Eric Clapton
"Talk to the Boss" [Stardust]
The Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia, USA
April 22, 1985

Stardust - SP-R-255 - SB6+

Disc 1:
1) Tulsa Time
2) Motherless Children
3) I Shot the Sheriff
4) Same Old Blues
5) Blues Power
6) Tangled In Love
7) Behind the Sun
8) Wonderful Tonight
9) Steppin' Out
10) Never Make You Cry
11) She's Waiting

Disc 2:
1) Something is Wrong
2) Lay Down Sally
3) Badge
4) Let it Rain
5) Double Trouble
6) Cocaine
7) Layla
8) Forever Man
9) Further On Up the Road

Band Lineup:
Eric Clapton Guitar, Vocals
Donald 'Duck' Dunn Bass
Tim Renwick Guitar
Chris Stainton Keyboards
Jamie Oldaker Drums
Marcy Levy Backing Vocals
Shaun Murphy Backing Vocals

Geetarz Comments:

This may be one of the most circulated EC shows in existence. Recorded initally for the syndicated "King Biscuit Flower Hour" radio programme, an edited version was broadcast about a month after the performance. This edited broadcast was used as a source for many ROIO CD releases including:

"Baltimore Blues" (Prequest CD 158)
"Gone With the Wind" (American Concert Series 043)
"The Grand Pick" (TGP 140)
"Mountain Dew" (Buccaneer BUC 019)
"Reziprocal Affection" (Oh Boy! - 1-9103)
"Through the Years, Volume 2" (Banana - BAN-005-B)
"Virginia" (Beech Marten - BM 028)

As a bit of trivia, this was also the first King Biscuit show to see distribution to radio stations on the then fairly new medium of Compact Disc. As such, the original KBFH discs are valuable to collectors of radio shows not only because of the artist, but because of the unique nature of the release.

A few years later, fans were treated to the ROIO release of the complete, unedited performance on CD, including:

Wonderful Tonight: On Stage 1985 (The Swingin' Pig TSP-196-5/6)
Talk to the Boss (Bell Bottom 09/10)

The year 2000 brought us this Stardust Productions (SP-R-255) remaster of the original Bell Bottom title, with similar cover art.

This remaster is a personal favorite, and really opens up the original Bell Bottom title and brings it to life, without seeming overly processed, while retaining the dynamics and punch.

In 2005, Japenese boutique label Mid Valley released the latest version of this performance in a limited run of 500 as "After Hours" (MVR 301/2). At this point I think it's a personal preference which is better, the Stardust or Mid Valley. Each have their fans, and in this case, it's up to you to check out the releases and see which appeals to you the most.

As to the performance - the 1985 tour, a comeback of sorts, is a personal favorite, and this performance contains my personal all-time favorite rendition of "Same Old Blues", and my 2nd all-time favorite performance of "Further On Up the Road" (the 1st being of course "The Last Waltz"). Many of the songs here sounded new and fresh, backed by a hot band, heck even "Wonderful Tonight" is pretty good on this one. Also included in the set are rarely performed tracks "Behind the Sun", and "Never Make You Cry", a couple overlooked gems in the EC collection which would be dropped from the setlist as the tour progressed in favor of more catalog titles.

Presented here for your enjoyment, direct from my Stardust silvers:

Stardust > LiteOn iHAP322 > EAC v. 0.99 Prebeta 4 (Secure, Offset Correct) > FLAC (8) > You !

New artwork scanned today at 300DPI. Scans of the original discs are included as well.

Artwork, checksums (ST5, MD5, ffp), EAC extraction logs, and info file of course provided. A whole-torrent MD5 is also included.

Enjoy and ... PLAY IT LOUD!

~Geetarz, January 2010

www.geetarz.org

Interested in quality trades and discussion with other EC collectors?

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/ClaptonBoots/