So yeah, that's annoyed me. But famous musicians often are difficult people. If I didn't listen to any musicians who acted like jerks in one way or another, I'd have to throw out half of my music collection, at least. What he did isn't beyond the pale awful, like, say, R. Kelly or Bill Cosby. So I'm going to keep posting the rest of the albums I have prepared for him, especially since I made these albums long before the pandemic started.
Getting to the music here, the late 1980s were a strange time for Clapton. On one hand, he went for a slick, commercial sound with his 1986 album "August." But on the other hand, he still loved traditional blues. So this album has a mix of both sounds. His bluesy side is boosted by collaborations with Otis Rush, Chicken Shack, and Chuck Berry.
Five of the ten songs here are officially unreleased (tracks 1 and 3 through 6). "It's My Life Baby" and "Lady of Verona" are studio outtakes. The three others come from concert bootlegs. "Fight the Good Fight," a collaboration with the Bee Gees, comes from an obscure album for a children's animated TV series ("The Bunbury Tails"). The two instrumentals are from a movie soundtrack. The new version of "After Midnight" is from the "Crossroads" box set.
This album is 48 minutes long.
01 It's My Life Baby (Eric Clapton)
02 Fight the Good Fight (Eric Clapton with the Bee Gees)
03 Lady of Verona (Eric Clapton)
04 All Your Love [I Miss Loving] (Eric Clapton & Otis Rush)
05 Long Distance Call (Eric Clapton & Chicken Stack)
06 Sweet Sixteen [Edit] (Eric Clapton & Chicken Shack)
07 Wee Wee Hours (Eric Clapton & Chuck Berry)
08 Ruby [Instrumental] (Eric Clapton)
09 After Midnight [Crossroads Version] (Eric Clapton)
10 Travelling East [Instrumental] (Eric Clapton)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15101756/EricC_1986-1988_FightGoodFght_atse.zip.html
The cover photo was taken in Tokyo, Japan, in November 1987.
Wasn't even aware of his actions during Covid. Always a shame to lose respect for a person I once admired.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a bummer. Van Morrison went the exact same route. Since you're not aware, here's what Wikipedia has to say about Clapton and the pandemic:
DeleteIn November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clapton and Van Morrison collaborated on an anti-mask, anti-lockdown single entitled "Stand and Deliver," the profits from which were donated to Morrison's "Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund". Morrison's stance has been described by Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann as "a smear on all those involved in the public health response" and giving "great comfort to the conspiracy theorists – the tin foil hat brigade who crusade against masks and vaccines and think this is all a huge global plot to remove freedoms". In July 2021, Clapton wrote that he would "not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present", in response to Boris Johnson requiring vaccination for concerts. Clapton by then had taken both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but, he said, had severe reactions to both injections.
The construction "stand and deliver" means "to give what is demanded" and was originally used by highwaymen robbing passengers. The song ends with the observation that notorious highway robber "Dick Turpin wore a mask too" and includes the couplet "You let them put the fear in you / But none of it was true". Clapton announced that "There are many of us who support Van and his efforts to save live music. He is an inspiration. We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess."
In August 2021, Clapton released the single "This Has Gotta Stop" and an accompanying music video described as a protest song against COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccinations and contains what critics described as lyrical and visual statements against what Clapton sees as the erosion of civil liberties as the result of lockdown policies. The track also addresses environmental concerns, human obsession with technology and media consumption. In response to Clapton's position on COVID-19, his long-time friend and musician Robert Cray, who often opened for Clapton's tours, told him "that he couldn't, in good conscience, open for him as planned on an upcoming tour".