By: Concert Vault
Playlist Description
Here's a little retrospective of Eric Clapton's career, from 1968 - 1988, starting with Cream in Los Angeles and ending with his performance at Prince's Trust Rock Gala in London. His work with the Yardbirds, John Mayall, and Blind Faith are unfortunately not represented (although he does play "Presence of the Lord" with the Dominos), nor are his more recent years of touring and collaborating. But this is still a good audio overview of his career: you can hear his reckless rocking in Cream, his comfort in the role playing he did in Delaney and Bonnie and Derek and the Dominos, and the songwriting sensibilities and slicker sound of his post-'74 solo career. For a more thorough biographical overview, click on "Eric Clapton" in the Browse By Performer section to the left. But here are some extra notes about the performances here...
Cream - Jack Bruce was the godfather of heavy metal and Ginger Baker was a bulldozer. They had been together for over two years when this concert was recorded and just over a month away from breaking up...there's a lot of aggression here for better and for worse.
Delaney and Bonnie - Clapton met these guys when they opened for Blind Faith (the short-lived supergroup of Clapton, Baker, Steve Winwood, and Rick Grech) during a 1969 tour. He ended up hanging out with D-and-B more than Blind Faith and, wanting to get out of the spotlight, started touring with them. It was with their help that he started feeling comfortable as a singer and writer.
Derek and the Dominos - Eric took the core of Delaney and Bonnie - Bobby Whitlock on keys, Carl Radle on bass and Jim Gordon on drums - and made this group, again with the intention of being more of a role player in a collaborative process. In many people's opinion, this was his peak as a guitarist and you can hear a lot of joy and soul in these songs. He would soon fall into trouble with drugs and wouldn't fully re-emerge until he did as a solo artist in 1974.
The solo years - After 1974, Clapton toured with mellower ban
