Artist: Clapton, Eric
Label: Polydor Records
Released: 1973
After a long battle with heroin addiction that forced him into complete seclusion in 1971, Eric Clapton rises from the dead like a phoenix two years later. His long-awaited return to form comes with Townshend’s Rainbow Concert, organized mainly to help Eric get back on his feet. Pete, out of deep respect for the legendary guitarist, helps Eric put things back where they belong. Any suggestion that Eric lost his charming guitar rhetoric during those years of mentally absent, dejected wandering turns out to be a false alarm at the Rainbow Concert. From the punchy opening riff of Layla, Eric, in enviable musical company with Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, Steve Winwood and Rick Grech, stays the dominant figure of the whole affair. What’s more! It seems Eric has finally made peace with the status of guitar god, which has been haunting him since the early Mayall years. His playing is focused, balanced and full of that usual, typically mellow way of speaking. As if the man had never been away from the stage for the past two years. The focused guitar interpretation leaves little room for doubt, and at the same time speaks to the maturity of a musician on which Eric builds his entire inimitable art of performance.
Credit for Clapton’s successful comeback of course also goes to the mighty backing band (if you can even call it that, judging by the names). The colorful all-star lineup provides a solid foundation that lets Eric channel all his energy and thoughts purely into his own performance. The magical evening, full of playful, often seductively simple exchanges of ideas, kicks off with Eric’s trademark cheeky intro to Layla. An uncompromising approach announces the guitarist’s return and drives everyone in the room wild. This deeply emotional moment is marked by the smooth guitar and vocals typical of Eric’s sentimental way of expressing himself, which we all missed so much. Badge, which comes in an interestingly lighter-touch arrangement, cranks the temperature up to boiling, and then Eric’s guitar, in a fun demonstration of blues scales, carries us into the embrace of the raging Blues Power. More proof that Eric’s once-suffering love for music needed only a little nudge can be found in the phenomenally nasty blues of Roll It Over. The rhythm that only blues music has serves as a playground for Clapton to unload his turbulent emotions, giving birth to stunning guitar playing that strongly recalls the last days of Cream or Blind Faith.
The warm reception of Little Wing is one of the most emotional moments of the entire concert. Melancholy, sorrow, wistfulness, all these powerful feelings flow from under Eric’s fingers with incredible ease, while the guitarist’s heartfelt vocals deliver one of the better covers of this Hendrix classic. Perfection that can only be measured by the level of admiration for the legendary guitarist. Standing proudly beside it is Bell Bottom Blues, at the end of which Eric’s barely audible guitar voice forces the audience into silent awe. Eric shows his affection for Derek And The Dominos with the energetic Tell The Truth and a brilliantly executed Key To The Highway, where the absence of Allman’s slide is effectively made up for by Clapton’s playful interpretation. This is the night of Eric’s exhibition of his wonderful performing abilities. Still, there’s room for Steve Winwood, whose distinctive voice gives Presence Of The Lord an especially religious weight. Not the slightest bit religious, though, is the stormy Traffic classic Pearly Queen. A stunning interplay, once again recalling the late Cream era, will stir up the kind of thrilling mood without which the life of any Eric Clapton fan seems completely empty.
No retrospective of Clapton’s work is complete without Robert Johnson. Crossroads, this time rhythmically closer to the original than the more famous Cream version, once again glows with Eric’s life force. It’s this very force that, as so often in his career, keeps reminding us of the legacy of blues giants Buddy Guy, Freddie King, and of course Robert Johnson, on which the foundation of Clapton’s whole musical personality was built. The God has returned in the best possible way. With his own distinctive musical interpretation, which helps us tell apart the believers from the icons the faithful dutifully worship. Stunning and simply inimitable.
Lineup
Eric Clapton: vocals/guitar
Pete Townshend: vocals/guitar
Ron Wood: vocals/guitar
Steve Winwood: vocals/keyboards
Rick Grech: bass
Jim Capaldi: drums
Jimmy Karstein: drums
Production
Jon Astley and Andy Macpherson
Track List
1.Layla
2.Badge
3.Blues Power
4.Roll It Over
5.Little Wing
6.Bottle Of Red Wine
7.After Midnight
8.Bell Bottom Blues
9.Presence Of The Lord
10.Tell The Truth
11.Pearly Queen
12.Key To The Highway
13.Let It Rain
14.Crossroads
Album length: 70.51
