ROCK CELLAR MAGAZINE STAFFON SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
It’s been an eventful past year or so for Eric Clapton, who has made headlines for his involvement with Van Morrison in the singer/songwriter’s “anti-lockdown” songs and with his own outspoken comments regarding the vaccination efforts combating the COVID-19 virus.
With this flurry of activity for the guitar icon, he also found time to record a number of his own classic songs — and well-known songs by others — for The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions, a new collection announced on Thursday that is scheduled for a Nov. 21 release.
Accompanied by his longtime band mates Nathan East (bass/vocals), Steve Gadd (drums) and Chris Stainton (keyboards) and recorded live at Cowdray House in West Sussex, England, the performance finds Clapton and company revisiting such timeless classics as “After Midnight,” “Layla,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Tears in Heaven,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” and “Key to the Highway.” In addition to revisiting some of Eric’s best-loved selections from his own extensive repertoire, Clapton and crew also offer their own versions of songs that had a profound effect on his career and those of his contemporaries including the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac tracks “Black Magic Woman” and “Man of the World.”
More about the project, per a news release:
The project was initiated as the result of the forced cancellation of Eric Clapton’s concerts scheduled for May 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall due to the continued disruption caused by the pandemic. Looking for a viable alternative and hoping to keep his options open, he reconvened with his band to the English countryside and staged a concert in the presence of only the participants themselves while letting the cameras roll. (Clapton’s wife Melia, the sole outside observer inspired the Sessions title.) The mostly acoustic set was envisioned to be like an Eric Clapton Unplugged II, but not quite, as three songs are played with electric guitars. The result became far more than simply a sequence of greatest hits. Rather, it’s one of the most intimate and authentic performances of Clapton’s entire career, an offering flush with real insight into the make-up of his indelible catalogue.
And the track listing (which notably does not include “This Has Gotta Stop,” Clapton’s recent solo song taking aim at the vaccination efforts):
1. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
2. Golden Ring
3. Black Magic Woman
4. Man of the World
5. Kerry
6. After Midnight
7. Bell Bottom Blues
8. Key to the Highway
9. River of Tears
10. Rock Me Baby
11. Believe in Life
12. Going Down Slow
13. Layla
14. Tears in Heaven
15. Long Distance Call
16. Bad Boy
17. Got My Mojo Working
