability. I personally think that guitarists like Slash, SRV, and David Gilmour have some of the most best solos from a melody and overall enjoyability perspective. But that is completely subjective.

On Prince, I think he was not even thought of as a guitarist by many people and thus underrated. Then people began pointing out that he is actually a pretty good guitarist, which he is, but unfortunately started overrating him by placing him on the all-time great list, which is an over-reaction.

Thanks!

Nights in White Satin....only Moody Blues I like.

All those bands I mentioned have a huge gang of great tunes. That to me is the true barometer when it comes to greatness, could you sustain it over time with years of great stuff.

I like the song "Brandy" by Looking Glass but what else did they do? "96 Tear" ? and the Mysterians then what?

I own all The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, hell we are talking 50 CD's there. So many great songs.

Didn't they play "Cocaine" when Hunter came on stage during the 2020 campaign? Wonder if Clapton allowed them to play it without licensing fees?

Obviously this thread is about Rock music, but we do have tons of other stuff each with the artists that best represent that sound. Rock is just a small part of the musical landscape, pre Rock with jazz, blues, Big Band, 40's, doowop/oldies, country, soul, bluegrass, Post rock in metal, punk, rap, hip hop, funk, reggae. Point.......how diverse is your musical world, or are you stuck in one genre? I enjoy it all, enjoy how it all evolved from primitive blues to what we see today. A very interesting journey.

As far as Clapton goes you can look at anything talking the great guitarists and he will always be there. Don't really have to debate exactly what number. Have seen him at number two, three, four, five, six,.....have never seen him further back than that on any list.

Jimi Hendrix simply on another level, yep.....special!

Yes, Clapton's version of "Cocaine" is the greatest rock song of all time. Also, The Hooters are the greatest rock band of all time.

My top 3 Clapton-associated songs:

1. Sunshine of Your Love

2. Layla (big props to Duane Allman)

3. Cocaine

Those are three awesome songs/renditions. I’m not taking anything away from EC.

Best RnR song? I’m not sure the answer, but feel it should be elite in all phases: front man belting out the notes, notable guitar parts, great rhythm, cool lyrics, proper verses/chorus structure, etc. EC is just not great enough as a singer for this to rate #1, even if the other components are sufficient.

Songs I would consider:

Satisfaction, Rolling Stones

Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones

Whole Lotta Love, Zeppelin

Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Who

Panama, VH

Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix

Good? Yes. Great? Maybe. Best Clapton? No, it's not even a Clapton song (JJ Cale wrote it); that would be Layla or Crossroads (though he obviously didn't write that either). Best rock song ever? Won't Get Fooled Again, no question about it.

I've never seen a classical guitarist play with a violin bow at 150 decibels, then set the guitar on fire.

Don't know, I do know he has ripped off enough old blues(they all have) songs I doubt he's concerned about licensing anything.

I'm a guitarist. In my judgment Clapton is a quite ordinary professional guitar player. Never have understood all the worship of the man. Can think of dozens and dozens of better players.