Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:16 am
Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr/St. Petersburg Times
Turning pain into joy
Eric Clapton, scarred but musically sizzling, still sounds fresh at 59 as he lets his guitar do the talking.
By TOM ZUCCO
St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer
Published June 15, 2004
TAMPA - "Nostalgia," Eric Clapton once said, "is actually Latin for 'return to pain.'"
Most times, he's probably right.
But not Monday night.
On the fifth stop of a 29-city tour, in front of 11,041 fans at the St. Pete Times Forum, with every ounce of energy he had to give, the legend that is EC rode again.
The first hint that this was going to be something special happened early - the moment Clapton closed his eyes, hunched over his multicolored Fender and soared into the guitar solo on Let It Rain, his opening number. He took the song to places it hadn't been before, and it was all uphill from there.
Dressed in a simple black shirt, baggy white trousers, desert boots and wire rim glasses, he looked at times like your friendly neighborhood chemistry teacher. But even at 59, performing concerts night after night, the groove is still there.
Of course, he had some pretty talented hired hands to help: Billy Preston on keyboards, Nathan East on bass, Steve Gadd on drums and Doyle Bramhall II on guitar. And vocalists Michelle John and Sharon White filled in any gaps without overwhelming the star.
After Hoochie Coochie Man, Walk Out and I Want a Little Girl, Clapton bounded into I Shot the Sheriff. Only this time, he dropped a nuclear bomb on the poor man. With his fingers racing up and down the neck of his guitar, Clapton bent notes, strained them and did things to them that might be considered cruel and unusual in some states. He coaxed sounds out of those little strands of wire that seemed physically impossible.
And then, as if to say, "That was nice. Now check this out," he strapped on an acoustic guitar, switched into low gear, and did several Robert Johnson songs from his most recent CD, Me and Mr. Johnson. His extended versions of Me and the Devil Blues and Milkcow's Calf Blues paved the way for Judgment Day, Kind Hearted Woman, Got to Get Better.
As usual, Clapton let his guitars do the talking; he never said more than "Thank you" to the audience after each song.
After Badge and Wonderful Tonight, as show neared its end, Clapton gave the crowd what it was hungry for. He has performed Layla probably more than any another assorted love song, and how he still managed to make it sizzle and burn with an extended solo, how he turned a well worn standard into something fresh, can only be a tribute to his genius.
Clapton has won or shared 17 Grammys; he's a triple inductee into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (solo and with Cream and the Yardbirds). He has evolved and yet remained among the best guitar players who has walked the planet.
He also is terribly scarred. He was raised by grandparents; until he was 9, he thought his mother was his sister. His son died after a fall from a building. He was addicted to alcohol and heroin.
That, he has said, led him to the blues. And to performing. To making people happy. To turning pain into joy.
Monday night, after finishing his 2-hour set with Sunshine of Your Love and Mojo, he had done that. And then some.
* * *
Robert Randolph and the Family Band set the table perfectly for Clapton, and for those who didn't know who the 25-year-old from Orange, N.J. is - and there were many in the crowd who seemed a little unsure - they know now. Nobody, certainly not some relative unknown who plays a 13-string pedal steel guitar, can do justice to Jimi Hendrix.
Yet that's precisely what Randolph did. With his cousins Marcus Randolph and Danyel Morgan providing the drums and bass respectively, Randolph took the audience on extended jams - places where Sly and the Family Stone never dared to go.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:17 am
Clapton exudes controlled versatility
By Charles Passy
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Published Thursday, June 17, 2004
Before Eric Clapton made his way to the Office Depot Center stage Tuesday night, pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph warmed up the near-capacity crowd, playing one loud, libidinous and free-flowing tune after another. At one point, he got so lost in the music that he kicked his chair away, almost turning it into a dangerous projectile.
By contrast, Clapton, dressed in his usual working-man's outfit of jeans and a casual shirt, engaged in no such histrionics. He simply went about his business, sometimes maintaining a poker face, sometimes allowing for a smile.
And the music he made was, in a sense, all about control. It didn't lack intensity, but it also didn't allow for excess. He probably played half the notes that Randolph did, but each one counted far, far more.
That is, of course, why he's Eric Clapton.
The blues-influenced guitar legend's tightly coiled virtuosity was apparent at nearly every turn during his two-hour performance. Early in the evening, he offered a version of his Bob Marley cover, I Shot the Sheriff, that had a sunny, infectious quality. In the middle of the show, he switched to acoustic mode, playing selections from his new Robert Johnson tribute album, Me and Mr. Johnson, that were the blues as they were meant to be: stripped-down and telling. (Unlike so many contemporary blues-inspired rock and pop artists, Clapton doesn't seem to feel the need to channel his inner soul man. He just plays with soul. Trust us, there's a difference.)
And by the end? Clapton let 'er rip, playing a trio of his most raucous songs -- Layla (the hard-core version), Cocaine, Sunshine of Your Love -- without sparing volume or vigor. (And he did a nice, gritty job with the vocals, too.) But even Clapton at his most invigorating is a man who understands the architecture of a tune. His jams had a clear sense of direction; there was never a wasted note.
A plentiful band did solid work supporting Clapton, and occasionally stealing the spotlight from him. Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II was the best of the bunch, though his facial expressions sometimes distracted from his playing. He should learn to follow Clapton's stately, reserved lead.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 8:57 am
Photo by Ron Cannon/whereiseric.com
Clapton presents crowd-pleasing encore
By Gene Triplett
The Oklahoman
Published June 11, 2004
The sultan of stinging Stratocaster was back on the road Wednesday night, offering something old, something borrowed and plenty that was blue, but very little that was new at the Ford Center.
But there were no complaints from the 15,000 fans who braved a torrential spring downpour to worship at the altar of the baby boomers' acknowledged guitar god, Eric Clapton.
After greeting his dripping flock with an appropo show opener, "Let It Rain," he rewarded them with plenty of the familiar hits they wanted to hear, ranging from his true halcyon days with Cream and Derek and the Dominos through his 34-year solo career as a crowd-pleasing Top 40 titan.
Looking supremely laid-back in a loose-fitting, short-sleeved blue shirt and jeans, and showing a little gray around his stubbled jowls as he gazed owlishly into the middle distance through wire- rimmed glasses, the venerable virtuoso cut loose with effortless, string-bending ease on the Willie Dixon classic "Hoochie Coochie Man," then took a soulful mid-tempo shuffle through Bob Dylan's "Walk Out in the Rain" (another nod to the weather), aided smoothly by second guitarist Doyle Bramhall II on searing slide, lively keyboardists Billy Preston and Chris Stainton and sweet-sounding backup singers Michelle John and Sharon White.
His obligatory run through "I Shot the Sheriff," the Bob Marley reggae-rouser that made him millions, sounded surprisingly fresh, delivered reloaded with a new guitar intro and higher- caliber soloing than the original radio single.
But the highlight came when Clapton, Bramhall and bassist Nathan East sat in chairs at center stage with acoustic insturments for a tribute to the star's shining inspiration, bluesman Robert Johnson, first with Clapton's wonderfully woeful vocal interpretation of "Me and the Devil Blues," followed by the bright, bawdy and upbeat "They're Red Hot" and a down-and-dirty, plugged-in plow-through of "Milkcow's Calf Blues."
The rolling and tumbling gospel grit of "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day" and the steamy slow-blooz of "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" rounded out the interlude of song which can also be heard on Clapton's latest album, "Me and Mr. Johnson."
Then it was back to the radio tracks, for a jazzier version of the once raw and wrenching "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," a crowning achievement from his Dominos days that was watered down a bit on this rainy night with extended and showy organ and piano solos from Preston and Stainton, respectively.
"Badge," a Cream powerhouse co-written with his old friend George Harrison, seemed a bit tarnished by a lack of enthusiasm and, of course, the conspicuous absence of the magnificent, chiming solo Harrison supplied on the original recording.
But everyone seems to love Clapton's latter- day love ballads, and when he slipped into the sentimental "Wonderful Tonight," many a devoted fan was seen holding a cell phone in the air, so that absent friends and lovers could share in the bliss.
The predictable inclusion of FM staple "Layla" featured some sizzling dual-guitar interplay between Clapton and Bramhall reminiscent of the Clapton-Duane Allman juggernaut of the Dominos, and a righteous reading of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" had the crowd shouting along revivalist style.
Still, Clapton deemed them worthy of only one encore, which included another Cream classic, "Sunshine of Your Love," with East taking on former Cream bassist Jack Bruce's vocal parts rather splendidly, while opening act Robert Randolph sat in on this tune and a raunchy reworking of Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Workin'," with pedal steel licks that threatened to run Clapton and Bramhall off the stage.
It made one wish Randolph and his Family Band had been alloted more time at the top of the evening, having given blistering performances of their own Allman Brothers-style jam, "Nobody," Curtis Mayfield's soul-stirring "People Get Ready" and an instrumental torching of Jimi Hendrix' "Voodoo Child."
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 9:32 am
Guitar did the talking at Clapton's NLR show
BY JACK W. HILL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Published June 13, 2004
Like the proper Englishman that he is, Eric Clapton gave his fans what they expected Friday night at Alltel Arena. He gave them precise, searing runs on his guitar in a 112-minute show, but it was only his guitar that did the talking, with conversational interludes nothing more than the occasional "thank you" to a packed house of 10,836 that clearly adored him.
Perhaps it's asking too much of a veteran entertainer to share some sort of humorous tidbits, but it's also a shame that a performer could not take a moment to craft some sort of betweensong anecdote so that those who have paid $60 and more for a ticket could leave feeling a tad less, well, clinical.
That said, Clapton cannot be faulted for the quality of his work, as he repeatedly brought the crowd to its collective feet to better appreciate his deft fingerwork.
Dressed simply in a blue shirt and light-colored pants and wearing a few days' stubble, Clapton walked out on stage and got right down to business with "Let It Rain," which involved the forcible extraction of many a hot note from his favored guitar, a colorful model with a patchwork quilt design.
Keyboardist Billy Preston sounded great on "Hootchie Coochie Man," and several songs later, the intelligent pacing of the show was evident, thanks to the great build-up that preceded "I Shot the Sheriff," followed by an interlude of several acoustic selections, which featured Clapton and his guitar sidekick, Doyle Bramhall II, who both sat down, as if to emphasize the back-porch vibes of the songs.
"They're Red Hot," one of the Robert Johnson songs on the newest Clapton CD, Me and Mr. Johnson, was the clear highlight of the seated portion of Clapton's show, and in a less rigid world of radio, the song would likely be a hit.
When the chairs went away, Clapton poured it on with "Badge," but then came the cloying "Wonderful Tonight," although it was a crowd favorite for some, with couples being shown dancing, on the large video screens.
"Layla," the electric version, followed, as if to redeem Clapton's rock credentials, and fans loved hearing a song that never grows old for some, although the follow-up song, "Cocaine," could surely be omitted from concerts, especially since Clapton devotes energies to a treatment center for fans of cocaine. "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" was nicely done, thanks to alternating flashy work by keyboardist Chris Stainton, guitarist Bramhall and keyboardist Preston. Clapton took the fourth solo to finish the song out in fine form.
Opening act Robert Randolph & The Family Band left the crowd begging for an encore, which never happens with opening acts, who are normally merely tolerated. A virtuoso on pedal steel guitar, Randolph soared to new heights on his instrument, seeming to float out of the seated position he was in a couple of times.
It was hard to tell where one frenzied song ended and another began in his band's 35-minute set, and some of the songs were instrumental, but he did include nice versions of the soul classic, "People Get Ready" and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile."
It was no surprise when a pedal steel guitar was set up after Clapton briefly left the stage before returning for an encore that featured Randolph wailing away on the two-song finale, "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Got My Mojo Working." The youthful enthusiasm of Randolph seemed to create the biggest smile of the evening for veteran blues-rocker Clapton, a man who obviously enjoys his work and goes about it in an intense, albeit gentlemanly British fashion.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 10:12 am
Photo by Chuck Credo IV
Clapton's New Orleans show a totally unique experience
By Chuck Credo IV
New Orleans
(fan review courtesy of whereseric.com)
When you sit down and think about it...what makes an EC show GREAT?! Many people write in and say how well he is playing these days (and he is)...or about the band being so talented (which they are)....but I always feel is it is the combination of all of these...plus a little special magic...that ALWAYS make for a GREAT night with EC.
Unlike many other stops in the US, Robert Randolph was NOT the opening act. The task fell to Texas blues legend Jimmy Vaughan to kick off the night....and what a great job he did. The "nawlins" crowd ate him up as many in attendance had just seen him a few weeks ago at the House Of Blues here in New Orleans.When Vaughan was done, I noticed a problem with the stage setup....where was BILLY PRESTON'S Hammond organ?? Looks like the Hammond was being set up over by Chris...As the band took the stage, it was confirmed...No Billy Preston! After quick speculation, I came to the conclusion that he may be attending services for Ray Charles (who Billy first started to play for back in the 1960s). I was really looking forward to Billy's smiling Hammond organ riffs...but let's see how the boys cover this big hole in the music terrain.....
Eric walked onstage with Crash #3, white shirt, blue jeans. As he tore into Let It Rain, I was floored by the overall groove of this band as opposed to the structured jazz stylings of the reptile group. EC's best move in the past five years was to get Doyle Bramhall in the group....I am sure he is responsible for Eric's new found fire for playing. Chris took over all the keyboard parts and covered everything with true class and style. Steve and Nathan were on the money...as always.
The two backup singers have GOT to GO. Being in the music biz myself, there is quite a lot to be said for presentation. While Eric has never been one for a BIG SHOW theme, he and the band at least have a simple presentable image. The two girls...while they did sing well .....1.) looked horrible, fashion-wise. 2.) totally lacking in coordination for stage performance. Ok ok ok...yes I am use to Katie and Tessa's performances....but a lot can be said for simple image presentation during a performance...and these two girls had NONE. They were making up dance moves as the night went on and NEVER got them right! ....and I also agree that the Hootchie Cootchie background vocals also need to be left alone. This paragraph represents my only complaints of the night.
So...as I said before...what makes Eric's New Orleans performance unique from his other shows thus far? The absence of Billy Preston had an impact on the band as you could see as they came on stage. What resulted is about DOUBLE the amount of EC solos. Wherever there would be a spot where Billy would take a solo, EC was there. The solos were TOTALLY stretched out to cover for Billys absence. New Orleans was treated to a night of EC playing the guitar...for EXTENDED periods at a time. My belief is now...give Eric enough space to build a solo...and he will take you over the moon. Quite often the band limits the timing of the solos where they will be a start and a finish (maybe two times through). On Saturday night, those rules were off and the extended jams were a plenty!
As reported, his playing IS better than ever. Folks, I have been watching EC live for the past ten years. This was my forth live concert of Eric's. You can BELIEVE what you are reading...the man's playing is top notch...on par with some of the great points of his career. His choice of a lot of DEREK AND THE DOMINOES material allows the interplay between Doyle and Eric to bring the band to new heights (Andy Fairweather...for all his talents...was not capable of this). Let It Rain, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Layla....FOUR Domino gems. Eric's playing is faithful to the quality of the original songs. His passion for them is present in his fantastic solos.
We did have some EC interaction with the crowd. From my floor fourth row seat, a group behind me made a sign that said "Thanks, Eric" and stood up during Got To Get Better....Eric read it during the intro and smiled. He also was laughing with Nathan East during Wonderful Tonight. ...When you play a ballad like Wonderful Tonight in New Orleans...you are going to get dancers. Couples stood up in their seats and started to dance, while others took to the isles. During "They're Red Hot" many folks stood up, waving their handkerchiefs ...ALMOST starting a second line which would have been great. I wish I had brought an umbrella, I would have led it off.....**if you don't understand what I'm saying, don't worry. It's all "Naturally Nawlins!" ...but after the acoustic set, the dance party was on. The crowd was dancing through "Got To Get Better," "Badge," and "Wonderful Tonight" before giving their full attention to the band for "Layla"....and also in true New Orleans style, we had some line dancers in the front section during "Cocaine"....classic!
After a TOP NOTCH set of playing (I Shot The Sheriff tore the roof off, Judgment Day vocals were OUTSTANDING, "I want a Little girl" without a doubt for Brother Ray Charles...stunning!)....it was time for the encore. Sunshine of your Love....Had the entire arena singing the chorus which brought back memories of Paul McCartney in the same room singing Hey Jude with 25,000 people.
Then came the REAL magic....Jimmie Vaughan's matchless amp (which went out on him during his set due to a blown tube)....was fixed and set up ready to go. The fabulous Thunderbird strutted on stage with his sunburst Strat. My thoughts were that this would be a fantastic version of "Got My Mojo Workin".....but for the THIRD time for Eric In New Orleans...he CHANGED the encore from the rest of the tour. The band launches into a SPECTACULAR "SWEET HOME CHICAGO".....as the solos began...Doyle, Clapton, Vaughn and East lined up in a single file line jamming it out....just like at ALPINE VALLEY that fateful night. I could have kicked myself for not bringing my camera. There were smiles all around on stage as these legends duked it out allowing New Orleans to have it's own Guitar Festival. Once again, the crowd was on their feet...singing the chorus and dancing in the isles.
As the jam came to an end...the entire band had a standing ovation by the entire arena. All of the circumstances surrounding the show...No Billy, Extended Solos, Fantastic Singing Voice, and Jimmie Vaughan for that FANTASTIC encore...made Clapton's New Orleans show...ONCE AGAIN...a totally unique experience. We were treated to some of the best guitar playing possible during the show...and those encores put us OVER the top.
Big congrats also to WHERE'S ERIC for coming along as one of the best fan clubs out there. How wonderful it has been to see the work pay off by this group over the past ten years +. I love the ad in the tour program.
So to wrap things up....I have my spray paint ready....a famous Eric Clapton slogan may end up on a few buildings in town!! Yeah, you heard me!! While I am joking, his performance last night has rewarded him this classic title again.....Clapton is God. Don't argue it. Just enjoy it!
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 17, 2004 2:12 pm
Photo by Jon M. Fletcher/The Times-Union
The legend is alive
Eric Clapton plays at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
By EYDER PERALTA
The Times-Union
Published June 17, 2004
There's something inherently holy in the way Eric Clapton plays guitar. Even when he's shredding on the hard rock of his youth, his guitar has a tone that's pure. Every first note he plays resounds like the yell of Etta James on At Last.
He wasn't even on stage, when his presence was made clear Wednesday at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The first phrases of Let It Rain made the sold-out place rumble, and that's all you need to become enthralled by Eric Clapton's legend.
What's nice about Clapton is that he's still going strong. He's not like all those other '70s rockers who appear washed up on stage. Clapton can still play and his music is just as relevant today as it was back then.
Or maybe he just makes it seem like it is, because even when he played the blues, he brought back the urgency with which his hero Robert Johnson sang them. We don't live in the same times, and Clapton most certainly has not had the same experience as Johnson, but he made those blues about his love, or lack thereof. He sang Hoochie Coochie Man with a coquettish swagger and Me and the Devil Blues with all the sullen pleasure a man with his talent gets from dropping riffs that feel so good they must be bad.
And there's no caveat with his music: It was good throughout and he even made sure to spread the blues across the setlist and end with a furious attack of hits: Wonderful Tonight, Layla, Cocaine and Sunshine of Your Love.
The most important thing with Clapton, though, is that he plays just what he needs to play. Even the solos are kept to phrases that are entertaining and eloquent.
The old blues legend is that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to find within himself the talent to play the way he did. He was said to have been poisoned by an angry girlfriend and that he hissed and crawled on all fours to his death, spitting out these final words, "I pray that my redeemer will come to take me from my grave."
On Wednesday, Robert Johnson was alive.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Sun Jun 20, 2004 9:50 pm
Photo by Kimberly Smith/Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clapton shows why he's rock divinity
By JON WATERHOUSE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published June 19, 2004
As the lights popped up after opening act Jimmie Vaughn, 15-year-old Marshall Watson of Woodstock quickly stood up from his seat in Philips Arena with sign in hand. "Clapton Is God," it read, echoing a phrase made popular during Eric Clapton's rise to fame during the 1960s.
"Some people have given me a hard time tonight," said Marshall, who came with parents in tow to Friday night's Eric Clapton concert. "But going to a Clapton show is like seeing God."
That's quite an expectation for the British guitar hero to live up to during his fourth decade in the public eye. But for the sea of fans in the audience, "Slowhand" seemed to rise to the occasion.
From the beginning strains of "Let It Rain," Clapton delved into a varied set, tossing in deeper cuts with radio-friendly favorites. "Walk Out in the Rain," from the 1978 "Backless" album, was soon followed by an extended romp through "I Shot the Sheriff," his popular cover of the Bob Marley classic.
But the singer seemed most comfortable during a five-song run-through of songs from his latest release, "Me and Mr. Johnson," a tribute to blues legend Robert Johnson. With his Nike-shrouded feet vigorously tapping along, Clapton looked more akin to a tortured bluesman than an aging rock star.
"He had so much pressure put on him after his Cream days, it's taken him 30 years to rediscover himself," said fan David Wilson, 51, of Atlanta. "And now he has the power to do it."
Clapton's true strength, however, became powerfully evident as a barrage of hits closed the show: the epic rock of "Badge," the laid-back seduction of "Wonderful Tonight" and the sprawling jam of "Layla."
After a nod to '70s indulgence with "Cocaine" and a flashback to the '60s with "Sunshine of Your Love," the hellhounds snapped back onto his trail with a bluesy rave-up of "Sweet Home Chicago."
From his blistering solos to his weathered growl, the evidence of Clapton's divinity quickly became clear. Whether or not he's truly God incarnate, his enduring talent may just be proof that a higher power has a hand in rock 'n' roll. A slowhand, that is.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:08 pm
Photo by Alan Devorsey/The Greenville News
Clapton fans bask in blues
By Donna Isbell Walker
The Greenville News
Published June 20, 2004
Eric Clapton showcased his bluesy side Saturday night at the Bi-Lo Center.
From Willie Dixon to Robert Johnson, the originators of the blues were channeled through Clapton's guitar and voice in a nearly two-hour show that also featured plenty of the singer's best-known hits.
Opening with his 1970 hit, "Let It Rain," Clapton kept the audience hooked from the moment he strolled on-stage strumming his guitar. For much of the show, the crowd sat and listened to each song, then leapt to their feet in cheers after the last note.
For fans Mike and Tammy Dixon of Tryon, the show represented a chance to see an artist who personifies the term.
"It's the consistency in his music," Tammy Dixon said. "It's not just a good hit now and then; it's artistic music."
The set included blues songs like "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man," and from his new Robert Johnson tribute album, such songs as "Me and the Devil Blues" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues." For the encore, Clapton brought back show opener Jimmie Vaughan to play on an incendiary version of Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago."
He didn't neglect the hits either, performing songs like "Layla," with its screaming guitars giving way to piano, and a rocking version of "Cocaine."
A set piece of the show was "I Shot the Sheriff," with a different intro than the recorded version. Random cheers could be heard as it dawned on fans which song it was, with a huge cheer when it became apparent to everyone.
Clapton added a slight Latin feel to the main guitar solo, closing his eyes and moving his head side to side until he became almost one with his instrument. The intensity continued to build until the end of the song. The standing ovation lasted a full minute.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:32 am
Fleet-Fingered Clapton Gets Down and Dirty
By Dave McKenna
The Washington Post
Published Wednesday, June 23, 2004
The fingers are quicker than the eye. Eric Clapton's still are, anyway. During the 59-year-old legend's show Monday at the MCI Center, there was little use trying to match his digits' movement along the fretboard with the notes coming through the house PA.
In a blue button-down shirt, bluejeans and really clean Nikes, Clapton looked a lot better than somebody with his personal bio, so full of drug and booze addictions and personal tragedies, should look. The tones he plucked, picked and/or bent out of the strings on his designer Stratocaster -- which, like so many of Clapton's axes, is available for purchase via auction at Christie's -- were beautifully dirty.
Clapton opened with "Let It Rain" from his 1970 solo debut, as jangly a tune as he's ever put to vinyl. Doyle Bramhall II, the second guitarist in Clapton's eight-piece ensemble, took the night's first solo. Then Clapton went on the first of many loud, long runs to clarify the band's pecking order.
One could quibble with the order of Clapton's set list, which seemed designed to rein in the crowd's enthusiasm until very late in the show. His solo to end a syncopated rendition of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," for example, had the crowd standing and screaming. But Clapton then sat down and went unplugged for a mini-set of deep blues (including "Me and the Devil Blues," "They're Red Hot" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues") from his most recent CD, "Me and Mr. Johnson," a Robert Johnson tribute. The picking was precise and the tribute sincere, but 12-bar acoustic blues are far better suited to a saloon than to an arena. Clapton also killed some momentum by following a raw and raucous version of "Badge," a tune George Harrison wrote for Cream, with "Wonderful Tonight," the wimp-rock classic from 1977's "Slowhand" LP.
But the set also contained some pleasant surprises. Clapton dug deep for "Walk Out in the Rain," a Bob Dylan song he had recorded for 1978's "Backless," and "Got to Get Better in a Little While," one of the lesser-known tunes from his Derek and the Dominoes days. The iconic piece from that period, "Layla," probably bores Clapton by now. But he delivered a version as heavy and heartfelt as possible, compelling many fans old enough to know better to strap on air guitars and try to ape one of the most famous and fleet guitar breaks in rock history. Again, there was little use trying to match their digits' movement with the notes coming through the house PA.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:38 am
A guitar master class at Pepsi
By MICHAEL ECK
Albany Times Union
Published Thursday, June 24, 2004
ALBANY -- Eric Clapton came to play guitar at Pepsi Arena on Wednesday night and he did just that. Over the years Clapton has refashioned himself as a singer and a pop star but he remains "Slowhand" at heart, the man who inspired London graffiti artists to proclaim "Clapton is God" on bare brick walls in the '60s.
He kicked off his almost two-hour show with a rousing version of "Let It Rain" that found him in fine form vocally and stunning form on the six-string.
Clapton invented half of the hard rock cliches in every picker's book, but he still manages to arrange them in fresh and inventive ways. When he laid into a repetitive lick at the end of the tune, it soared, wrapping itself around the beat like the rain itself.
If he wasn't quite so dazzling on the basic blues of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" he still pumped out tone to die for.
Clapton has recently paid tribute to his prime influence, Robert Johnson, with an album full of the legendary bluesman's songs. The record, "Me and Mr. Johnson" is frankly a pretty tame affair that does nothing to top or even equal Johnson and does little to extend Clapton's legacy.
Onstage, however, he found some of the fire that fueled Johnson.
"They're Red Hot" took a shuffle beat to town and back again, and found Clapton letting the band do most of the work while he sang with a fervor. Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II offered peppy slide work on the tune, too.
All bets were off, however, when Clapton slipped on a slide himself. The two men, sitting nearly knee to knee, tore into "Milkcow's Calf Blues" and "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day."
The latter boasts one of the most delightfully evil riffs ever put to wax and Clapton and Bramhall jumped all over it. Clapton's solo in "Kind-Hearted Woman" was possessed, too, moving from swampy, finger-picked licks up to full intensity.
When Clapton hit the homestretch of hits -- "Badge," "Wonderful Tonight," "Layla," "Cocaine" -- he seemed to go on autopilot, but he still lit up fans who were looking for nostalgia as much as nuance.
Sacred steel guitar phenom Robert Randolph opened the show with a blazing set that proved in no uncertain terms why his band is one of the hottest acts on the road in America today.
The band knocked out a sizzling instrumental take of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" at the Pepsi, as well as offering a fine reading of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready."
Randolph also joined Clapton's band for a show-closing encore of "Got My Mojo Working."
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:38 am
A guitar master class at Pepsi
By MICHAEL ECK
Albany Times Union
Published Thursday, June 24, 2004
ALBANY -- Eric Clapton came to play guitar at Pepsi Arena on Wednesday night and he did just that. Over the years Clapton has refashioned himself as a singer and a pop star but he remains "Slowhand" at heart, the man who inspired London graffiti artists to proclaim "Clapton is God" on bare brick walls in the '60s.
He kicked off his almost two-hour show with a rousing version of "Let It Rain" that found him in fine form vocally and stunning form on the six-string.
Clapton invented half of the hard rock cliches in every picker's book, but he still manages to arrange them in fresh and inventive ways. When he laid into a repetitive lick at the end of the tune, it soared, wrapping itself around the beat like the rain itself.
If he wasn't quite so dazzling on the basic blues of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" he still pumped out tone to die for.
Clapton has recently paid tribute to his prime influence, Robert Johnson, with an album full of the legendary bluesman's songs. The record, "Me and Mr. Johnson" is frankly a pretty tame affair that does nothing to top or even equal Johnson and does little to extend Clapton's legacy.
Onstage, however, he found some of the fire that fueled Johnson.
"They're Red Hot" took a shuffle beat to town and back again, and found Clapton letting the band do most of the work while he sang with a fervor. Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II offered peppy slide work on the tune, too.
All bets were off, however, when Clapton slipped on a slide himself. The two men, sitting nearly knee to knee, tore into "Milkcow's Calf Blues" and "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day."
The latter boasts one of the most delightfully evil riffs ever put to wax and Clapton and Bramhall jumped all over it. Clapton's solo in "Kind-Hearted Woman" was possessed, too, moving from swampy, finger-picked licks up to full intensity.
When Clapton hit the homestretch of hits -- "Badge," "Wonderful Tonight," "Layla," "Cocaine" -- he seemed to go on autopilot, but he still lit up fans who were looking for nostalgia as much as nuance.
Sacred steel guitar phenom Robert Randolph opened the show with a blazing set that proved in no uncertain terms why his band is one of the hottest acts on the road in America today.
The band knocked out a sizzling instrumental take of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" at the Pepsi, as well as offering a fine reading of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready."
Randolph also joined Clapton's band for a show-closing encore of "Got My Mojo Working."
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:21 am
Clapton blues, mighty and moody, at Wachovia
By A.D. Amorosi
Philadephia Inquirer
The blues came to Wachovia Center Saturday night, provided, in several shades, by guitarist Eric Clapton and Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
For Newark's "Sacred" pedal-steel-flailing Randolph, this meant a foot-stomping epiphany: greasy gospel and brusque husky blues filled with globs of Hammond organ, hard shuffling beats, and Randolph's thunderingly electric slides. Seated or standing, Randolph was a whirling dervish, a blue blur.
British-born Clapton was Randolph's opposite. Still and stately, Clapton's blues seemed an insular entreaty, a bedeviled sadness bottled up within bottleneck runs and weary whinings. Clapton, a man with his own share of demons, took on Robert Johnson with growlingly poetic, knowing grace and polite reverence. Johnson's blue-black bible of soul-stealing prose and crotchety, contagious musicality was perfect for Clapton's scuffed-soulful voice and blunt, poignant guitar solos.
With bottleneck bursts shared by guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, Johnson's detritus was neatly dispatched with despair and respect, be it acoustic (the slow "Me and the Devil Blues", the fleet jazz-jiving "They're Red Hot"), or electrically charged on the mangy, yodeled "Milkcow's Calf Blues."
Though Bramhall gave him a run for his money during his fuzzy, funky solo on "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," Clapton had an overflow of red-running mojo for a guy with pricey taste in haircuts and wristwatches. His rattled, lowered-octave croon on "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man," the depth of rage and avarice lent to "I Shot the Sheriff" (from slim pickings to body-heaving roar, Clapton's best guitar solo), the clipped snarl given to a chugging "Sunshine of Your Love" - these were signs of Clapton's personal apocalypse.
It would have been nice if other Clapton classics had held the same baleful blues power. The listless "Layla" and the turgid "Wonderful Tonight" were blanched and rushed. Playing with the devil takes it out of a man. But Clapton's quiet, determined passion still won out.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Sun Jul 04, 2004 7:26 pm
Photo courtesy NY Post
Don't Fret: Clapton's Mojo is Still Workin'
By DAN AQUILANTE
New York Post
Published June 30, 2004
YOU don't have to suffer to sing the blues, you have to survive, and that's what Eric Clapton has done in a career that's spanned five decades.
At Madison Square Garden Monday, he played a towering concert that never mentioned the loves he's lost — from women to his son.
There was never a word about the problems that led to his addiction to booze and drugs, or any of the other miseries he's had in his pursuit of fame and fortune.
Yet it seemed the adversity he's survived was at the core of the music.
There have been few New York shows where Clapton played his Stratocaster better or brought such emotion to his vocals. He was totally assured, yet projected the humbleness of a master craftsman.
Even during the sugar shock of "Wonderful Tonight," he transcended the sap in the final breaths of the tune when his eight-man band quieted, allowing the boss to sing in a near whisper, "I love you" to a woman who's now just a memory. It was wonderful.
This was the concert's big ballad, and it melted the women and made the guys cheer, but the show really was all about powerhouse electric blues.
That was clear by the end of "Hoochie Coochie Man," the second song in the fat, two-hour set.
Clapton worked the famed 12-bar progression like a caged cat. If you happened to see the "From the Cradle" acoustic blues tour in the late '90s, this show put that acclaimed concert series to shame. Clapton played the electric guitar as if he's been practicing five hours a day.
His fretwork was liquid fast, precise and very soulful. He used sudden stops for dynamics and traded licks with his bandmates as if the music were a conversation.
How good was it?
You could read it from his expression: His usually stony and dour mug yielded to a wide smile a number of times during this concert.
But the biggest grins were reserved for when the leader of the warm-up band, Robert Randolph, joined Clapton and company for the encore set.
Randolph, who plays pedal steel guitar, can sling notes as fast as Clapton and isn't intimidated playing with the greatest living guitarist on the planet.
To watch these two aces duel through "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Got My Mojo Working" was such magic, the pair should really consider playing a few co-headlining dates in a more intimate theater setting.
As unlikely as it seems, at 59, Slowhand seems to be at the top of his game. See for yourself. He's playing one more show at the Garden tonight.
Jarrod Vrazel Executive Producer
Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 1695
Location: Houston, Texas
Posted:
Sun Jul 04, 2004 7:45 pm
Eric Clapton at the Junction of Precision and Improvising
By By BEN RATLIFF
New York Times
Published June 30, 2004
Several times during Eric Clapton's show at Madison Square Garden on Monday night he began a guitar solo with authority, and a prospector of thrills might have been tempted to lay a bet. Would he take this one to the land beyond licks? Would it get around the fast and precise triplet figures where his improvisations usually crest? Would he wrench apart the expected with some rhythmic displacement, smear up the perfect diagrams of his playing?
Not really. But you shouldn't take Mr. Clapton out of context. Rock shows - even those delivered by middle-aged men in running shoes - often build up to innocent release, the sound of glass crashing. Mr. Clapton polishes the glass, endlessly refining. His guitar playing pulls itself into taut symmetries, building up to wailing high notes and then coming down. His phrases operate in a tightly circumscribed area in relation to the beat. He squeezes soul and accuracy out of his own limited voice. He is tremendously even, which can be tremendously appealing.
Because the core of the show, bracketed by old hits, was music from his new album, "Me and Mr. Johnson" (Reprise), the evenness had another dimension. The album is a tribute to Robert Johnson, and as recent blues scholarship has argued (particularly an insightful book called "Escaping the Delta" by Elijah Wald), Johnson did not particularly prize spontaneity. He was a careful entertainer.
When Johnson sounded as if he was improvising, as in the spoken asides in "Me and the Devil Blues," his identical asides in the second take proved that he was using a crafted routine. And Mr. Clapton, while inserting more soloing into his versions, likewise stuck to his band's arrangements for the Johnson material.
"Me and the Devil Blues" began Mr. Clapton's concert-within-a-concert. (For the whole Johnson segment, the group's guitarists and bassists sat down in chairs at the front of the stage, before a hideous Art Brut backdrop that looked like bedsheets splashed with cement.) That first song, played on acoustic guitars, as well as electric versions of "Milkcow's Calf Blues," "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" and "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," formed the best parts of a middleweight night, fitted with interlocking riffs between Mr. Clapton and the band's other guitarist, Doyle Bramhall II. Together they intimated at the push and pull of what Johnson did by himself.
For "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," the drummer Steve Gadd, the bassist Nathan East and the keyboardists Chris Stainton and Tim Carmon set up an easy, chugging tempo. From his first solo phrases, Mr. Clapton sounded ready to take off. But he quickly tethered himself to the ground, repeating well-made stock phrases. (Mr. Bramhall doesn't have the delicate sound of his bandleader, but his solos provided a few more jolts.) And Mr. Clapton's singing found falsetto notes, growls and hoarse cries, yet hovered in the realm of the adequate.
For the rest of the show, Mr. Clapton essentially ran laps around the track. Most of the set list came from his 2002 live album, "One More Car, One More Rider," with "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Layla," "Badge," "Wonderful Tonight" and "Cocaine."
In the encores he had duets with the steel-guitarist Robert Randolph, the concert's opening act, on "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Got My Mojo Working." Mr. Randolph can enthusiastically trade solos for a long time. But Mr. Clapton set stiff limits on a jam session: their entanglements were dense, loud and short, one final burst of power before the end.
