Eric Clapton - Guild
Just One Night - U.K. Tour:
Civic Hall
Guildford, Surrey, England
May 18, 1980
Tarantura TCDEC - 19 (show #2)
Disc 1:
1. Roll Over Beethoven
2. Tulsa Time
3. Early In The Morning
4. Lay Down Sally*
5. Wonderful Tonight*
6. Country Boy
7. Hold On
8. Blues Power
9. Double Trouble
10. Setting Me Up
11. Thunder and Lightning
12. If I Don't Be There By Morning
Disc 2:
1. Ramblin' On My Mind
2. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
3. Home Lovin'
4. After Midnight
5. Cocaine
6. Further On Up The Road
7. Layla ~ Shut Up
8. Long Tall Sally
9. Lawdy Miss Clawdy
The Band:
Eric Clapton guitar, vocals
Albert Lee Guitar, vocals
Dave Markee bass
Henry Spinetti drums
Chris Stainton keyboards
Gary Brooker keyboards, vocals
*and someone played the accordian!
Special Guests:
Jeff Beck on Rambling On My Mind and HYELAW
Chas and Dave on Roll Over Beethoven
Original artwork for this show included.
Artwork by Kream for chubby cases also included. Playlist
change on front-inside for the next show, May 23, 1983 disc 2.
Lineage:
Audience>?>silvers>direct to cdr>EAC>Flac frontend 6
My rating (scale 1-6) Aud 4+
Additional 3 shows from the box set to follow.
Review of this show:
The intervening eighteen months between the final Backless show
in 1978 and the 1980 show in Guildford are called by some
Clapton’s “nadir.” Although the judgement is a bit harsh, it certainly
was a strange time of transition. After firing his so-called
“American” band and hiring an “English” one, they toured throughout
1979 and recorded the live album Just One Night in Japan and
released it at the time of this show. The professionalism of the new
band is obvious, but lacking was the flair for the jam so easy for the
previous. Clapton brought in Albert Lee and old friend Gary Brooker
to record a new album. The sessions occurred in March and April
at Surry Sound Studios in Leatherhead, Surrey and afterwards
embarked on a two week tour of England to test the new material in
a live setting.
The new album Turn Up Down was not released because Polydor
felt there were too many contributions from Brooker and not enough
Clapton (so the story goes). The album has been given unofficial
releases on E.C. Is Here (DJ Copy 026) and Mid Valley (MVR 056)
but still has not been officially released although “Something Special,”
“Hold Me Lord,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and “Rita Mae” were included
on Another Ticket in 1981, which would be his last LP for the label
before switching to Warner Brothers. The May 18th show in Guildford
is the final show of the short tour. Two songs, “Country Boy” and
“Thunder And Lightening” are included on disc three of the
Further On Up The Crossroads (Why Not STBX027) compilation
and the entire audience recording was previously issued on
Eric Clapton Versus Jeff Beck (Zeus 2015001/2).
Fair is the best way to describe the sound quality. The taper was
distant from the stage and Clapton’s song introductions are a
difficult to hear, but it is clear enough to be enjoyed and since there
are very few Clapton tapes from 1980, all of them are precious
since it offers a unique glimpse into this troubled time. There are
various small cuts between songs and “If I Don’t Be There By Morning”
and “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” are incomplete. What is audible is an
intriguing performance in front of the hometown crowd beginning
with ”Roll Over Beethoven” from the opening act Chas & Dave.
The lively “Tulsa Time” is followed by the languorous
”Early In The Morning.” Both “Lay Down Sally” and “Wonderful Tonight”
are unique since they are augmented by an accordion.
Albert Lee sings the fast paced “Country Boy” and is followed by
the rare “Hold On” with Brooker on vocals. Lee again takes vocals
for the Dire Straits cover “Setting Me Up” which was also recorded
for the live album Just One Night. “Thunder And Lightening” is a
rare performance of the unreleased song from Turn Up Down.
It is an effective gospel-inspired number.
Clapton’s speaking to the audience before “Rambling On My Mind”
is inaudible making his introduction of Jeff Beck difficult to hear.
Beck adds his guitar histrionics on the piece. It sounds like Beck
is trying to shatter the glass windows with the high notes as Clapton
shouts out the chords. This song segues into
“Have You Ever Loved A Woman?” This is the first time Beck plays
with Clapton onstage and the interlude lasts more than ten minutes.
“How about Jeff?” Clapton asked afterwards. “A return to sanity
now” is his cryptic comment before they play “Home Lovin’.”
This Brooker original was scheduled to appear on Turn Up Down
but can be found on his second solo album Lead Me To The Water
instead.
“After Midnight” is a pure adrenaline rush being played at double
speed. After “Further On Up The Road” there is a strange interim
on stage. Since the tape is cut it’s difficult to know what precipitated
it, but Clapton plays the opening notes to “Layla” out of tune and
shouts “SHUT UP!!” It sounds as if the audience were requesting
the song all night and Clapton spitefully complies with their request.
Two covers close the show. “Long Tall Sally” with Lee on vocals,
lasting ten minutes, is followed by “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” with
Clapton playing many fluent boogie-style solos throughout the
piece. It cuts off after four and a half minutes but sounds as if it
would go on all night if they chose. It is a shame the sound quality
is only fair to good since this is a fascinating concert, but in this
condition is more than adequate to enjoy the atmosphere of this
bizarre show.
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