DVD Eric Clapton One More Car One More Rider
Warner Vision 775-38578-2 DP
Filmed on August the 18th 2001 at the Staples Centre Los Angeles, this DVD and VHS release is Eric Clapton's first video recorded set since the acclaimed Unplugged concert in1992.
The excellent DVD is packed with Eric's classic songs and others. This was recorded in 2001 but not released until November 2002 and is 128 minutes of listening pleasure.
The show commences with Key to the Highway , a traditional arrangement with Eric on an acoustic guitar and ably backed by Andy Fairweather Low and Nathan East on acoustic bass. Eric's guitar sounds fabulous and there is no doubt that he is in fine voice. Eric changed to an ES 135 Gibson for the title track of his Reptile album. A jazzy instrumental number, it shows the versatility of the man who was once proclaimed as God via that famous graffiti over thirty years ago. By the grace of God (The real one) as always, Billy Preston added some fabulous Hammond fills. Still with the keys, former East Street Band member Dave Sancious plays an unusual keyboard/mouthpiece set-up that sounds like a soprano saxophone! What great technology!
Also from the Reptile CD is the song Got You On My Mind (Joe Turner). This one is a very easy-going version. Very loud cheers accompanied the introductory notes to Tears in Heaven . This lovely sentimental song is the one to remember the tragic loss of his young son Conor. I find this very melancholy, as Eric's son was the same age as my son was when Conor lost his life, and the memory of the incident is still vivid in my mind.
These early songs are all very easy-going acoustic numbers and include Bell Bottom Blues and Change the World . The first time you see Eric with a Strat is for the mellow reggae tinted My Father's Eyes , a really nice song. Things start cooking by the time River of Tears and it's lovely slow intro rings around the Staples Centre. The tone from EC's guitar is the one known as “Woman Tone” as Eric named it. It's mellow! The guitar solo is typically EC with what seems like the tone is rolled off. He doesn't seem to be even trying but the mellow notes come like a machine gun. No wonder he‘s called Slowhand! This song builds to a fantastic climax with Billy Preston's keys and Eric's relentless guitar, and is a fabulous finale to the song!
Another very enjoyable follow up is Going Down Slow with it's brick by brick introduction and continuous rhythm throughout the number just keeps on going till the outro runs to the intro of She's Gone . This number has your head nodding and your feet tapping all the way through, you just can't stop. It's been easy over the years to become blasé about Eric's playing, especially with all the young pretenders coming through the ranks. I can reliably inform you that Eric's crown is safe. He's fast, he's melodic, and he is full of rhythm. I'm almost tempted to paint “ Clapton is God ” on a brick wall somewhere; only I'm not religious! He deserves to be praised though! This DVD has captured Eric at his best especially on this song. The set slows a little to include another number from the Reptile CD.This one is I Want A Little Girl and is a slow swing kinda thing.
The unmistakable intro to George Harrison's classic Badge gives way to Eric's verses, which in turn give way to Billy Preston's keyboard. This is a great live version of the song with another mellow solo and dramatic vocal harmonies of “Where is my Badge” sent cold shivers down my back. As one classic finishes, the intro to Hoochie Coochie Man seamlessly commences. A little more sophisticated than Muddy's original, Eric seems so comfortable with the classic lyrics, “ Gypsy told my mother…on the day I was born …” - Wow great stuff! Eric's solo was just right for the song -pure blues. Keeping in the blues mode, the band play Have You Ever Loved a Woman . The extensive introductory guitar solo is fabulous before Eric sings those famous words “Have You Ever Loved A Woman?” Eric is the consummate Bluesman and he has made this one of the highlights of this DVD. Other notable classics are Cocaine and Wonderful Tonight and this song is indeed wonderful with its fat and juicy intro from Billy Preston's Hammond with a healthy amount of Leslie Chorus dialled in.
More improvised meanderings on Eric's
Strat lead to the instantly recognisable opening riff to Layla . As if you didn't know this already, Eric is a fabulous guitar player and after this song, another super-classic, the Los Angeles audience stood up for a well-deserved ovation. What a great song and one that bridges generation gaps. Once this musical form was for the youth, but now this song is part of the establishment of musical culture much in the same way as Frank Sinatra's My Way for instance, has been for earlier generations.
This DVD concert isn't over yet however and Billy Preston's lead vocals start the encore with Will it Go'Round in Circles . Billy who many will realise has been an artist in his own right for over 35 years and he's a great singer. To see him gesticulating with one hand and playing the organ with the other whilst he sings to the audience is a pleasure to see. During Eric's guitar solo he jumps from the Hammond and dances freestyle till it's time for the verses again. Great stuff this is!
As this song finishes the opening riff to Sunshine of Your Love pulses in. This is the song that captured my imagination as a young man and started a thirty-year appreciation of the star of this DVD. This version is just as good as ever with Andy Fairweather Low on backing vocals and guitar. This version is probably better than the original considering the credentials of the band. The members are: Andy Fairweather Low, Billy Preston, Dave Sancious, Steve Gadd and Nathan East and Phil Phillingenes as well as the evergreen Eric Clapton.
These musicians were introduced during the intro of the final song on the DVD. I have a feeling some will like Eric's version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow and some will not! My wife loves it but I would have preferred a blues or rocker to take us to the curtain close.
To sum up, I find this to be a little slow to begin with then the rhythmic movers come in and its all systems go. There's nothing at all wrong with the earlier songs, they're great but as soon as Eric straps on the Fender, well it's fantastic. For staunch Clapton fans this is unmissable, a must- have for the collection. Available in DVD and VHS formats as well as the Audio CD (I had the CD bought at Christmas, because my missus likes it no doubt!) I can thoroughly recommend it and judging by the amount of plays this DVD gets from my dear wife, I'm positive she does too!