Jj Cale Collected Rarity
My best guess is that around the time of The Rolling Hotel being completed that Eric was splitting from Stigwood to go with Forrester. Eric was enmeshed with Stigwood and RSO and who knows what else since his Cream days. Don't know the details of the break, but generally they tend to be messy. As The Rolling Hotel was self funded and not made for the BBC, HBO or MGM etc. It would not be that hard to kill.I think Roger Forrester had an idea on how to present Eric to the public at large and how he wanted to strengthen Eric's public profile to build a long spanning career. And I believe The Rolling Hotel was not part of those plans.Now I would live to seea blu-ray of The Rolling Hotel with extra footage. Is their any more footage of Eric and Muddy Waters?While they are at it, give an offical release of the PBS Nothin' But The Blues.
Click to expand.I don't mean to minimize addiction problems. But on the level of performance and having read about Clapton's personal situation, it helps to remember that his biggest booze consumption period came after heroin. My recollection is that he indicated his tolerance level for alcohol was very high because he was more or less, meaning at least in part, using it to 'get over' heroin. I think he was not merely talking about avoiding/minimizing the craving for heroin but also that it caused his tolerance level for alcohol to be very high.
Of course eventually alcohol itself got to be 'too much', and he couldn't control it. But in the short term the move away from heroin at least occurred while he was able to get out of the house.In other words he really was able to perform better for a time. Until he wasn't.
Un site sur J.J. A propos de John W. Cale, dit J.J. Cale (1938-2013). Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road To Escondido. Cale - Collected.
I don't think it was merely lack of press coverage. I don't mean to minimize addiction problems.
But on the level of performance and having read about Clapton's personal situation, it helps to remember that his biggest booze consumption period came after heroin. My recollection is that he indicated his tolerance level for alcohol was very high because he was more or less, meaning at least in part, using it to 'get over' heroin. I think he was not merely talking about avoiding/minimizing the craving for heroin but also that it caused his tolerance level for alcohol to be very high. Of course eventually alcohol itself got to be 'too much', and he couldn't control it. But in the short term the move away from heroin at least occurred while he was able to get out of the house.In other words he really was able to perform better for a time. Until he wasn't.
I don't think it was merely lack of press coverage. Eric Clapton - Slowhand - 1977Released - 25 November 1977Recorded - May 1977, Olympic Studios, LondonProduced by Glyn JohnsA Side:1. 'Cocaine' (J.J. 'Wonderful Tonight' (Eric Clapton) 3:443.
'Lay Down Sally' (Eric Clapton/George Terry/Marcy Levy) 3:564. 'Next Time You See Her' (Eric Clapton) 4:015.
'We're All the Way' (Don Williams) 2:32B Side:1. 'The Core' (Eric Clapton/Marcy Levy) 8:452. 'May You Never' (John Martyn) 3:013. 'Mean Old Frisco' (Arthur Crudup) 4:424. 'Peaches and Diesel' (Eric Clapton/Albhy Galuten) 4:46Eric Clapton – lead vocals, guitarJamie Oldaker – drums, percussionCarl Radle – bass guitarDick Sims – keyboardsGeorge Terry – guitarYvonne Elliman – harmony and backing vocalsMarcy Levy – harmony and backing vocals, duet on 'The Core'Mel Collins – saxophone. Cocaine - Superb! Great cover and a great way to kick-off the album.
Love it still after all these years.Wonderful Tonight - haven't heard this in a long time. Sure, when I saw him live back in the 90s that live version was far better than this but this one has charm, a bit cheesy but no more so than what was popular in the UK pop charts back in '77.
Surprisingly not a hit single. I could happily live without ever hearing it again but it is part of Slowhand as ive always remembered it.Lay Down Sally - EC and Marcy Levy, although later credit was also given to George Terry. Nice country style tune. Again, I miss having Yvonne higher in the mix, having Marcy as the main lead against Eric lacks Yvonnes deeper tones.Next Time You See Her - Okay tune, I like it, not stunning but fits nicely on the album. I don't have much to say about this one. An album track!We're All The Way - Really like this. One of my faves, again, Marcy too high in the mix.
No wonder Yvonne left the band after this tour.The Core - superb, another highpoint, Mel Collins on sax, again, Marcy as main vocal foil to Eric. She almost takes the place of Bobby Whitlock's vocals in this band. I would've preferred Bobby, this could have been a great Domino's tune.May You Never - An okay cover. I absolutely love John Martyn so this one is never going to cut it for me.
Okay, not terrible but give me Johns original.Mean Old Frisco - Old blues cover previously recorded 6 years earlier for 2nd Domino's album. Not bad at all.Peaches & Diesel - Nice melodic instrumental. Very pleasant end to the album.Outtakes:Looking At The Rain - cover of the Gordon Lightfoot song.
I like this a lot, can see why it was left off the album but perhaps an outsider to have been included on the Crossroads boxset back in 1988, on which no Slowhand outtakes were added.Alberta - first heard on the 'Blues' collection that accompanied the Crossroads Vol2 live in the 70s. Erics vocals sounds 'merry' on this one, but still a nice solo effort later heard in concert on this tour.Greyhound Bus - Okay tune. Sounds like an accordian - Dick Sims? Backing vocals on this one and a rarity for Slowhand, you can hear Yvonne.
Not bad.Stars, Strays & Ashtrays - With a title like that was unlikely to make the final album. Not too bad but lyrics are poor.Live at Hammersmith Odeon, April 1977, recorded around the time of the BBC Old Grey Whistle Test show.
Very good concert. Big fan of this tour.
He seems to me to have the mojo back from the 74/75 tours. Sadly the last tour with this size band, Yvonne left first prior to the next album.but we'll pick that up when we get to Backless.I really like the album and the Super Deluxe although the box it came in was way too big and poorly designed. My inner package has already fallen apart, be careful if you own this. Plus no real need for them to include the vinyl LP, wouldve worked better in a similar package to the later 1974/75 Give Me Strength box/book.Whats everyones thoughts on Slowhand as an album? Also the different versions? Slowhand is generally considered a 'classic' Clapton solo album, but I think it is pretty uneven, definitely a notch below 461 and Every Crowd. No Reason To Cry definitely comes across as a precursor to Slowhand; both are inconsistent.
I loathe Wonderful Tonight, always have, always will. It may be the biggest co-hit off of the album alongside Cocaine, but I can't stand it.
Mean Old Frisco should be better than it is. Next Time You See Her and May You Never are forgettable. The Core has tremendous potential, and it is possibly the hardest Clapton has rocked on a song in studio since his Dominos days, but the excessive Marcy Levy vocals almost ruin what should be a great track. That said, there are a handful of selections from Slowhand that are quite good. I have grown to really like We're All The Way and argue that Peaches And Diesel is the best song on the album. Cocaine is a classic (albeit overplayed) and Lay Down Sally has a pleasant groove. This is an album I infrequently play cover to cover; I placed the songs I like on a master playlist and rarely look back.
This is a great album but certainly not the masterpiece as suggested by the plethora of deluxe versions. Cocaine and The Core certainly are but I'm not hearing anything exceptional in the remaining tracks with Wonderful Tonight as the low point here.
Jj Cale Collected Rarity Pictures
That being said, it's still a solid effort and I probably would be more positive about it if it hadn't been hyped up with all de deluxe versions. It is an album I do enjoy although I don't pull it out as often as I probably should. Am definitely gonna do that today. Slowhand is generally considered a 'classic' Clapton solo album, but I think it is pretty uneven, definitely a notch below 461 and Every Crowd. No Reason To Cry definitely comes across as a precursor to Slowhand; both are inconsistent. I loathe Wonderful Tonight, always have, always will. It may be the biggest co-hit off of the album alongside Cocaine, but I can't stand it.
Mean Old Frisco should be better than it is. Next Time You See Her and May You Never are forgettable. The Core has tremendous potential, and it is possibly the hardest Clapton has rocked on a song in studio since his Dominos days, but the excessive Marcy Levy vocals almost ruin what should be a great track. That said, there are a handful of selections from Slowhand that are quite good.
I have grown to really like We're All The Way and argue that Peaches And Diesel is the best song on the album. Cocaine is a classic (albeit overplayed) and Lay Down Sally has a pleasant groove.
This is an album I infrequently play cover to cover; I placed the songs I like on a master playlist and rarely look back. Click to expand.The Marcy Levy factor does affect the overall love for this album for me. Just seems that Yvonne was getting side-lined. I know that Marcy was a good songwriter and quite prolific which helped but I just prefer it when you have the mix of all 3 vocalists and not just EC and Marcy with Yvonne fading deeper into the background. I don't think EC/Marcy vocals compliment each other.My biggest problem is on the super deluxe edition, the live version of Stormy Monday, when she starts wailing from 9:05 onwards. Ruins it for me. Give me Yvonne's solo version of Can't Find My Way Home anyday.
Click to expand.Like it or not Wonderful Tonight is one of the core songs on Slowhand. It was a popular radio hit. At one time it was one of the most played songs at weddings.A lot of us Eric Clapton fans want him to play with the fire he brought to Cream's Crossroads all the time. Heroin over time almost extinguished that fire. What's so wrong about a 32 year old married man writing a love song to his wife.
I'm sure that song helped smoothed over many a transgression he made against her.On the Slowhand Digest many many years ago, I offered that in a live concerts, Wonderful Tonight was a low point for me. Boy did it rain on me. Many men and women, at the concert with their significant others, love the song. It was their high point of the concert. So all our mileage varies.Wonderful Tonight was a hit single, and hit singles help to move LPs, and puts warm butts in the concert seats.Once again I find that Peaches & Diesels followed by Wonderful Tonight from Santa Monica, CA Feburary 12, 1978 to be Wonderful.