I have to say that I've not looked forward to an EC album release as much as NBTB in years, I guess the last ones would be From the Cradle, Me & MR Johnson and Blues for Robert J.
Totally This should have been signed off and released years ago. Maybe we would be looking at a complete tour box set by now as an anniversary release.
True that but I am not sure if any other shows from the blues tour were professionally recorded. At least none other than the Fillmore nights have leaked so far (I am referring to non-audience recordings). Similar to 24 nights, it would’ve great if they’d recorded a few shows from the 1995 blues tour with Steve Gadd on drums. I’ve read great reviews of those shows but again, only audience recordings circulate.
I played the Sessions For Robert J DVD last week after a very long time. It’s a great companion to the Me & Mr Johnson record and could totally use a Blu-ray upgrade! Perhaps they could do an anniversary release combining the two records and some of the live performed tracks from the 2004 tour in 2024.
I like that idea, those two albums are soo good and the Sessions For Robert J DVD is fabulous. EC is full of enthusiasm with his performances being passionate throughout. Its such such a crime that he's neglected the Blues side of his career as a recording artist because that's when he's truly at his best.
I am not up on that kind of stuff. I do have a few soundboards, rehearsals at Manhattan Centre Studios Sept 28th 1994 (this was on uk tv back in the day) Various versions of soundboards with 7th 8th & 9th November 1994. These could well be all the same, I have never done a deep investigation to see if they are all the same performances.
I think we got lucky with 5 different blues releases from EC in the 1994-2004 period (Cradle, NBTB, Riding With The King and the two Robert Johnson albums). I agree with you, would’ve been great for him to drop another one in the last 18 years, but he’s been more interested in recording old standards that he grew up with (on Clapton & Old Sock) and more recently, doing a Christmas album. Guess he’s checking other things on his list before hanging up the guitar…. I think the best opportunity to do another blues album was in 2016 when he reunited with Glyn Johns and recorded an all analogue album. That style of recording would’ve been perfect for another Cradle type record! The versions of Alabama Woman Blues and Stones In My Passway on it are great.
In my opinion the 3 core blues albums-Cradle,King,Johnson- have been the only 3 studio albums in the last 45 years that rank as essential Clapton.Everything else fits in the spectrum between mediocre and rubbish. Those 3 are great.
Have to be honest, not a big fan of Riding With the King and I LOVE B.B. King. Thought they did it a little late in BB’s career and wasn’t a huge fan of the production. Also thought the song selection could’ve been better.
B.B. was still playing well and could do good albums with a sympathetic production, as Blues from the Bayou shows. Unfortunately Simon Climie was not the sympathetic producer the album deserved. And this had already been "announced" by their previous collaboration on B.B.'s Deuces Wild. How can you turn a sensually swinging classic like "Rock Me Baby" into a stiff, hobbling drum machine mess?! Beyond me. That B.B. then got Climie to produce his Reflections, an extremely lifeless album, still irks me. What's the deal with him? Does he hypnotize musicians or something? Which, to be fair, has quite a few blues tracks on it. And of course B.B. made one around the time of Riding with the King too
Great records that could use upgrades in the digital realm (that are not overly limited digitally) IMO. I doubt it'll ever happen but one can wish. I hope the NBTB release is free from too much digital tampering.
Do we know if the DVD and the Blu-Ray will have the same content? I'm assuming they will both have a 5.1 mix though I haven't seen that for certain.
Honestly can’t understand why anyone would want the DVD version, do they even still make DVD players anymore? The DVD is inferior in every way, much better video and lossless audio with the Blu-Ray for only a few bucks more.
The DVD will have the same content with lower resolution video (480p) and lossy surround soundtrack. They haven’t mentioned any extras on the Blu-ray version. The one feature that I would like on the Blu-ray is an ability to watch the concert without the interviews and commentaries. While the performances have repeat viewing qualities, the interviews will get old much faster.
For me, that's the reason. Plus I have a better surround setup on my computer than on my TV. It's painful to spend money on DVDs but sometimes that's the choice of convenience.
I would say if someone has a hard time finding a Blu-Ray drive for a PC, they’re looking in the wrong places, I don’t see how they can be missed. I look on Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, they’re all over the place and cheap.