E.C. Was Here

by

Eric Clapton

Edit

Flash back to mid-1970's, where record companies began releasing live albums regardless of the quality, a problem that would get worse after the unforeseen success of 'Frampton Comes Alive'. At this time Clapton had covered a reggae song, Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff". Similarly, he had recorded what can best be described as laid-back versions of songs such as Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and the traditional "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". So the powers that be decide that since he is (some would argue "was") first and foremost a blues guitarist, Clapton needed to release a live recording to burnish his blues credentials. So far, so good. Unfortunately the concert that was picked for this release, a 1974 summer stop in Long Beach, California, was very weak. In his autobiography, Clapton himself said that he would have preferred to have played small venues on this tour, which as others have noted was his first tour after 2-3 years of a serious drug addiction, but his management had committed him to an arena tour instead. Clapton's singing voice is weak, in fact I don't understand why others have lauded the inclusion of two Blind Faith songs ("Can't Find My Way Home" and "Presence Of The Lord") on this disc since they are basically sung by Yvonne Elliman. Now don't get me wrong Elliman is a good singer with a fine voice but we're paying for Eric Clapton here, right? Clapton is better on the slow blues numbers such "Driftin' Blues" and "Ramblin' On My Mind". "Further On Up The Road" is also a good song for Clapton's vocal style, but there are three other versions available from 1976-77 (one on the 'Crossroads' box set, another on 'Crossroads 2', and the third on the 2-CD compilation 'Blues') that are all superior to the version on 'E.C. Was Here'. In fact Clapton is in much better form in the late 1974 London leg of this tour and in 1975 -- in hindsight these are the shows that should have originally been released in '75 instead of this disc. If you want to hear Clapton live, 'Just One Night', '24 Nights' or even the live Derek and the Dominoes disc are better choices. There is also a complete concert from December, 1974 on the Deluxe Edition of '461 Ocean Boulevard'. These are all much better alternatives.