Clapton did lack creativity - compared with Hendrix, Beck, Page etc his turgid suburban-white-man-sings-the-blues lacked both authenticity and passion, while bringing little new into the mix.

His album of Robert Johnson covers was a total embarrassment. Coffee table blues-by-numbers, my arse. No thanks.

while clapton hasn't always made the best or purest artistic decisions, he has exhibited plenty of creativity with blues. if you doubt this, then you really need to read up a bit and listen to more stuff.

anyway, i think you're really missing my main point... Beck and Page can be applied here if you like. the fact is, these guys have no firsthand knowledge of the black experience that was the source of blues, but they've done something with the genre. i think something similar can be said of rap/hip-hop.

please stop missing the forest for the trees -- i don't really care if you like clapton or not.