In 1970, Clapton's short lived band Derek and the Dominos made the classic album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs." Slide guitarist Duane Allman was a member of that band while still being a member of the Allman Brothers Band (ABB) at the same time. Clapton has said that he considered Duane to be kind of a musical soul mate. But tragically, Duane died less than a year after the release of that album, so further collaborations never came to pass.
Duane's brother Gregg Allman kept on with the Allman Brothers Band, to great success. Gregg had jammed some with Derek and the Dominos during the making of the "Layla" album. But the musical paths of Clapton and the ABB never really crossed paths again until two special nights in 2009, March 19th and 20th, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The ABB was doing a series of 15 shows at that venue that year, with a focus on remembering Duane Allman, and including lots of special guests who had a connection to him. Clapton joined in for about half the concert for both of those nights. He sang five songs, all from the "Layla" album, and played on three other songs led by the ABB.
I found a Rolling Stone Magazine article about the 2009 Beacon Theatre concerts, with some quotes from ABB lead guitarist Derek Trucks about the two Clapton shows. Here are some excerpts.
The ABB had made it a yearly tradition to do a long run of concerts at the Beacon every year. Trucks said that "since I joined the band, there was a rumor that Eric would play." When he finally showed up in 2009, "there was a palpable buzz in the place - and in the band, like there was unfinished business. For the Allmans, in a sense, it was something to prove. And it happened in the best spirit. ... It was a magical night." Trucks said that during "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" on March 20th, Clapton took a solo "that was a different side of him, that I hadn't seen. Where he normally would have gotten to his point, stayed and got out, he got in, stayed and realized he wasn't nearly finished. He kept plowing. There was a freedom and unhinged element to it that I really dug."
Derek Trucks Goes Behind the Allman Brothers’ Beacon Box Set – Rolling Stone
It's generally considered that Clapton collaboration on March 20th was the better one (something that the quote from Trucks above supports), so that's what I've included here. However, there was one song played by the ABB and Clapton on March 19th only, "Anyday." So I slipped that in after the track in which Clapton got introduced. Blues singer Susan Tedeschi also helped with the lead vocals on that song.
The entire performance here has been officially released. Normally, I don't post officially released stuff unless it's rare and/or I change or reorganize it in some important way. In this case, I'm doing it because this has only been available as part of the "Beacon Box," a box set containing no less than 47 CDs, with a cost of $500! Because of that, it seems very few people have this, or even know about it.
This album is an hour and 16 minutes long.
01 talk (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
02 Anyday (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton with Susan Tedeschi)
03 Key to the Highway (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
04 Call It Stormy Monday (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
05 Dreams (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
06 Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
07 Little Wing (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
08 In Memory of Elizabeth Reed [Instrumental] (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
09 talk (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
10 Layla (Allman Brothers Band & Eric Clapton)
The cover photo shows the ABB and Clapton on March 19, 2009. Left to right: Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, Marc Quinones, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Butch Trucks, and Eric Clapton.
No comments:
Post a Comment