Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 10
On December 10, 2003, EC played another night at Tokyo's Budokan Hall. The highlight of the evening was an inspired performance of "Kind Hearted Woman", captured here as part of the impeccable "Just For You" box set on the EC is Here / DJ Copy label.
Just For You
Kind Hearted Woman - AAC Format
Someone (?) recently mentioned the Tom Dowd and the Language of Music documentary, in reference to the fact that some of the bare guitar tracks from "Layla" sound a bit weak and fiddly when seperated from the mix. This is true in general of a lot of music, and another good example is also to be found in another rendition of "Kind Hearted Woman". For this one we will take the time machine back to November 30, 2003, and visit the Budokan again via a release on the Kamikaze label, How Long This Must Go On?. As a bonus track, the folks at Kamikaze tapped into the feed from the wireless transmitter on EC's guitar, and here we get to hear just EC's raw performance on this tune.
Of note, people often don't understand the difference between their typical home stereo amplifier, and a guitar amplifier, and the difference is here laid bare. The receiver / stereo / amplifier in your home or car is designed to *reproduce* sound as exactly as possible. A guitar amplifier is designed to *produce* sound, and to acheive that aim the response is anything but linear. If you've ever wondered why all the truly good sounding guitar amplifiers use vacuum tubes, it's because when digital signals hit the top end of their travel, or "clip", it's a really unpleasant sound. Whereas when a well designed tube amplifier clips, the tubes produce all sorts of even order harmonics and distortion that are very pleasing to the ear (unless you're a Yanni fan). So the raw output here is just that - raw and unfiltered. This is what an electric guitar really sounds like in its unamplified state. Cool stuff!
Overall, this song is a textbook of Clapton-style blues. There is a saying that "it's not what you play, but what you *don't* play", and that's very obvious here. Also pay attention not just to the notes and their phrasing, but the dynamics of EC's touch on the guitar. Without the distortion of the amplifier, one can really hear EC's pick attack as he goes from soft, to really digging in with the edge of his pick on some of the solos.
How Long This Must Go On
Kind Hearted Woman - Guitar Solo
Neat stuff - enjoy!
AG
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 11
On this day in 1998, EC finished the 1998 world tour with a stop in Hannover, Germany. A nice surprise this night was a solo acoustic performance of "Early in the Morning", only played a few times on this tour. There are a couple different recordings from this show, this is from the better of the two:
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-11-hannover-98-early.m4a
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/1998-12-11-hannover-alternate.htm Enjoy!
AG
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 12
On this day in 1991, George Harrison finished the last of three stops at Osaka's Castle Hall with EC and his band, before moving on to Tokyo and the end of that all-too-short tour. The Osaka show, to me, may be the best of the lot. Listen and decide for yourself. These are from the Electric Monkey release, "God, Dark Horse, and Legends".
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/1991-12-12-osaka.htm
I've picked two clips that are favorites for the exact opposite reasons. The first features EC in full blown "lead guitar God" mode, at his wailing best. Nigel Tufnel is known for his solos, but this shows EC can probably hang with Nigel:
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-12-god-dark-horse-taxman.m4a
This one's a favorite for the opposite reason. There is a lot of attention paid to lead guitar playing, and most players spend an inordinate amount of time on that. But a song falls apart without a good rhythm, and not only was this a *tight* band, but pay special attention here to EC's rhythm work as he switches between tight little fills and chord duties. It's an example of the type of playing that may not be instantly obvious if one is just listening casually, but if it were removed, it would change the whole character of the performance.
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-12-god-dark-horse-what-is-life.m4a
Enjoy!
AG
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 13
On this day in 1990, EC finished the epic 1990 world tour in Yokohama. As a prelude to "A Remark You Made", the band offered a short rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" as a nod to the end of the tour, before tearing into the final performance of "Layla" for the year. A fitting end to one of the best EC tours (and bands) ever ...
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/auld-lang-syne.htm
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-13-auld-lang-syne.mp3
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-13-auld-layla.mp3
Cheers,
AG
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 14
On this day, EC was David Sanborn and special guests in New York for a TV special, "David Sanborn and Friends". This was broadcast on American TV just after midnight on January 1, 1999, and later released on DVD in Region 2 (Japan). Here we have a couple choice EC tracks:
From the "After Midnight" broadcast, we have "Sunshine of Your Love"
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/010199-01.html
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-14-after-midnight-sunshine.mp3
And from the excellent Paddington Records release "TV Performance After 1990s", we have "Crossroads":
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/tv-performance-after-80s.htm
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-14-paddington-crossroads.mp3
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 15
On this day in 1991, George Harrison - along with EC and his band - played the second of three shows in Tokyo that would close out the Japan tour. Here, on the encore, George Harrison introduces his old ex-husband-in-law on "psycho guitar" ... R.I.P. George. This one from the Masterport release, "Tokyo 3 Days", also featuring a nice Cooper/Ferrone solo:
http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/tokyo-3-days.htm
http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/12-15-tokyo-3-days-roll-over.mp3
Cheers,
AG
Eric Clapton: On This Day ... December 16
On this day, December 16 ... EC did nothing. More accurately, he may have done something, but at the very least it's not reflected in my database (at this point only 1990-2006). So instead I'll pick a track from another day. It was recorded in December, so at least it's close. This is, without a doubt, the finest performance of "Had to Cry Today" ever recorded. Taken directly from the raw, unedited soundboard master tapes and unreleased in this form (until now of course). http://www.geetarz.org/tunez/cry.mp3 Enjoy! AG