The City (Carole King) - Now That Everything's Been Said (Folkrock US 1968)

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Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

The 2007 Ode/Epic/Japanese Mini LP reissue of this album marks its first appearance in the American catalog since 1969, when a switch of distributors by Ode, from Columbia to A&M, ended up getting it deleted prematurely. The original LP became a collector's item with a triple-digit price and was even bootlegged with a bad black-and-white reproduction of the original jacket. It was briefly in print on CD in Japan during the early 1990s, but this reissue is an improvement -- King lacked some confidence, and this remastering captures the subtle, deep, expressive aspect of King's singing, which was easy to lose, especially because King sometimes sounds a little outnumbered, trying to work within a "group" context.

The City has more of an integrated ensemble sound, and less prominence to King, than her subsequent records, even though she used bigger backing groups on most of her solo sides. The new CD squeezes the best out of her voice (and piano, which sounds gloriously resonant) as it existed then. The soft but clear, gently tapped percussion in the opening seconds of "Snow Queen," and the close-up twang and crunch of Danny Kortchmar's guitar on "Wasn't Born to Follow," also enhance the listening. King wasn't yet filling her albums wall-to-wall with memorable songs, and there's some material here that might better have been held back at the time, but this release is the best way to hear this record.

By 1968, Goffin and King were divorced and were starting to lose contact. King moved to Laurel Canyon with her two daughters and formed the City, a music trio consisting of Charles Larkey, her future husband, on bass, Danny Kortchmar on guitar and vocals, and King on piano and vocals. The City produced one album, Now That Everything's Been Said in 1968, but King's reluctance to perform live meant sales were slow, and after a change of distributors it got deleted early, and the group disbanded in 1969.

The City (Carole King) - Promo Single US 1968

Between the time she was a Brill Building mainstay and her re-emergence as an early '70s superstar, Carole King recorded a one-shot album as a member of the City, a trio consisting of King on piano and vocals, Danny Kortchmar on guitar and vocals and Charles Larkey on bass, with Jim Gordon sitting in on drums. The result was one of the most interesting, rewarding, and wonderful detours in King's career, and one that has stubbornly resisted reissue in her U.S. catalog. The group didn't last, and less than a year later King emerged as a solo performer on Writer.

While in Laurel Canyon, King met James Taylor and Joni Mitchell as well as Toni Stern, with whom she would collaborate on songs. King made her first solo album, Writer, in 1970 for Lou Adler's Ode label, with Taylor playing acoustic guitar and providing backing vocals. It peaked at number 84 in the Billboard Top 200. King followed Writer in 1971 with Tapestry, featuring recent solo compositions as well as reinterpretations of two Goffin-King songs, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". The album was recorded in an overlap with Taylor's Mud Slide Slim on which King, Danny Kortchmar, and Joni Mitchell appeared as they did on Tapestry, with both albums including "You've Got a Friend", which was a number 1 hit for Taylor; King said in a 1972 interview, that she "didn't write it with James or anybody really specifically in mind. But when James heard it he really liked it and wanted to record it". Tapestry was an instant success. With numerous hit singles – including a Billboard No.1 with "It's Too Late" – Tapestry held the No.1 spot for 15 consecutive weeks, remained on the charts for nearly six years, and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

Carole King: Music was released in December 1971, certified gold on December 9, 1971. It entered the top ten at 8, becoming the first of many weeks Tapestry and Carole King: Music simultaneously occupied the top 10. The following week it rose to No.3 and finally to No.1 on January 1, 1972, staying there for three weeks. The album also spawned a top 10 hit, "Sweet Seasons" (US No.9 and AC #2). Carole King: Music stayed on the Billboard pop album charts for 44 weeks and was eventually certified platinum.
Rhymes and Reasons (1972), and Fantasy (1973) followed, each earning gold certifications. Rhymes and Reasons produced another hit, "Been to Canaan" (US No.24 and AC No.1), and Fantasy produced two hits, "Believe in Humanity" (US #28) and "Corazon" (US No.37 and AC #5), as well as another song that charted on the Hot 100, "You Light Up My Life" (US No.68 and AC #6).

In 1973, King performed a free concert in New York City's Central Park with 100,000 attending.
In September 1974, King released her album Wrap Around Joy, which was certified gold on October 16, 1974 and entered the top ten at 7 on October 19, 1974. Two weeks later it reached 1 and stayed there one week. She toured to promote the album. Wrap Around Joy spawned two hits. "Jazzman" was a single and reached 2 on November 9 but fell out of the top ten the next week. "Nightingale", a single on December 17, went to No.9 on March 1, 1975. [AMG + Wikipedia]

Personnel:
♣ Charles Larkey - Bass  
♣ Jim Gordon - Drums [Guest] 
♣ Danny Kortchmar - Guitar, Vocals 
♣ Carole King - Vocals, Keyboards
♣ Producer – Lou Adler 

01. Snow Queen  4:10
02. I Wasn't Born To Follow  3:42
03. Now That Everything's Been Said  2:19
04. Paradise Alley  3:01
05. Man Without A Dream  3:46
06. Victim Of Circumstance  2:31
07. Why Are You Leaving  3:55
08. Lady  2:57
09. My Sweet Home  3:09
10. I Don't Believe It  2:38
11. That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)  3:22
12. All My Time  3:16

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Carole King Family Tree
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Not to be mised: Jesse Fuller - Ida Noyes Hall, Chicago, 1962-04-24 (Bootleg)

Jesse Fuller - UK Promo Single 1965

Size: 135 MB
Bitrate: 320
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Found inOuterSpace
Some Artwork Included

Jesse Fuller (March 12, 1896 – January 29, 1976) was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".

Fuller was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, near Atlanta. He was sent by his mother to live with foster parents when he was a young child, in a rural setting where he was badly mistreated. Growing up, he worked a multitude of jobs: grazing cows for ten cents a day, working in a barrel factory, a broom factory, a rock quarry, on a railroad and a streetcar company, shining shoes, and even peddling hand-carved wooden snakes.By the age of ten he was playing guitar in two techniques, as he described it, "frailing" and "picking."

He came west and in the 1920s he lived in Southern California, where operated a hot-dog stand and was befriended by Douglas Fairbanks. He worked briefly as a film extra in The Thief of Bagdad and East of Suez. In 1929 he settled in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco, where he worked for the Southern Pacific railroad. He married, and he and his wife Gertrude had a family. During World War II, he worked as a shipyard welder, but when the war ended he found it increasingly difficult to secure employment. Around the early 1950s, Fuller's thoughts turned toward the possibility of making a living playing music.

Jesse Fuller

Up to this point, Fuller had never worked as a full-time professional musician, but he was an accomplished guitarist and he had carried his guitar with him and busked for money by passing the hat. He had a good memory for songs and had a large repertoire of crowd-pleasers in diverse styles, including country blues, work songs, ragtime and jazz standards, ballads, spirituals, and instrumentals. For a while he operated a shoe-shine stand, where he sang and danced to entertain passersby. He began to seriously compose his own songs, many of them based on his personal life experiences on the railroads, and he also set about reworking older pieces into his own syncopated style. However, when he decided to try music as a career, he had difficulty finding reliable musicians to work with: thus his one-man band act was born, and he took on the name "The Lone Cat" or Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller.
Starting locally, in clubs and bars in San Francisco and across the bay in Oakland and Berkeley, Fuller became more widely known when he performed on television in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and in 1958 his recording career started with his first album on the Good Time Jazz record label. 

Fuller's instruments included 6-string guitar (an instrument which he had abandoned before the beginning of his one-man band career), 12-string guitar, harmonica, kazoo, cymbal (high-hat) and fotdella. He could play several instruments simultaneously, particularly with the use of a head-piece to hold the harmonica, kazoo, and a microphone. In addition, he would generally include at least one tap dance, soft-shoe or "buck and wing" in his sets, accompanying himself on the 12-string guitar as he danced. 

Jesse Fuller Album  UK 1966

His style was open and engaging, and in typical busker's fashion, he addressed his audiences as "Ladies and Gentlemen," and told humoous annecdotes and cracked jokes between pieces. However, if one listened closely, the stories were anything but cheerful, often including specific recapitulations of his tragic childhood, his mother's illness and early death, his determination to escape the segregated racial system of the South, and his love of his wife and family.

The fotdella was a musical instrument of Fuller's own creation and construction. He built at least two of them, in slightly different patterns, as evidenced in photographs and film footage of his performances.
As a one-man band, Fuller's problem was how to supply a more substantial accompaniment than the typical high-hat (cymbal) or bass drum used by other street musicians. His solution, the fotdella, was a foot-operated percussion bass, consisting of a large upright wood box, shaped like the top of a double bass. Attached to a short neck at the top of this box were six piano bass strings, stretched down over the body. The means to play the strings consisted of six piano or organ foot pedals, each connected to a padded piano hammer which struck the string.

Jesse Fuller 1960

By removing his shoe and placing his sock-covered foot in a rotating heel-cradle, Fuller was able to play the six pedals of the fotdella like a piano, and the instrument's six notes allowed him to perform varied bass lines in several keys, though he occasionally would play without it if a song exceeded its limited range.

The name was coined by his wife, who took to calling the instrument a "foot-diller" (as in a "killer-diller" instrument played with the foot), which was shortened to fotdella. The term "foot piano" has been used by some performers and musicologists to describe this type of devise.

Fuller died in January 1976 in Oakland, California, from heart disease. He was 79 years of age. He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland. Both his fotdella and his 1962 Silvertone Electric-Acoustic guitar (the latter purchased in Detroit at a Sears and Roebuck store to replace his Maurer guitar, which had been stolen while he was on tour) are in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution.

Influence on other musicians:
• The Grateful Dead ("The Monkey and the Engineer" and "Beat It on Down the Line")
• Hot Tuna
• Peter, Paul and Mary
• Janis Joplin ("San Fancisco Bay Blues")
• Glenn Yarbrough
• Richie Havens
• Eric Clapton
• Paul McCartney
• Bob Dylan ("You're No Good", on his debut album in 1962)

JESSE FULLER 1962-04-24, Ida Noyes Hall University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

01. John Henry 11:39
02. San Francisco Bay Blues (Jesse Fuller) 3:48
03. Hesitation Blues 4:57
04. I'm Going to Sit at the Welcome Table 4:33
05. C.C. Rider 4:19
06. Corinna, Corrina 3:20
07. Take It Slow and Easy 3:05
08. untitled boogie 6:50
09. Stranger Blues 4:15
10. Bye and Bye 2:57
11. Stagger Lee 3:55
12. Down Home Waltz 2:10
13. Buck and Wing 3:23

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Bob Seger and the Borneo Band - The Cleveland Connection, Cleveland, OH 1973 (Bootleg)

Size: 136 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in my Blues Mobile
Some Artwork Includd

A good sounding recording of a live in studio broadcast. Bob & the band seem to be having a good time jamming. Of the 10 songs performed only 4 were ever recorded by Seger. The rest are just songs they liked playing together. The Borneo Band, or My Band as they were fist called, was Bob's first backing band. The Last Herd or The Bob Seger System, as they are better known, was a band with Bob being the main song writer. When Bob first went solo he used Teegarden and Van Winkle, or played with just an acoustic guitar or piano. He formed the Borneo Band to record the Back In 72 album. This was the beginning of his long musical relationship with Alto Reed, then called Tom Cartmell. By the end of 1973 Bob would fire The Borneo Band for being too unreliable. Simms, Oldaker, and Levy joined Eric Clapton's band, Bob formed the Silver Bullet Band, at first without Alto Reed. He wouldn't join the Silver Bullet Band till Beautiful Loser.

In 1974, Seger formed The Silver Bullet Band. Its original members were guitarist Drew Abbott, drummer and backup-singer Charlie Allen Martin, keyboard-player Rick Mannassa, bass guitarist Chris Campbell, and saxophone player Alto Reed (then known as Tom Cartmell). With this new band sitting in occasionally, Seger released the album Seven, which contained the Detroit-area hard-rock hit "Get Out of Denver". This track was a modest success and charted at #80 nationally.

In 1975, Seger returned to Capitol Records and released the album Beautiful Loser, with help from The Silver Bullet Band (with new keyboardist Robyn Robbins replacing Mannassa) on his cover of the Tina Turner penned "Nutbush City Limits". The album's single "Katmandu" (in addition to being another substantial Detroit-area hit) was Seger's first real national break-out track since "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Although it just missed the US Pop Top 40 - peaking at #43 - the song received strong airplay in a number of markets nationwide including Detroit.

Bob Seger album 1972

In April 1976, Seger and The Silver Bullet Band released the album Live Bullet, recorded over two nights in Detroit's Cobo Arena in September 1975. It contained Seger's rendition of "Nutbush City Limits" as well as Seger's own classic take on life on the road, "Turn the Page", from Back in '72. It also included his late 1960s successful releases — "Heavy Music" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". Critic Dave Marsh later wrote that "Live Bullet is one of the best live albums ever made ... In spots, particularly during the medley of "Travelin' Man"/"Beautiful Loser" on side one, Seger sounds like a man with one last shot at the top."
 An instant best-seller in Detroit, Live Bullet began to get attention in other parts of the country, selling better than Seger's previous albums, getting progressive rock radio and album-oriented rock airplay, and enabling Seger to headline more shows. Yet still, Seger had a popularity imbalance. In June 1976, he was a featured performer at the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit in front of nearly 80,000 fans. The next night, Seger played before fewer than a thousand people in Chicago.

Seger finally achieved his commercial breakthrough with his October 1976 album Night Moves. The title song "Night Moves" was a highly evocative, nostalgic, time-spanning tale that was not only critically praised,
but became a #4 hit single on the Billboard pop singles chart as well as a heavy album-oriented rock airplay mainstay. The album also contained "Mainstreet" (written about Ann Arbor's Ann Street), a #24 hit ballad that emphasized Seger's heartland rock credentials as well as guitarist Pete Carr's haunting lead guitar. The album also featured the anthem "Rock and Roll Never Forgets". Night Moves was Seger's first top ten album in the Billboard album chart, and as of 2006 was certified at 6 million copies in the United States alone - making it the biggest-selling studio album of his entire career. Furthermore, it activated sales of Seger's recent back catalog, so that Beautiful Loser would eventually sell 2 million and Live Bullet would go on to sell some 5 million copies in the United States. 

Indeed, Live Bullet stayed on the Billboard charts for 168 weeks and it remains one of the ten best-selling live albums of all time.

The following year, original Silver Bullet drummer Charlie Allen Martin was hit by a car from behind while walking on a service road, and was left unable to walk. David Teegarden, drummer for Seger on the Smokin' O.P.'s album, replaced him. Despite the loss, Seger followed up strongly with 1978's Stranger in Town. The first single, "Still the Same", emphasized Seger's talent for mid-tempo numbers that revealed a sense of purpose, and reached #4 on the pop singles chart. "Hollywood Nights" was an up-tempo #12 hit rocker, while "We've Got Tonight" was a slow ballad that reached #13 on the Hot 100. 

Bob Seger album 1972

(The latter became an even bigger hit when country music superstar Kenny Rogers and pop singer Sheena Easton teamed up for a 1983 treatment of it that topped Billboard's Country and Adult Contemporary charts.) "Old Time Rock and Roll", a song from George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III that Seger substantially rewrote the lyrics for, was not a big pop hit initially, but achieved substantial album track airplay. Moreover, it would later become one of Seger's most recognizable songs following its memorable Tom Cruise-dancing-in-his-underwear use in the 1983 film Risky Business. Indeed, it has been ranked the second-most played Jukebox Single of all time, behind Patsy Cline's "Crazy". The iconic recording of "Old Time Rock and Roll" was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. (Seger has ruefully remarked that not taking one-third writing credit on his recording was "the dumbest thing I ever did" financially.)

Seger also co-wrote the Eagles' #1 hit song "Heartache Tonight" from their 1979 album The Long Run; their collaboration resulted from Seger and Glenn Frey's early days together in Detroit.

Bob Seger & the Borneo Band
1973-03-xx FM Broadcast
The Cleveland Connection, Cleveland, OH

Personnel:
♣ Bob Seger - guitar, vocals
♣ Bill Mueller - guitar, vocals
♣ Marcy Levy & Shaun Murphy - backing vocals
♣ Jamie Oldaker - drums
♣ Dick Simms - keyboards
♣ Sergio Pastora - percussion
♣ Tom Cartmell (then named Alto Reed) - saxophones

01. Think  07:12
02. Higher & Higher  03:26
03. St. Dominicks Review  06:12
04. Circle Song  03:54
05. Bo Diddley  06:50
06. Someday  02:40
07. Rosalie  03:39
08. Long As I Can Play  05:38
09. Born Under A Bad Sign  06:29
10. Turn On Your Love Light  13:24 

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Bob Seger System 1968

Frank Zappa - Uddel, Netherlands 1970-06-18 (Bootleg)

Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat 1969-06

Size: 113 MB
Bitrate: 320
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No Artwork
Found in OuterSpace

Zappa and The Mothers of Invention returned to Los Angeles in the summer of 1968. Despite being a success with fans in Europe, The Mothers of Invention were not faring well financially. Their first records were vocally oriented, but Zappa wrote more instrumental jazz and classical oriented music for the band's concerts, which confused audiences. Zappa felt that audiences failed to appreciate his "electrical chamber music".

In 1969 there were nine band members and Zappa was supporting the group himself from his publishing royalties whether they played or not. 1969 was also the year Zappa, fed up with MGM's interference, left MGM Records for Warner Bros. Records' Reprise Records subsidiary where Zappa/Mothers recordings would bear the Bizarre Records imprint. In late 1969, Zappa broke up the band. 

Frank Zappa 1970-05-12

He often cited the financial strain as the main reason, but also commented on the band members' lack of sufficient effort. Many band members were bitter about Zappa's decision, and some took it as a sign of Zappa's concern for perfection at the expense of human feeling. Others were irritated by 'his autocratic ways', exemplified by Zappa's never staying at the same hotel as the band members. Several members would, however, play for Zappa in years to come. Remaining recordings with the band from this period were collected on Weasels Ripped My Flesh and Burnt Weeny Sandwich (both released in 1970).

Later in 1970, Zappa formed a new version of The Mothers (from then on, he mostly dropped the "of Invention"). It included British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, jazz keyboardist George Duke, Ian Underwood, Jeff Simmons (bass, rhythm guitar), and three members of The Turtles: bass player Jim Pons, and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, who, due to persistent legal and contractual problems, adopted the stage name "The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie", or "Flo & Eddie".

This version of The Mothers debuted on Zappa's next solo album Chunga's Revenge (1970), which was followed by the double-album soundtrack to the movie 200 Motels (1971), featuring The Mothers, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ringo Starr, Theodore Bikel, and Keith Moon. Co-directed by Zappa and Tony Palmer, it was filmed in a week at Pinewood Studios outside London. Tensions between Zappa and several cast and crew members arose before and during shooting. The film deals loosely with life on the road as a rock musician. 

Frank Zappa - Lumpy Gravy 1968-05

It was the first feature film photographed on videotape and transferred to 35 mm film, a process which allowed for novel visual effects. It was released to mixed reviews. The score relied extensively on orchestral music, and Zappa's dissatisfaction with the classical music world intensified when a concert, scheduled at the Royal Albert Hall after filming, was canceled because a representative of the venue found some of the lyrics obscene. In 1975, he lost a lawsuit against the Royal Albert Hall for breach of contract.

After 200 Motels, the band went on tour, which resulted in two live albums, Fillmore East - June 1971 and Just Another Band From L.A.; the latter included the 20-minute track "Billy the Mountain", Zappa's satire on rock opera set in Southern California. This track was representative of the band's theatrical performances in which songs were used to build up sketches based on 200 Motels scenes as well as new situations often portraying the band members' sexual encounters on the road.

In December 1971, there were two serious setbacks. While performing at Casino de Montreux in Switzerland, The Mothers' equipment was destroyed when a flare set off by an audience member started a fire that burned down the casino. Immortalized in Deep Purple's song "Smoke on the Water", the event and immediate aftermath can be heard on the bootleg album Swiss Cheese/Fire, released legally as part of Zappa's Beat the Boots II compilation. 

click on picture for bigger size

After a week's break, The Mothers played at the Rainbow Theatre, London, with rented gear. During the encore, an audience member pushed Zappa off the stage and into the concrete-floored orchestra pit. The band thought Zappa had been killed—he had suffered serious fractures, head trauma and injuries to his back, leg, and neck, as well as a crushed larynx, which ultimately caused his voice to drop a third after healing. This accident resulted in him using a wheelchair for an extended period, forcing him off the road for over half a year. 

Upon his return to the stage in September 1972, he was still wearing a leg brace, had a noticeable limp and could not stand for very long while on stage. Zappa noted that one leg healed "shorter than the other" (a reference later found in the lyrics of songs "Zomby Woof" and "Dancin' Fool"), resulting in chronic back pain. Meanwhile, The Mothers were left in limbo and eventually formed the core of Flo and Eddie's band as they set out on their own.[Wikipedia]

Frank Zappa, 18-Jun 1970, Uddel, Netherlands 
Live at the "Piknik" show, VPRO, Dutch Television

The Mothers Of Invention June 1970 - April 1971:    
♦ Frank Zappa 
♦ Mark Volman 
♦ Howard Kaylan 
♦ Jeff Simmons 
♦ Aynsley Dunbar 
♦ Ian Underwood 
♦ George Duke 

00. "Silence Fools !!...
01. FZ Interview & Band Intro [5:38] 
02. Wonderful Wino [4:51]
03. Concentration Moon [2:28]
04. Mom & Dad [3:12]
05. The Air [3:16]
06. Dog Breath [2:08]
07. Mother People [2:08]
08. You Didn't Try To Call Me [4:19]
09. Agon [0:37]
10. Call Any Vegetable [7:11]
11. King Kong Part 1 [4:29]
12. Igor's Boogie [1:08]
13. King Kong Part 2 [7:45]

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Frank Zappa - Absolutely Free - 1967-10

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I have added a "PayPal Donation button" on left side today because Rapidshare is not for free for uploads anymore. 

I must pay 20.00 Euro every month for my uploads. I hopy that you will help me with some of this cost because Rapidshare as far better than other upload sites.

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Eric Clapton - Event Halle, Messe Basel, Switzerland 2013-11-13 and 14 (Bootleg)

Size: 228 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in my Bluesmobile
Some Artwork

Last Wednesday and Thursday, Eric Clapton and His Band headlined the final two nights of the 2013 Baloise Sessions in Basel, Switzerland. On Monday 18 November, Swiss radio SRF3 aired the entire performance from EC's second concert on 14 November. SRF3 has made the entire show available for online listening on their website worldwide. An exclusive video clip of "Layla" and podcast of the show are also on the website, but may not be accessible in all countries. The Swiss radio broadcast runs 101 minutes.

Second of two shows. Eric Clapton will headline the final two evenings of the annual indoor music festival, Baloise Session. One hour from this performance was aired on Swiss radio SRF3 on Monday 18 November 2013 at 21:00.

Eric Clapton - BBC UK Single 1985

I completely crossed France from West to East to reach Basel for my 7th EC concert tonight (Nov 14th) at the Baloise Session. Well, it was well worth the trip. Eric was definitively here right from the beginning, playing numerous stunning solos and he was not alone: Muddy Waters, JJ Cale, and Robert Johnson must have been somewhere around, inhabiting Eric.

Tonight was Strat-osph-Eric! It was the best show that I have ever seen, together with the EC-Steve Winwood concert at Bercy, France in 2010. The whole concert was incredible. The highlights in my opinion: Key to the Highway, Hoochie Cochie Man, Got my mojo working, After Midnight, Call me the breeze, Andy Fairweather Low’s Gin House, Paul Carrack’s How Long, the short but excellent acoustic set (Driftin’, Nobody knows you, Layla), a rather heavy Pretending (which I did not hear live since 2006), a fantastic Crossroads and the cream of the cream: a Little Queen of Spades that outcompeted the 2013 RAH version (I thought it was impossible to play it better, well he just did). LQS was so good tonight that I had tears coming in my eyes!

The concert then wrapped up with Cocaine and High time we went as the only encore song. My only slight criticism is that the concert was quite short (1h45m, Knock on wood and Goodnight Irene were not played tonight and not replaced by other songs). I was expecting as least one more song (Further on up the road would have been a perfect ending), but it was largely compensated by the incredible intensity of the whole show.

It should be noted that it takes a full band for such an outstanding concert and that this lineup is really excellent. Andy is a perfect complement to Eric, Dave and Henry are just perfect (Henry managed to give an unusual sound to Wonderful tonight), Chris is fantastic as usual, Sharon and Michelle are indispensable, and Paul is bringing his great sound.

Eric Clapton - Belgium Single 1974

Biography:
Eric Patrick Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in his grandparents’ home at 1 The Green, Ripley, Surrey, England. He was the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton (b. 7 January 1929, d. March 1999) and Edward Walter Fryer (b. 21 March 1920, d. 1985), a 24-year-old Canadian soldier stationed in England during World War II. Before Eric was born, Fryer returned to his wife in Canada.

It was extraordinarily difficult for an unmarried 16-year-old to raise a child on her own in the mid-1940s. Pat’s parents, Rose and Jack Clapp, stepped in as surrogate parents and raised Eric as their own. He grew up believing his mother was his sister. His grandparents never legally adopted him, but remained his legal guardians until 1963. Eric’s last name comes from Rose’s first husband and Pat’s father, Reginald Cecil Clapton (d. 1933).

Eric’s mother, Pat, eventually married and moved to Canada and Germany as her husband, Frank MacDonald, continued his military career. They had two girls and a boy. Eric’s half-brother, Brian, was killed in a road accident in 1974 at the age of 26. His half-sisters are Cheryl (b. May 1953) and Heather (b. September 1958).

Eric was raised in a musical household. His grandmother played piano and his uncle and mother both enjoyed listening to the sounds of the big bands. Pat later told Eric’s official biographer, Ray Coleman, that his father was a gifted musician, playing piano in several dance bands in the Surrey area.

Eric Clapton - German Single 1970

Quiet and polite, he was characterized as an above-average student with an aptitude for art. But, from his earliest years in school, he realized something was not quite right when he wrote his name as “Eric Clapton” and his parents’ names as “Mr. and Mrs. Clapp”. At the age of nine, he learned the truth about his parentage when Pat returned to England with his six-year-old half brother for a visit. This singular event affected him deeply and was a defining moment in his life. He became moody and distant and stopped applying himself at school. Emotionally scarred by this event, Eric failed the all-important 11 Plus Exams. He was sent to St. Bede’s Secondary Modern School and two years later, entered the art branch of Holyfield Road School.

By 1958, Rock and Roll had exploded onto the world. For his 13th birthday, Eric asked for a guitar. Finding the inexpensive German-made Hoyer difficult to play - it had steel strings - he put it aside. In 1961, when he was 16, Eric began studying at the Kingston College of Art on a one-year probation. He was expelled at the end of that time for lack of progress as he had not submitted enough work. The reason? Guitar playing and listening to the blues dominated his waking hours.

Typical of his introspective nature, Eric looked beneath the surface and explored the roots of rock in American Blues. The blues also meshed perfectly with his self-perception as an outsider and of being “different” from other people. Sometime in 1962, he asked for his grandparents’ help in purchasing a £100 electric double cutaway Kay (a Gibson ES-335 clone) after hearing the electric blues of Freddie King, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and others.

Eric Clapton - Netherland Single 1976

Eric spent his early days in music busking around Richmond and Kingston, he also began spending time in London and the West End. In early 1963, 17 year-old Eric joined his first band, The Roosters. Following the band’s demise in August 1963, he spent one month in the pop-oriented Casey Jones and The Engineers. Before turning to music as a full-time career, he supported himself as a laborer at building sites, working alongside his grandfather, a master bricklayer and plasterer.

In October 1963, Keith Relf and Paul Samwell-Smith recruited him to become a member of The Yardbirds because Clapton was the most talked about guitar player on the R&B pub circuit. During his 18-month tenure with The Yardbirds, he earned his nickname, Slowhand, and recorded his first albums: Five Live Yardbirds and Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds. The band also recorded the single, “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl”. But, Eric had not abandoned his serious research into the American Blues. When The Yardbirds began moving towards a more commercial sound with “For Your Love”, he quit. His path in music was the blues.

In April 1965, John Mayall invited Eric to join his band, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. With this group, Clapton established his reputation as a guitarist and earned his second nickname: “God”. It came from an admirer’s graffiti on the wall of London’s Islington Tube Station that boldly proclaimed "Clapton is God." Eric’s time with the band was turbulent and he left for a while to tour Greece with friends. Upon his return from Greece, Eric rejoined the Bluesbreakers. It was during this time that the now classic Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton was recorded. While with the Bluesbreakers, Eric also recorded a one-off four-track session with a band dubbed “The Powerhouse”. This studio band included John Paul Jones, Steve Winwood and Jack Bruce.

Eric Clapton - Spain Single 1978

After leaving the Bluesbreakers for a second and final time in July 1966, Eric teamed up with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker to form Cream. Extensive touring in the U.S. and three solid albums - Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, and Wheels of Fire - brought the band worldwide acclaim. While a member of Cream, he cemented his reputation as rock’s premier guitarist and was elevated to superstar status. Although Cream was together for only two years, they are considered one of the most influential rock groups of the modern era. Clapton was unique because he did not simply replicate the blues riffs he heard on records. He incorporated the emotion of the original performances into his own style of playing, thus expanding the vocabulary of blues guitar. Cream crumbled beneath the weight of the member’s egos and constant arguing. They disbanded after two final performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 26 November 1968.

Following Cream’s break-up, Clapton founded Blind Faith - rock’s first “supergroup” - with Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rick Grech. Disbanding after one album and a disastrous American tour, Eric tried to hide from his growing fame by touring as a sideman with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. While with this outfit, Eric was encouraged to sing by Delaney Bramlett. He also began composing more. A live album from the Delaney & Bonnie tour was released in 1970. Clapton’s self-titled debut was released that same year.

In the summer of 1970, Eric formed Derek and The Dominos with Jim Gordon, Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock from Delaney & Bonnie’s band . The Dominos would go on to record the seminal rock album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. A concept album, its theme revolved around Clapton’s unrequited love for George Harrison’s wife, Patti. The band would drift apart following an American tour and a failed attempt at recording a second album.

Hit hard by the break up of The Dominos, the commercial failure of the Layla album and his unrequited love, Eric sunk into three years of heroin addiction. Although he rarely emerged from his Surrey Estate, he filled box upon box with tapes of songs. He kicked his drug addiction and re-launched his career in January 1973 with two concerts at London’s Rainbow Theater organized by his friend, Pete Townshend (The Who). The concerts represented a turning point in his career. In 1974, he reappeared with a new style and sound with 461 Ocean Boulevard. Eric had become an assured vocalist and composer in addition to a guitar hero.

Eric Clapton - Yogoslavian Single 1974

With each album after 461 Ocean Boulevard, Eric reinvented himself musically. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, albums and tours would follow year in and year out. In 1985, Clapton found a new audience following his performance at the worldwide charity concert, Live Aid. Annual stands at the Royal Albert Hall and successful albums like August, Journeyman and the Crossroads box set kept him well in the public mind. In the late 80s, he carved out a second career as the composer of film scores. His career went from strength to strength and reached new heights in 1992 with the release of Unplugged and the Grammy winning single, "Tears in Heaven."

In 1994, Eric returned to his blues roots with the release of From The Cradle. The album was Clapton’s tribute to his musical heroes and contained cover versions of blues classics. 1997 brought an excursion into electronica with the release of TDF's Retail Therapy . Eric posed as X-Sample in the studio “band” TDF. In 1998, he released the soul-influenced Pilgrim, his first album of all new material in nine years. In 2000, he continued his love affair with the blues when he recorded an album with American blues legend, B.B. King. Riding With The King was released in June and within three weeks of release, was certified gold.

Shortly after the release of Riding With The King, Clapton was back in the studio recording his next solo project. Reptile was released in March 2001. In late 2002, he began to record a new studio album. Work continued through the summer of 2003 and enough material was recorded for two albums. In addition to new solo material, Eric recorded covers of Robert Johnson songs during these sessions. The Johnson songs were assembled and in March 2004, Eric’s tribute album, Me and Mr. Johnson was released. The solo material recorded during these sessions was released in 2005 on Back Home.

Eric Clapton Billboard Advertise 1970

In 2005, Eric also revisted the past. He, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce re-formed Cream for four very special reunion shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The concerts took place at the venue where their farewell shows took place 37 years earlier, in November 1968. In October 2005, the men performed three further concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The London shows were released on CD and DVD in late 2005.

Eric’s next recording project was to be produced by one of the architects of the “Tulsa Sound,” J.J. Cale. Eric had long admired Cale’s work, having recorded cover versions of “After Midnight,” “Cocaine,” and “Travelin’ Light.” After working in the studio a short time, it turned into a collaborative effort. The Road To Escondido was released on 7 November 2006 to critical acclaim. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album (Vocal or Instrumental) at the 50th Annual Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles on 10 February 2008.

In September 2009, Eric released his 19th studio album, Clapton. "Run Back To Your Side", one of the album tracks, received a Grammy nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

In his more than 40 year career, Eric Clapton has received many awards. He is the only triple inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of both the Yardbirds and Cream and as a solo artist). He has also won or shared in eighteen Grammy Awards.

Eric has also contributed to numerous artists' albums over the decades. The most well known session occurred in September 1968, when he added guitar to George Harrison’s composition, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." It is on the album, The Beatles (best known as “The White Album”). He can also be heard on albums by Aretha Franklin, Steven Stills, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon and Yoko Ono), Ringo Starr, Sting, and Roger Waters.

Eric has always toured extensively performing thousands of concerts around the globe. Recent solo world tours took place in 2001, 2004 and 2006 / 2007 and a 27 date Summer Tour in 2008 which visited the eastern U.S., Canada and Europe. Additionally, in February 2008 Eric performed three concerts with long-time friend Steve Winwood at New York’s Madison Square Garden. EC was on the road extensively in 2009 and 2010. Not only were there solo concerts, but tours with Steve Winwood in the US and Europe, dates with Jeff Beck, and a reunion concert with the Plastic Ono Band. He'll be on the road once again in 2011.

After conquering his heroin addiction in the early 70s, Eric replaced it with an addiction to alcohol. Throughout the remainder of the decade and into the 1980s, his life and work suffered due to his alcoholism. In January 1982, Eric entered the Hazelden Foundation, a rehabilitation facility in the United States. He did backslide but entered rehab a second time a few years later. He has been sober since 1987 through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Since that time, Eric has been committed to working with others who suffer from addictions to drugs and alcohol.

In February 1998, Eric announced the opening of Crossroads Centre, a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse on the island of Antigua. One of its principles is to provide subsidized care for some of the poorest people of the Caribbean who can not afford such care on their own. A foundation was established to provide “scholarships” for these individuals. On 24 June 1999, Clapton auctioned 100 of his guitars, including "Brownie" (the guitar on which he recorded “Layla”), at Christie’s Auction House / New York. The 1999 guitar auction netted almost $5 million (US) for the foundation. On 30 June 1999, Clapton hosted a concert to benefit the Centre at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Proceeds from its airing on America’s VH1 and DVD and video sales benefited the Centre. Five years later, Eric planned the second and final major fundraising effort for the Centre. On 4, 5 and 6 June 2004, he hosted the First Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, Texas. The three day event presented the cream of the world’s guitarists in a benefit event for the Centre. The event was filmed and proceeds from the sale of the DVD also benefit the foundation. Additionally, a second guitar auction took place on 24 June 2004. It raised an additional $6 million for the foundation and included the sale of "Blackie," his legendary Fender Stratocaster and a cherry red Gibson ES335, known as "The Cream Guitar." The Second Crossroads Guitar Festival, with proceeds again benefitting the Crossroads Centre Foundation, took place on 28 July 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. The event was filmed and a DVD was released on 6 November 2007. EC hosted the third festival on 26 June 2010 and was released on DVD in November 2010. A third guitar auction will take place in March 2011.

HOW DID ERIC CLAPTON GET HIS NICKNAME, SLOWHAND?
he Yardbirds’ manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, gave Eric Clapton the nickname “Slowhand” in early 1964.

The Yardbirds rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Eric Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, Eric would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing a “slow handclap”. [The British colloquialism is "to be given the slowhand".]

Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, in the mid-80s that “My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into 'Slowhand' as a play on words.”

In a June 1999 online chat, Clapton gave a slightly different version of how his nickname came about: “I think it might have been a play on words from the “Clap” part of my name. In England, in sport, if the crowd is getting anxious, we have a slow handclap, which indicates boredom or frustration. But it wasn’t my idea it was someone else’s comment.”

In Clapton - The Autobiography (2007), Eric had this to say, "On my guitar I used light-gauge guitar strings, with a very thin first string, which made it easier to bend the notes, and it was not uncommon during the most frenetic bits of playing for me to break at least one string. During the pause while I was changing my string, the frenzied audience would often break into a slow handclap, inspiring Giorgio to dream up the nickname of 'Slowhand' Clapton."

Eric Clapton
2013-11-13 and 14 Event Halle 
Messe Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Personnel:
♣ Eric Clapton: guitar, vocal
♣ Andy Fairweather Low: guitar, vocal
♣ Paul Carrack: keyboard, vocal
♣ Henry Spinetti: drums
♣ Chris Stainton: keyboard
♣ Dave Bronze: bass
♣ Michelle John: backing vocal
♣ Sharon White: backing vocal

Disc 1
01. Don't Go to Strangers (JJ Cale)
02. Key to the Highway (Big Bill Broonzy)
03. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Willie Dixon)
04. Got My Mojo Workin' (Muddy Waters)
05. Since You Said Goodbye (JJ Cale)
06. After Midnight (JJ Cale)
07. Call Me the Breeze (JJ Cale)
08. Gin House (Harry Burke) [Andy Fairweather Low on vocals]
09. How Long (Paul Carrack) [Paul Carrack on vocals]
10. Driftin' Blues (Johnny Moore's Three Blazers)

Disc 2
11. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Jimmy Cox)
12. Layla (Eric Clapton/Jim Gordon)
13. Pretending (Jerry Lynn Williams)
14. Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)
15. Crossroads (Robert Johnson)
16. Queen of Spades (Robert Johnson)
17. Cocaine (JJ Cale)
18. High Time We Went (Joe Cocker/Chris Stainton)

Part 1: Link
Part 2: Link
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Part 1: Link
Part 2: Link
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