A few favorite tunes
I have so many versions of what Eric Clapton has done that I wouldn't have considered buying more if this didn't have a version of the song, "Can't Find My Way Home." Yvonne Elliman is adding a vocal to that song, so it is distinctly different from the two versions which feature Steve Winwood's vocals on the Blind Faith Deluxe Edition, originally recorded in May and June, 1969. The 1975 version starts solidly with a guitar intro that has been the basis for people figuring out how one guy with a guitar can get it started, and another guitar and organ just add a bit. Eric Clapton was great on these songs in 1975, and I am not surprised that I have acquired more versions of the other songs on this album. "Can't Find My Way Home" doesn't show up often on the Eric Clapton live shows, or the "History of Eric Clapton" that has some older songs that still sound great."Have You Ever Loved A Woman" and "Presence of the Lord" are songs that strike me as distinct, each with an individual character that Clapton can express himself with over and over. The songs "Drifting Blues," "Rambling On My Mind," and "Further On Up the Road" strike me as having a single type, that when I am listening to them, I hardly remember who does these songs, or is this a 3 and a half minute or a seven minute version? There is only one song on this album that is less than 5 minutes long, but people who listen to this live set shouldn't be in any hurry.
Clapton is good on this one
Clapton has had a number of career paths: innovative-but-purist bluesman in the early 60s, avant garde rock star with Cream, and then laid back singer-songwriter where he played his guitar less and less in the 70s, and then, in the last decade, he has returned (sort of) to the blues. Well even though this is in the 70s here he has the blues and by god he actually plays lead...a lot! "Have you ever loved a woman?" is just superb and he duels mightily with George Terry. Clapton has done a number of versions of the Freddie King original and this is probably my second favorite version (the first being the live version with the Bluesbreakers). This one is really aggressive and he and Terry really stab their leads into the song with the kind of passion that Clapton generally lacked in the 70s. The Blind Faith material is also just very pleasant - good tunes well played and Presence of the Lord has him wailing on his guitar in a most uncharacteristic way - very much more like Steve Winwood. "Rambling on my Mind" has the ascending key changes throughout which is very effective for pushing up the excitement, and passion level. "Further on up the Road" is also a very good version - his best cover of it in fact. This is by far his best live album - much superior in many ways to "Just One Night" or his stints at the Royal Albert Hall. The album is short but in many ways this is its strength. His band have a great sound, and play wonderfully together. Is it the world's greatest album? Of course not; but it is a coherent statement, and Clapton has a passion in his playing that is absent from the majority of his other post-Cream performances.
ec was here
this is my anthem. i've had a very fortunate life and this cd is part of it now. i'm home but i can't find my way there. the perfect album if you have the blues.
Great band
If you want to hear what a real "shuffle" is supposed to sound like just take a listen to Eric's version of "Further on down the road" and you will know. This is truly what a live concert should be like.
a loaf
Fans call this one "A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Bodge"!
Now you know...
