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Before he was out of his teens, the phrase "Clapton is God" was already
making its way around the rock and roll ranks. Three times inducted into the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. A 16-time Grammy award winner. The case would be
made by many that Eric Clapton is the greatest rock guitarist of all
time; even those who disagree will be hard pressed keeping him out of the
top five. When Clapton ventured out into a solo career of his own in the 70's
he was already heading for legendary status, having served as a member of
the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. Not one
to hawk the spotlight in those days, he quietly launched a solo career in
mid-1970, scoring a hit with "After Midnight", then doing some work with
Delaney and Bonnie and forming Derek and The Dominos. Due in part to heroin addiction Clapton spent 1971 and 1972 mostly away from music, not
having another solo album until 461 Ocean Boulevard and a monster hit
single, his cover of the Bob Marley song "I Shot The Sheriff". From here
his career was spotty, not really taking over the limelight again until
"Slowhand" was released in 1977 to enormous acclaim, scoring hits with
"Cocaine", "Lay Down Sally" and the ballad "Wonderful Tonight". From there
it was "Backless" featuring the song "Promises", a double live "Just One
Night" live album, and "Another Ticket" which boasted the single "I Can't
Stand It".
In the 80's Clapton's career seemed to wane somewhat, with the releases
"Money and Cigarettes" and "Behind The Sun" showing some a degree of
creative fatigue. "August" was to be Clapton's foray into a bit harder
sound, which is the showcase release of the time this Montreux concert was
filmed. Not long after this Eric's career would happily come into a
resurgence with the advent of CD and one of that medium's early 4 disc
retrospectives, the now legendary "Crossroads" compilation, the great high
selling "Journeyman" album, the Unplugged release and something of a
renaissance period for the guitar God.
Shoot, I'm one of those fellas that begrudgingly came around to revering
Clapton, having heard "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight" a thousand times too
many in my youth- an era everyone was required to buy "Slowhand" to qualify
as a rock and roller. When one looks at his catalog as a whole it is laden
with great songs and incredible guitar work, however- and the man keeps
coming out with great albums. So for the last 15 years I've been an admitted
Clapton fan rather than a begrudging one. One of the albums that brought me
on the bandwagon is also one that would later be released the same year this
1986 Montreux show was performed, "August", which continued a trend toward a
leaner, harder sound than much of his 70's material. Much of that album's
material is performed here, with the same core band he used for that
recording; drummer and producer Phil Collins of Genesis fame, Nathan East on
bass and Greg Phillinganes on keyboards.
Here is a track list of the show-
1. Crossroads
2. White Room
3. I Shot the Sheriff
4. I Wanna Make Love to You
5. Miss You
6. Same Old Blues
7. Tearing Us Apart
8. Holy Mother
9. Behind the Mask
10 . Badge
11 . Let it Rain
12 . In the Air Tonight
13 . Cocaine
14 . Layla
15 . Sunshine of Your Love
16 . Further on Up the Road
Given the time period during which this concert took place one would be very
hard pressed to come up with a better set list than this one; its likely
Clapton and company saw this as an opportunity to try the forthcoming album
material in a live venue. They were sure to have been rehearsing the
previous Clapton songs performed here as well, with an eye towards a full
blown fall tour certain to come after the release of "August". Indeed, the
older Clapton material on the set list practically reads like a greatest
hits compilation up to 1986. This is the kind of band one would want behind
them as well, and something Clapton still wisely chooses to do when touring
today. At the time this concert was filmed Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes
were seasoned recording session veterans, their resumes reading like a who's
who in rock and soul; a few years after this show East would become one of
the members of jazz supergroup Fourplay. Phil Collins' ( who also produced
the "August" album ) success is pretty much the stuff of legends, taking the
spotlight as drummer and lead singer/songwriter with Genesis after the
departure of Peter Gabriel, then branching out on his own and having a
stellar (if these days a bit too "adult contemporary") solo career as well.
Over the last few years I've picked up several Clapton concert DVD's one of
which (One More Car, One More Rider) nearly gets constant rotation in my DVD
changer. Seeing him play over a number of disc releases through a 20 year
span has made me a believer in one thing for certain; when the man is on
stage, he brings the goods, seemingly never having an off night or
delivering a subpar performance. I was somewhat skeptical about this show, being as how it was in 1986 and he had yet to really reemerge as the Clapton we've been seeing since the "Journeyman" release. I was foolish to have given that a thought; this may well be the hardest rocking set set I've seen Clapton play. His voice is in particularly fine shape and he fairly attacks the faster material, growling the lyrics in a way I seldom see him do in modern times. Then again, much of the stuff played here I've rarely seen Eric do in concert, such as the old Bob Marley gem "I Shot the Sheriff" and a good deal of the "August" release tunes.
Make it a note to check out the extended "Same Old Blues" here; Clapton, East and Phillinganes all take splendid solos and the piece lasts about 13 minutes. Indeed, the show itself is much longer than much of the music video fare one sees on the shelves; the show clocks in at a full 114 minutes, so you're getting your money's worth. Having another highly acclaimed star of the period is interesting to see as well; Phil Collins sitting in on drums behind an established act is always fun to see, as he did in taking John Bonham's place behind the remaining members of Led Zeppelin at Live Aid. By no means showy, Phil stays busy, a whirling dervish on the drum kit, keeping perfect pace with whomever he plays for. Clapton takes what seems like an inordinate number of guitar solos here, and hey, thats just fine by me- he seems to be having fun, and is particularly inspired on this night.
It is a bit odd to see ol' Slowhand sporting that darker, 80's
perfectly styled flyback hairdo and looking much younger than the sage
professor appearance he sports these days. The band fairly rips through the material; "Cocaine" is interesting here in
light of the fact that Eric quit playing the tune live for many years after
his drug rehabilitation and has only recently incorporated it back into his
setlist, his reason being that he sees it as an anti-drug song these days as
opposed to one advocating their use. In any case, the crowd let out a roar
when the first strains of the song were heard, and Clapton rocked the house
with it in Montreux.
Founded in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has established itself as one of
the most prestigious music events in the world. The extraordinary list of
artists who have played there over the last 30 years is drawn from across
the musical spectrum. With the consent of both the festival and the artists,
Eagle Vision is making these concerts available for the first time on DVD.
While a statement like this could be construed as hype by many, the list of
concert DVDs the company has already released is indeed diverse and
star-studded. This reviewer has already watched and/or written reviews of
Montreux performances by the likes of Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Steve
Earle, Alice Cooper, The Jeff Healy Band, James Brown, Candy Dulfer, Suzanne
Vega, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Marcus Miller,
Bonnie Raitt, Ella Fitzgerald.....the list goes on and on. With three
decades of great musicians and performances in the vaults I'm hopeful there
will be many more gems like this to come.
Video-
Aspect ratio for this disc is listed on the box as "16 x 9 Format" so I
assume this is 1.85:1 widescreen. Sadly, the picture quality could be
better. It isn't awful, it just isn't what we're becoming accustomed to
seeing these days. Blacks aren't at all deep, colors appear to be
washed out and things look a bit cloudy on the whole. Sharpness is only
adequate.
Audio-
Eagle Vision has been doing some wonderful work in regards to the sonic aspect of their
Live At Montreux series. The choices available here are Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS
Surround Sound and PCM Stereo. The 5.1 and DTS tracks here are among
the finest I've listened to from their offerings; spacious, clear with
plenty of depth at the lower end, this is a rocker.
Extras-
Sadly, there is nothing in the way of extras here.
Some of the Eagle Rock/Montreux sets have accompanying CDs of the performances while others don't,
probably due to rights issues with the artist, or with an eye towards
separately releasing the bigger selling acts' concerts for CD sale.
Unfortunately, the Clapton performance does not come with an audio CD of the show.
Final Thoughts-
Most any Clapton concert one finds available for purchase is worth owning for the simple fact that he always seems to bring his "A" game to the stage. His 1986 Montreux performance is no exception, and while I would have liked for the picture quality to be a bit more vibrant, the content more than makes up for this. With a MSRP price as low as this its a no-brainer. If you're a Clapton fan, or even just a rock and roller, this is one you need in your library. Highly recommended. |
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