Eric Clapton and his music

Eric Clapton finds his way 'Back Home'
By George Varga
UNION-TRIBUNE POP MUSIC CRITIC
September 4, 2005

A three-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton has performed for millions of fans around the world as a solo artist and as a member of such short-lived but legendary bands as Derek & The Dominos, Blind Faith and the recently reunited Cream.

But the iconic guitarist and singer has discovered recently that no audience is tougher to win over than the one nearest and dearest to his heart – his daughters Julie Rose, 4, and Ella Mae, 2. (At just 7 months, Clapton's youngest daughter, Sophie, has yet to offer much approbation of her famous father's music.)

"It's a humbling thing, playing for your kids, because they're entertained for only so long. Then, they find something else they want to do," said Clapton, 60, from his office in the upscale London borough of Chelsea.

"It's very hard, so I try and make it as engaging as it can be. But you have to face the fact that, no matter how good it is, you can only hold their attention for a little while."

Clapton's fatherly delight is one of two key inspirations for his enchanting new album, "Back Home" (Reprise Records), which includes a lighthearted song, "So Tired," that celebrates life as a sleep-deprived new parent.

"Well, I'm only a musician when I'm required to be, actually," he said. "And sometimes I'm required to be a father, too, and that's the beauty of it, that I can play (music) for (my kids). . . . "

"Their favorite tune is Robert Johnson's 'Hot Tamales,' and I have to play that as loud and fast as I can, and then they dance. But then I get tired, so then I tell them they're going to dance ballet, so that I can do simple arpeggios on the guitar and take a rest."

The album's other source of inspiration is the unexpected – for Clapton, at least – happiness he has achieved as the husband of graphic designer Melia McEnery, a 29-year-old American of Irish-Korean parentage. The two met in 1998 at a Los Angeles party, thrown by Giorgio Armani, to preview the sale of some of Clapton's guitars.

The instruments were being auctioned to benefit Crossroads, the guitarist's nonprofit drug rehab center on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Clapton, who has been sober since 1987, and McEnery were married Jan. 1, 2002, in Ripley, England.

The wedding took place in the same church where funeral services were held in 1991 for his son, Conor, who died after falling out of a 53rd floor window of a Manhattan apartment building, a tragedy that inspired Clapton's Grammy Award-winning ballad "Tears in Heaven." (He has one other daughter, Ruth, 20, from a previous relationship.)

To his palpable relief, Clapton has attained a sense of calm and purpose that had previously eluded him. After decades of drug abuse, alcoholism and serial womanizing, he has at last found fulfillment as a devoted family man.

Or, as he writes in "Back Home's" liner notes: "Most of all, I want to thank my wife and children for providing for me, with love and care, the home I have always yearned for, and will always hurry back to."

The album is one of his most moving, personal and rewarding ever. Like the once-restless man who made them, "Back Home's" dozen songs exude a welcome new sense of contentment.

"Yeah, I think I've finally landed on my feet in a situation where there is no greener grass," he said. "I always found myself on the lookout for something else. Wherever I was, the better party was always down the road; I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it wasn't this.

"I finally found the party – I'm actually at the party – so even at its most quiet and dire moments it's still the best place to be."

Beyond his dreams

Being a happily married father is a dream come true for Clapton. But he readily admits that he couldn't have even imagined his current scenario had anyone suggested it to him only 10 years ago.

"I think I would have been quite pleased, because 10 years ago I was quite low," he said. "But I wouldn't have been able to imagine that; I wouldn't have believed them."

His personal breakthrough has also been a source of joy for Clapton's close friends, including Nathan East, who has been the bassist in his band and a confidante since the mid-1980s.

"In rock 'n' roll, as we all know, the image is that it's one big party," East said. "But many times the reality is that it's the furthest thing from the party. There's the alcoholism and drug abuse that come because you're looking for that elusive 'thing,' and you don't know what it is or where it is. But you've got the money and the connections, and the choices are not always the healthiest."

East attended the Los Angeles party where Clapton met his young American wife-to-be seven years ago. The bassist was elated at the transformation that soon followed, which is vividly chronicled on several songs on Clapton's new album. Witness the blues-and gospel-tinged "Run Home to Me" and the gentle acoustic balladry of "Back Home's" title track, which both offer touching testaments to the power of love.

"I was around when it was a question (for Eric) of: 'Who's the girlfriend du jour going to be?' And you don't get fulfillment that way," East said.

"Melia is absolutely lovely, and so is her family. She's one of the sweetest people I've met, and it's for all the right reasons that she and Eric are so happy together."

As passionate as it is finely crafted, "Back Home" also features luminous versions of "Love Don't Love Nobody," a 1974 gem by the Spinners, and "I'm Going Left," a soul chestnut by Stevie Wonder and Syretta Wright (which Clapton was inspired to record as a tribute to Wright after her death last year).

Equally impressive is his version of "Love Comes to Everyone," which features Clapton's former Blind Faith bandmate, Steve Winwood, on synthesizer, and was written by former Beatle George Harrison. Clapton counted the former Beatle, who died in late 2001, as one of his closest friends. Harrison's first wife, Patti, later became Clapton's first wife and was the inspiration for two of his best-known songs, "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight."

Asked about his criteria for selecting songs to record by other artists, Clapton said: "I think I probably am more influenced by the overall groove of the track, not even the song. If we pinpoint the songs (by others) I've done on this album, they were really more about the overall feel of the record than the lyrics. I mean, sometimes I don't even know what people are saying when they sing. When I was younger, it was phonetic; I liked the sound of the words much more so than the words."

For Clapton, part of the allure of recording songs by other artists – beyond his attraction to their work – is that bringing attention to their work also helps them financially. A key beneficiary has been J.J. Cale, the Valley Center-based musician who wrote two songs that were later popularized by Clapton, "After Midnight" and "Cocaine."

"That's part of the deal for me," affirmed the guitarist, who with East will be featured on Cale's next album. "It's always been the best thing I can do, to alleviate the fact that I don't really think that highly of my own output, is to know it might help somebody else."

Come again?

"I just think I'm OK," Clapton said, matter-of-factly. "The object of most of my work has been to raise it above my standard. And so, you know, I never think I'll be as good as the people I look up to."

Such as?

"J.J. is pretty close to the ideal focus for that," he replied. "I like his principles; I think he's a very principled man."

Cream rises again
As "Back Home" reaffirms, Clapton is a reluctant guitar hero, his groundbreaking albums with Cream and Derek & The Dominos notwithstanding.
That's why fans craving his extended solos will fare better seeking out Cream. The pioneering power-trio, which acrimoniously disbanded in 1968, is hoping to follow up its May reunion concerts in London with several shows at New York's Madison Square Garden in late-October.

"I felt it was time to be a little charitable, in terms of friendships and healing up old wounds," Clapton said of his reteaming with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, whose solo careers never ignited like his.

Where Cream thrived on extended improvisations, "Back Home" – like many of Clapton's previous solo outings – finds him carefully choosing his musical moments for maximum impact. The album features his impeccably tasteful playing in a concise format that requires him to makes every note count.

"That's something I've always strived to do," he said. "You can only really stretch, I can only do that now, in concert. I think on record it would throw everything out of proportion if one song had a really long solo and the others didn't; the overall picture gets redefined. If it's an album of songs, then that has to be the priority. . . .

"When I'm making a record, we're trying to preserve the perspective of the piece, that's the most important prerogative. On stage I have a much more open approach to it; it can go anywhere – and I think it needs to go anywhere. When the audience is sitting in front of you, it doesn't show any respect to them to confine it like the record. And that's the point, on stage, where we become musicians, when we learn to play off the songs and off each other. . . . I always look forward to playing, and the only time it becomes a chore is if I'm sick or tired or not feeling well. With each show, I'm always convinced this will be the best one ever."

Happy, at last, both on and off stage, Clapton has attained a balance in which his music is more important than ever, but not to the detriment of his personal life.

"It's just as important, it just doesn't play such a huge role," he said. "I think it's probably more important sometimes (now), because I don't focus on it so much. So when I come to it, it just has more power."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050904-9999-1a04clapton.html

ЦД

1. I'm So Glad
2. Spoonful
3. Outside Woman Blues
4. Pressed Rat & Warthog
5. Sleepy Time Time
6. N.S.U.
7. Badge
8. Politician
9. Sweet Wine
10. Rollin' & Tumblin'
11. Stormy Monday
12. Deserted Cities of the Heart
13. Born Under A Bad Sign
14. We're Going Wrong
15. Crossroads
16. Sitting On Top of the World
17. White Room
18. Toad
19. Sunshine of Your Love

Cream, the legendary band of Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, performed for the first time in 37 years in May 2005. One of the most highly anticipated reunions in rock, the concert at London's Royal Albert Hall-where the band played its farewell show November 26, 1968-returned to the stage the trio that forever changed rock 'n' roll. Now the best of those historic peformances are available on Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005. This is classic Classic Rock. A companion DVD is being released utilizing different takes of the same tracks.

By George Varga
UNION-TRIBUNE POP MUSIC CRITIC
September 4, 2005


Nathan East has spent much of the past 20 years touring the world and recording with Eric Clapton, but the famed English guitarist credits his partnership with the former San Diego bassist to more than just their artistic rapport.

"Nathan is probably the closest friend I have in the music world," Clapton said. "He's the most supportive and caring musician I've met."

It is these qualities, along with his sterling instrumental and vocal skills, that have made East one of the most in-demand bassists in popular music. His past credits include collaborations with Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Little Richard, Kool-Moe-D, the Count Basie Orchestra, Justin Timberlake, Don Henley, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Joe Satriani, among others.

But East, who is also a founding member of the top smooth-jazz band Fourplay, has worked longer and more closely with Clapton than anyone else.

He has played countless concerts with Clapton and performed on at least a dozen of the guitarist's albums, from 1985's "Behind the Sun" through the just-released "Back Home." Their deep personal bond was cemented after their first tour together in 1986 to promote Clapton's "August" album.

"When the tour was over Eric gave me a photo, on which he wrote: 'To the brother I never had.' We became close very quickly. I think one of the keys was that we both had a lot of respect for each other," said the Philadelphia-born bassist, who moved to San Diego when he was age 4.

Like many young aspiring musicians in the late-1960s, East was a fan of Clapton's most famous band, Cream.

"I can remember sitting in my room at home in Southeast San Diego, with a black light on, playing along to Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Love,' " the bassist said. "So it was almost fated that we'd end up working together so long."

East is a former member of the San Diego bands Power and the People Movers. He moved to Los Angeles in 1979 after earning a degree in music from UCSD, where he studied with noted contrabassist Bertram Turetzky. East's goal then, as he said in a 1985 San Diego Union interview, was "to be everybody's favorite bass player."

It was a mandate he quickly realized working with such varied artists as Hubert Laws, Rickie Lee Jones, Eurythmics, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau and dozens more, including Kenny Loggins, in whose band he performed at Live Aid in 1985. East also contributed to "Fame," "Footloose" and a host of other film soundtracks.

"Musically, Nathan is in the Top 3 as a bassist," said Clapton, who named Willie Weeks and Stevie Wonder band veteran Nathan Watts as the other two.

East, 49, lives in Tarzana with his wife, Anita, and their 5-year-old twins, Sara and Noah. He spent part of last month recording with Clapton for a new J.J. Cale album, as well as doing sessions for the next Andrea Bocelli album and an all-star Luther Vandross tribute. He also produced a Christmas album, which features Anita Baker, Take 6 and others, for World Digital Music Group, a new record label being launched by Radio Shack and Dish Network.

East will do a bass guitar clinic tour of Asia and Europe in October, followed by November concerts in South Africa with Fourplay. Next year could see the completion of the bassist's long-awaited first solo album. But nothing will take musical precedence over his partnership with Clapton.

"There's a tour with Eric in the works for 2006," East said. "And by the way, he's the youngest 60-year-old – in terms of energy – I've ever seen. He's up early every day and extremely productive. He's a very strong player and singer and songwriter, and he shows no signs of letting up."

Уже слова начинают появлятся...

One Track Mind

Tossin & turning all night long
Down in my pillow felt so strong
I had to get up and write this song
Tell me, where do we go from here

I'd give anything to make you see
Your brand of lovin were made for me
What can I do to make you see
that with you I can't go wrong

All I do is pray
That you would come my way
No doubt about it, I've got a one track mind

You took my breathe so easily
And you touched my heart so carefully
And you give your love so tenderly
And you can't do nothin' wrong

Cause I got not time for no one else
And I got no love for no one else
Cause I don't believe in no one else
With you I do belong

chorus
As far as I can see, (as far as I can see) the only one for me
No doubt about it, I've got a one track mind
As far as I can see, (as far as I can see) the only one for me
No doubt about it, I've got a one track mind

You take my breathe so easily
You touched my heart so carefully
You give your love so crazily
You can't do nothin' wrong

I'm Going Left

[Chorus:]
(Yeahh) I'm goin' left
'Til you lead me to the right
Lead me to what is right
I'm goin' left
'Til you lead me to the right
Lead me to what is right

There's a train people say
I could ride to get my whole life straight
But the bridge on the way
Has a toll too much for me to pay
Yes I know this must be
What I chose could mean my destiny
Lights are green all is go
But my heart keeps telling my mind no

[Chorus]

There's a plane over there
Where all are given even share
What you get is so small
It's like never having nothing at all
Take my hand says a friend
A will stick with you until the end
But I'm in doubt I must decline
even friends can change their lines

Revolution by Eric Clapton Lyrics

I told you once, I told you twice
You never listen to my advice
Good kind treatment, I’m threw with you
Won't get to heaven, I don't care what you do

I seen you changin from day to day
Nothin never gets in your way
Don't feel nothin for no one else
Take what you want, jus help yo self

(chorus)
(say you wanna, say you wanna)
Now you want a Revolution
(Want a revolution)
A revolution now
(Say you wanna, say you wanna)
Say you wanna a revolution
(Wanna revolution)
A revolution now

(Told you once) I told you twice
(Ya never listen) To my advice
(Now your out there) Your on your own
Ain't got no friends, ain't got no home

(Getting mad)
I'm gettin mad at you (Mad at you)
Just don't like the way you do
Don’t know where you think you been
But your goin to wind up back there again

(Chorus)
(say you wanna, say you wanna)
Now you want a Revolution
(Want a revolution)
A revolution now
(Say you wanna, say you wanna)
You wanna a revolution
(Wanna revolution)
A revolution now
Say wanna revolution
(Say you wanna, say you wanna)
Do you wanna revolution now?

~!

C Сантаной. Япония 1999.

С Дуэйном Оллманом.

\!

Из последнего...

(барабанная дробь - дррррбдбдбдрбдрбрдбрдрбрбдрбдбдрбдрбдррррдбрдбр!!!!!)
бонус трек с японского издания "Say What You Will (love the earth version)" -
в Медиа-Архиве!

;)

2Xvostya:
УРА! МО-ЛО-ДЕЦ! Скачаем, когда будет нормальная скорость!

Итак, леди & джентельмены...

С сегодняшнего дня, вы можете скачать в медиа-архиве (ссылка свеху), 5 песен Роберта Джонсона, исполненых Эриком во время тура FROM THE CRADLE. Сделано это специально для того, чтобы было с чем сравнить его последние работы на этом поприще.
Записи концертные.
Надеюсь, после прослушивания, многие поймут мое (и не только) унылое отношение к M&MJ & SFRJ.

SergeK ***
Вот-вот... И моё тоже!
Дык у тебя Back Home обычное издание или Fan Club Edition?

2Alex Red:
>Дык у тебя Back Home обычное издание или Fan Club Edition?
Dual Disc - CD + DVD + 4 picks.

ОФИЦИАЛЬНАЯ ИНФОРМАЦИЯ...

Cream Reunion
Three Nights Only at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, New York
October 24th, 25th, 26th, 2005

On the heels of four hugely successful nights at London's Royal Albert Hall and after much speculation, the eagerly anticipated Cream reunion lands in New York for three exclusive nights at Madison Square Garden. In what will be one of the must see shows of this decade and their only appearance in the U.S., legendary rock group, Cream - Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton, - will play Madison Square Garden October 24th, 25th, 26th, 2005.

Also this Fall, Rhino Home Video and Reprise Records release the bands' triumphant reunion performances at London's Royal Albert Hall on DVD and CD. The London shows were brilliantly captured on HD and 5.1 surround sound. More information on these titles can be found in our article:
Cream Reunion on DVD and CD (published on August 23, 2005).

Cream formed in 1966 and disbanded in 1968. In just under three years the band produced three seminal studio albums, 'Fresh Cream' (1966), 'Disraeli Gears' (1967) and 'Wheels of Fire' (1968) and secured worldwide acclaim and commercial success with their unique take on electrified blues. The band were a prolific and thrilling
live act and toured incessantly in their short but remarkable history. Prior to the Royal Albert Hall shows, the last time the band played together was in 1993 when the group was inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall Of fame in Los Angeles.

These shows will be produced by Ron Delsener Presents and tickets will be available in advance to American Express cardmembers.

Ticket On-Sale Information
Tickets will go on-sale first to American Express cardmembers through a special pre-sale, beginning Monday, September 12th at 9am Eastern Standard Time (EST). Tickets can be purchased via ticketmaster.com and there will be a 4 ticket per person limit.
If tickets remain, they will then go on-sale to the general public on Monday, September 19, 2005.

American Express
American Express has a long history of providing special access and meaningful experiences to Cardmembers. As part of this ongoing commitment, American Express has partnered with Cream's reunion to secure a special opportunity for Cardmembers to purchase their tickets to what promises to be three incredible shows prior to the general public on-sale.
American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, network, and financial services provider founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products, insurance and international banking. For more information, visit www.americanexpress.com.

Ron Delsener Presents
Since 1964, Ron Delsener has been at the forefront of outdoor popular-music concerts. He cut his teeth while working as the promoter of The Beatles first outdoor concert performance at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Forest Hills, Queens. Others to follow were Bob Dylan (goes electric), Barbra Streisand, Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and the Count Basie Band conducted by Quincy Jones.
In 1966, Ron Delsener created and produced the highly successful $1 per ticket concert series at Wollman Ice-Skating Rink in Central Park. During its fifteen-year history, every major contemporary artist appeared at this series, including; Joni Mitchell, Louis Armstrong, Otis Redding, Led Zeppelin and many more. The spirit of these diverse concert events lives on today at Central Park Summerstage.

In addition to large outdoor shows, Ron Delsener is active in the production of all concerts booked through Ron Delsener Presents in the New York/New Jersey area including Roseland Ballroom, Hammerstein Ballroom, Irving Plaza, Beacon Theatre, Nassau Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, Continental Airlines Arena, Giants Stadium, and Randalls Island.