The Eric Clapton album by album thread

We'll give Crossroads plenty of time to breath. Plus I haven't listened to all of Journeyman in a long time so will digging out my vinyl during this week.

I like the positive/constructive criticism in this thread. Too many Clapton threads have been sidetracked in the past by negativity which has nothing really to do with the music.

Onwards and upwards. Won't rush forward too quickly now.

 

My own favourites from Crossroads:

 

One of the very best Clapton songs for me, or maybe its just how this recording sounds. The wah-wah, the backing vocals. I even look forward to Carl's slight bass flub near the end. Love it!

 

Great version

 

I bought the 45 of this back in the day. Best version of this song in my opinion. Love this thread!

 

Somehow more rhythmic too.

 

Yeah Bobby rocked - I love his quote from Stones In Exile - "It's rock n roll son!"

 

Oh yeah- great song. Such a nice groove!

 

Got To Get Better is a rocking tune, and lyrically interesting....he knows he's doing too much coke (or heroin) and is concerned, or flaunts is? Certainly interesting in the light of what happened to him and the band.

 

This was a big hit and popular TV commercial..............move over Falstaff Beer.........The Night Belongs to Michelob..!

 

I disagree because the premise of the box set was not to release predominately unreleased material, or on the flip side, four discs of previously released catalogue cuts. I think Levenson got it right at the time. He showcased Clapton's talent and body of work through a fine mixture of hits, album cuts, and rarities. It was a neat way to experience what he had done up to that point; it wasn't flawless, but he did a good job, particularly trying to fit a 25 year career into four discs.

Out of curiosity, what would your ideal four disc line-up looked like? It is always interesting seeing how fans would recompile a box set. I have come up with my own alternative track listings for other box sets on a number of occasions.

 

I'm must agree wholeheartedly. It is the PERFECT box set for both the layman Clapton fan, the hard-core fan, and the fan discovering his music for the first time. Greatest hits, radio hits, rare hits, and also many unreleased tracks.

It is a set that is the blueprint for other box sets to this very day.

 

Clapton remained a superb blues player live, when sober and not at festivals, for many years post Layla.

 

Indeed, that was not my point though.

 

Yes, I adore that song. And now adore it even more with Bobby's additions to the longer version on the 40th Layla box set. Love the lyrics. Such a shame that song was never finished at the time.

 

Agreed. I was very skeptical when I heard Whitlock was adding contemporary overdubs to the track, but he pulled it off amazingly well. Definitely a surprise and highlight of the 4oth Anniversary Layla project.

 

I'm not saying it isn't a good representation of Clapton's career. I'm just not that excited about getting what I already have, again. Multiple times even.
Compare Dylan's Biograph box to the Bootleg Series 1-3 box. Crossroads is Biograph and Bootleg series is what my ideal Clapton box would have looked like. Plenty of rarities and outtakes have been made available over the years, so it could have been done.
Maybe if you have no Clapton on your shelf, the Crossroads box is the way to go but if you have all the original albums, a "bootleg series" is far more interesting.

All true, but I'm not the layman Clapton fan ! And yes, it is the blueprint for other box sets, which is why I think almost all of them SUCK !

 

In 1988, none of the outtakes were commercially available -- it was on subsequent releases that the rarities started getting recycled (something I am not particularly fond of). I'm not so sure there were three CDs worth of commercially viable tracks in the case of EC circa 1988. That said, I would like to see some sort of archival set from EC's 1960's/1970's era output be released, containing his mix of his debut self-titled LP, additional Dominos studio outtakes from the aborted 2nd LP, additional outtake material from "461 Ocean Blvd.," additional live outtakes from the "EC Was Here" live tapes, additional outtakes from "No Reason To Cry," the Glyn Johns "Turn Up Down" sessions, additional tracks from the "Just One Night" tapes, etc.

 

I guess they're concentrating on Cream at present, with Fresh Cream SDE (which I didn't go for due to lack of new tracks vs purchase cost,) and perhaps the record company will continue with that act first. I have no idea. But I would very much go for your suggested archival set.

 

I assume they had more of the Cream BBC sessions at that time and the Blind Faith Hyde Park show & other live Derek & The Dominos & Rainbow concert outtakes, . The also had some of the jam Blind Faith material and live shows from Clapton during the 70's.

 

I agree with Clapton himself that the Blind Faith jams are grave disappointments. You'd think they'd come up with something interesting, but no.

 

I agree, there was certainly material, but I am not convinced there was three-four CDs worth of bona fide, commercially viable tracks that would have presented an alternative career retrospective. Dylan's Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 contained three CDs of mostly amazing unreleased songs -- in the case of Clapton, there would have been a lot of meandering Blind Faith jams, live tracks in varying degrees of sound and performance quality, and BBC cuts. I don't think such a set would have held up well as a mainstream commercial product. To a faction of fans, yes, it would have been welcomed. But such a set would have had a number of deficiencies. Levenson included a rare live John Mayall lo-fidelity track, rare Dominos singles, unreleased Dominos 2nd LP cuts (which did fill an entire side of vinyl), a rare Blind Faith outtake, an alternate After Midnight, two unreleased live Dominos tracks from the Fillmore reels, a handful of unreleased studio tracks from the 1970's, etc. -- all interspersed with choice hits and album cuts. I still think the collection works very well for its intended purpose.

 

Clapton's mix of his debut self-titled LP - A big *if*...potentially could've been on the 2006 deluxe cd
Dominos studio outtakes from the aborted 2nd LP...maybe the best stuff is already on the Layla 40th and Crossroads boxes
Additional outtake material from "461 Ocean Blvd" - See the deluxe edition and Give Me Strength box
Aditional live outtakes from the "EC Was Here" live tapes - See disc 2 of 461 deluxe, Crossroads 2, Give Me Strength box
Additional outtakes from "No Reason To Cry," - Throw in a live 1976 set, and you've a potential deluxe edition
Glyn Johns "Turn Up Down" sessions - Possibly
Additional tracks from the "Just One Night" tapes - The album is the bulk of the show...only Layla, Knockin' On Heaven's Door and Country Boy didn't make the cut, if I recall correctly.

 

Yet, just two year later in 1990, the 20th Anniversary Layla 3 disc box was released two discs of "non mainstream" tracks.....go figure.

Anyway, I was wondering if there ever was any decisive conclusion as to the autheticity of Devil's Road. Do you think thats a genuine Dominoes track with Clapton on guitar ?