Very Nice!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ROxQed ... ature=fvwp

This video is an extract from the "Eric Clapton and Friends In Concert" DVD with Eric performing River of Tears during the Crossroads Benefit gig at New York's Madison Square Garden a couple of decades ago.



Not sure if he decides to resurrect this sad ballad from the Pilgrim disc for his upcoming world tours. He had already resurrected the Saint Louis Jimmy blues classic Goin' Down Slow from the same album since 2009.

Most of the Pilgrim material was retired as of 2004, including Tears in Heaven and My Father's Eyes.

nice
I love this version, image quality is poor and Clapton even gets the lyrics wrong in the beginning, but that end solo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHKugUxKjnQ

That is one of my fav,s Ive been working on playing it.

Here's the same song in high definition (720dpi) from the Japanese shows of that period. Clapton howls with a fiery tongue while unleashing a fierce guitar solo at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzjb3bdMDYU

The guitar used here was Crash 2 running through a blond Vibro-King and a Leslie cabinet driven by a Marshall JCM800 tube-valve head.

thanks chromeface, you are a true Clapton encyclopedia
great pics as well!
cheers

I'm a HUGE fan of Eric's. Probably too much of a fan for my own good when it comes to his influence on my own playing But I'm not really crazy about his sound nowadays. I tend to blame it on the mid-boost in his signature Strats. I still think he's great. I think he's done some fantastic things in the last few years. His playing is still excellent but I'm always wanting to hear more of a classic Strat tone from him instead of the often thick and creamy tones he gets from his signature Strats. Which is great in it's own way I suppose.

I guess I'm just nostalgic for the sounds of Blackie and Brownie.

If Eric decided to have his signature models fitted with the TBX/MDX thing, it's because he liked the fat humbucking "compression" the active circuit delivered.

The active mid-boost circuitry allowed him to have the best of both worlds in one guitar with tones ranging from shimmering clean to scorching dirty.

In 2000 the TBX expander has been replaced with a standard tone control, as EC found the tone too "mushy".

Personally I didn't care much for active electronics to achieve the "woman tone" with a Strat. I'd prefer using a regular Strat with a pair of hot humbucking pickups plugged into a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo amplifier rather than fattening up the single-coils with a mid-boost circuit.

Yeah I understand why he has the midboost in his signature strats. It just seems to me that he uses it in about 90% of his solos on stage these days. Seems like the vintage Strat tones aren't abundant in Eric's playing anymore. But whatever. It's all good. I know all guitarists evolve and their sound changes. I just love his sound on the Dominos live recordings so much with Brownie.

Thanx for posting this song. I saw Eric in Cleveland Ohio & he had Billy Preston on tour with him. And had Robert Randolph & the family band as the opening act. Tho I don't remember this song then. But I love it now.......

There are exceptions, such as the Shea Stadium gig with the Stones in 1989 and the Hootenanny Blues sessions with Jools Holland in 2004.





Until recently we've seen Clapton playing his namesake tribute replica of Blackie in 2006 and 2010.

Great video. Great song. Clapton has long been one of my favorite guitarists. Thanks for sharing!!!

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"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

Great pics. I saw that video of him on Jools Holland with the sunburst Strat and wondered what exactly it was... Never seen a Clapton signature Strat in that color although I'm sure they'd make Eric any color he wanted. Do you know if it's a vintage Strat and if so what year?


Also, you mention the Blackie replica's. Are they actually replica's of Blackie, vintage spec and all, or are they signature Strat's with the mid boost, etc...?

It seems that Eric decided to change things a bit and start experimenting with other instruments such as this Roland guitar synthesizer (shown here in April 1985).



Unfortunately his guitar synth days failed to attract the attention of his die-hard fans. Clapton stopped using synth guitars as of 1986.



They're genuine Custom Shop tribute replicas of Blackie without the active electronics. Only 275 pieces were made exclusively for Guitar Center.

The guitar I'm talking about was used by Clapton for three songs during the Back Home supporting world tours in May 17, 2006.

Keep in mind that, in the R&D of that guitar back in the mid-eighties, the very thing you find displeasing was precisely what he was seeking which is why the Elite Active Electronics circuitry became the test bed for what eventually became the Lace Sensor Strat with a 25db midboost. If you couple Chromeface's remarks about swapping out the TBX, with Mike Eldred's comments elsewhere about EC's preference for the VN's when sent to him for trial, you have the rationale for the current guitar.

Though I understand and appreciate your preference for the more vintage tone, the current electronics gives him the singing sustain he generates when playing high up on the fretboard as he does. One of my favorite examples of this is the guitar solo in "If I Needed Someone" on the CD George Harrison in Japan. Unfortunately, I do not have a link for it.

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"Another day in paradise!"