Wouldn't it have been interesting if Eric Clapton took over from David Gilmour when Pink Floyd broke up, and soloed all over classic Pink Floyd songs? It turns out that's pretty much exactly what happened in 1984!
Pink Floyd had effectively broken up after the release of "The Final Cut" album in 1983, although the break wouldn't be official until 1985. Pink Floyd's main singer and songwriter Roger Waters released his solo album "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" in 1984 and went on tour to promote it. Surprisingly, Eric Clapton was hired to play lead guitar for the first leg of the tour, even though Clapton was more of a household name than Waters, and he was busy with his own successful solo career. I believe it's the first and only time in Clapton's long solo career that he played a whole tour as a supporting musician for someone else.
I'm posting this because I'm working on my own super-sized version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" album, which should be coming soon. While working on that, I gave this bootleg concert another listen, and I was struck at how excellent the sound is. This is a pristine soundboard that sounds as good as any officially released album at the time.
Furthermore, the performance is excellent. The first half of the concert, which i two hour and four minutes long, consists entirely of Pink Floyd classics, played in rough chronological order. The second half features the entire "Pros and Cons" album played in the same order as the album. Personally, I think that album is merely good, not great. But I think it comes alive more in concert than on the studio album. But mostly, it's a blast hearing Clapton solo all over those songs, and especially the Pink Floyd classics in the first half of the show (as well as the encore).
For most of his long musical career, Waters has been big on putting on an audio-video spectacle for his concerts. For this tour, there was constant video footage playing behind the musicians, and various other special effects happening, so the music had to be choreographed carefully. As a result, there was very little musical variety from night to night. Clapton got bored of that, and left after only one leg of the tour. But luckily we have this one soundboard from that leg to give us a hint of what a Pink Floyd with Clapton in it would have sounded like.
01 Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
02 Money (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
03 If (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
04 Welcome to the Machine (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
05 Have a Cigar (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
06 Wish You Were Here (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
07 Pigs on the Wing, Part 1 (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
08 In the Flesh (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
09 Nobody Home (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
10 Hey You (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
11 The Gunner's Dream (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
12 talk (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
13 4-30 A.M. [Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
14 4-33 A.M. [Running Shoes] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
15 4-37 A.M. [Arabs with Knives and West German Skies] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
16 4-39 A.M. [For the First Time Today, Part 2] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
17 4-41 A.M. [Sexual Revolution] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
18 4-47 A.M. [The Remains of Our Love] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
19 4-50 A.M. [Go Fishing] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
20 4-56 A.M. [For the First Time Today, Part 1] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
21 4-58 A.M. [Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
22 5-01 A.M. [The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
23 5-06 A.M. [Every Stranger's Eyes] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
24 5-11 A.M. [The Moment of Clarity] (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
25 talk (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
26 Brain Damage (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
27 Eclipse (Roger Waters with Eric Clapton)
https://www.imagenetz.de/bkCWv
The cover art photo shows Waters and Clapton on stage during Waters' 1984 tour. (Waters is much closer to the camera, playing bass.) I don't know which concert it's from exactly.
Eric Clapton went on tour with Delaney and Bonnie in 1969.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but I specifically said in his solo career. The way I see it, that didn't begin until after his first solo album in 1970, or perhaps after Derek and the Dominos broke up in 1971.
DeleteClapton did go on George Harrison's short tour of Japan in 1991, if you want to count that.
ReplyDeleteWhich give you a sense of "Clapton in the Beatles" like this post is "Clapton in Pink Floyd"
DeleteI see what you mean. That is a good point.
DeleteThanks--clapton was the guitarist on the Pros and Cons album. I saw the tour on night 1 in New Jersey--where Clapton did NOT plqy with Waters. He played on night 2. Argh!
ReplyDeleteClapton has said that being a studio and touring musician for Waters was one of the worst experiences of his career.
I wonder why
DeleteThanks for this, it's really not a 'what if' but 'here it is' version of Pink Floyd with Eric Clapton. A missed opportunity for Roger Waters to have found a new writing partner...?
ReplyDeletePaul, I wonder if an acoustic Pink Floyd album has ever been compiled? I don't think it has?;There's plenty of material but would it be a coherent listening experience?
I'm thinking Roger Waters Demo's e.g. 'money' and Gilmours live performances. With some older archive material and maybe some Syd Barrett. Doesn't look too promising but maybe the acoustic nature would help the flow?
Thank you for this. It will be interesting to here Eric instead of Dave.
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteSaw your note about the "rebuild of The Wall" album.... did you ever finish it? I have seen quite a few articles about The Wall being initially truncated to a 2 album release with subesquent releases (movie soundtrack, Pros & Cons, Immersion set) filling in the blanks. Would be interested in your take....