by Robert Wilkinson
Today is the birthday of one of the greatest blues guitarist ever to pick a note, the remarkable Eric Clapton. Tonight we celebrate his life and work!
Eric Clapton (30 March 1945) is an extraordinary English guitarist. He’s the only musician ever inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame THREE times; once for his solo work, once for being a founding Yardbird, and of course, one of the three musical giants who made up Cream. He’s certainly one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time, serving as a model for generations of blues players, extended jam guitar slingers, and through the demons he’s overcome, an example of how not to let the heights of fame and success destroy you.
This year, since I don’t have time, I won’t post his amazing work with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, or anything from his time with the Yardbirds or Cream, since that would take a day to prepare. Great blues, great psychedelic electric guitar pyrotechnics, and next year I’ll do a lot more related to his amazing guitar work. For now, enjoy these clips. Some of them may take a while to load, so remember patience is a virtue ....
We begin with the original video of Eric Clapton and the legendary BB King doing the John Hiatt masterpiece “Ridin’ With The King”
Here’s Eric live doing the Bob Marley classic! Reggae down!! “I Shot the Sheriff”
Live from Montserrat, here’s Eric on rhythm guitar with the great Mark Knopfler on lead, Sting on bass, and Phil Collins on drums doing Mark’s infinitely danceable “Money for Nothing”
From 1986 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, an hour and 52 of Eric playing his best! Eric Clapton at Montreux
From 1988 in Tokyo with Mark Knopfler and Elton John, a 9+ minute performance of “Cocaine.” From the same gig, 7+ minutes of “Wonderful Tonight”
In 1990 Eric played 57 minutes at the Royal Albert Hall! Eric Clapton Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Here’s a 52 minute video gem from 1994-95 titled Blues With Russell – Eric Clapton
Here's a live performance by Eric on the Stevie Ray Vaughan 1996 tribute DVD, complete with Jimmie Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, B.B.King, Buddy Guy, Dr.John, Art Neville and Double Trouble, cranking out “Six Strings Down.” We'll follow that with “Rock Me Baby,” move into 15 minutes of “The Thrill Is Gone,” and close with Eric, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, and Hubert Sumlin in a very live smokin’ version of the Robert Johnson blues classic “Sweet Home Chicago”
Last year I had the whole 80 minute show titled “Eric Clapton Pays Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan” but this year it’s nowhere to be found. Last year I also had this 2 hour and 20 classic 2008 concert on one clip, but it’s disappeared. So instead, here’s the link that will take you to the first song of that classic show! The rest will autoload after that. Eric Clapton and Stevie Winwood at Madison Square Garden
These two clips feature some guitar work that is nothing short of amazing! Here’s a great live video performance from 2009 in NYC by Eric Clapton with the Allman Brothers doing the Derek and the Dominos hit, “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad”
I also found a live, audio only performance by Derek and the Dominos of “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad”
Also from the NYC gig with the Allmans, here’s Eric doing “Key To The Highway”
We now cut to his live performance at "The Concert for George," where he takes the lead, just as he did on The White Album. Yes, he was the first "non-Beatle" to play a lead instrument on a Beatles album, and here he appears with both Sir Paul and Sir Ringo in a poignant performance of George's masterpiece "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
I found 4 great performances by Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits playing at Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Celebration at Wembley in 1988! First, “Lay Down Sally” which we’ll follow with “After Midnight.”
We now move into “Cocaine” and we’ll finish with the great Mark Knopfler dance number “Walk of Life”
For the closer, several versions of his biggest hit! First, live with Mark Knopfler and Elton John, Eric belts out “Layla”
Again with Mark, a slow groove acoustic performance of “Layla”
We’ll close this mini-homage to "Layla" with Eric, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page all on stage at MSG in 1983 cranking out “Layla”
For the encore, I just couldn’t resist! Here’s the entire live 1969 performance in Hyde Park of Blind Faith! Gear fab!! Blind Faith Live in Hyde Park 1969
For the second encore, 85 minutes of pure gold courtesy of Martin Scorsese! This is a great 1994 PBS Spotlight show called Eric Clapton - Nothing But the Blues
Thanks for the years of amazing guitar work, Eric! From one Aries to another, keep blazin’ your Dharma blues and bringing happy feet to our world!
© Copyright 2019 Robert Wilkinson
beautiful share ..great to move shift and dance to for sure. I will check in ..next Saturday.
Posted by: nancy | April 01, 2019 at 11:28 PM