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Record Boy Ink: BLUES ROUND UP ’99 (Part III) Here’s what
you’ll find if you pick up the recently released Eric Clapton Blues
collection (Polydor): Two discs, the first a compilation of studio tracks from
the ‘70s (including a few outtakes and unreleased tracks). How is it you ask?
Well it’s always a treat to hear “Slowhand” play the blues from any era of his
career. But unlike his 1994 tribute album to the blues “From The Cradle,” the
studio “Blues” disc feels less cohesive as an album, more like a slapping
together of tracks that the project producer felt fit the overall theme. That said, Record Boy heartily endorses this record for
disc two alone. The second CD is a collection of live recordings from the same
era as the studio disc. After Cream, Clapton understood that playing
excessively (listen to Cream live) was not the same as playing expressively.
Clapton’s live renditions of his blues repertoire in the ‘70s is still powerful
stuff and I have listened to disc two of “Blues” as excessively as a live
Clapton solo in Cream! He wails, he moans, he lets loose clusters of blue notes
that go right to your heart. If you’re a fan, you’ve heard it all before on
either “E.C. Was Here” or “Just One Night,” but I’m telling ya, it’s worth
hearing again. Clapton’s live jam with Freddie King shortly before Freddie’s
death in 1976 on “Further On Up The Road” is presented here as a previously
unreleased version. I know that Eric’s slick pop records of the nineties has
people putting up graffiti that says “Clapton is Gosh,” but forget about that
for a while and let Clapton’s blues wash over you. It should come as no surprise to blues fans that some of
the greatest blues albums ever were live recordings. Especially when you’ve got
a soloist who plays what he feels every night, not just what he’s recorded.
B.B. King already has two renowned ground breaking live discs in his catalog,
“Live at the Regal” and “Live at The Cook County Jail.” Though recorded 7 years
apart from each other, both live discs contain much of the same material, even
the same B.B. rap in “Worry Worry.” The
main difference is that “Live at The Regal” was recorded in front of an
adoring, thoroughly captivated crowd which B.B. basks in, while “...Cook
County” was recorded in front of a tough, captive crowd that B.B.
transforms through his unparalled showmanship. So how different is the recently
issued B.B. King Live In Japan (MCA) recorded only 6 months after the
Cook County show? Record Boy gotta tell you, it’s impossible to believe that
this is the same band that played at the jail! B.B. is
impossibly great throughout this disc. This isn’t B.B. and his band going
through the motions, B.B. stretches out his solos with jazz arpeggios,
stinging, rocking blues, and blues from deep down. His band plays with
precision and with a word that most rockers never understand: DYNamics ( or
dyNAMICS). Listen to B.B. and the band interact on “Chains and Things”, the
90mph rendition of “Everyday I Have The Blues” or “Eyesight To The Blind”. The
only live version of Leon Russell’s “Humingbird” is on this disc as well as
three (count ‘em, three!) instrumental jams where B.B. and his boys really
stretch out. Be advised however that the track “Japanese Boogie” contains a
Wilton Freeman fuzz-bass solo on it. This was before “Use a fuzz tone on a bass
guitar and go to jail” laws were passed. Any fan of the blues owes it to themselves to add this
stirring concert performance to their collection. |