Eric Clapton
July 24, 1985
Concord Pavilion
Concord, CA
master recording
Aiwa CM-30 > Aiwa handheld recorder (model unknown)
XL-II 90 cassette > Nak CR-1A > M-Audio capture >
Adobe Audition > FLAC
1. intro
2. Tulsa Time
3. Motherless Children
4. I Shot the Sheriff
5. Same Old Blues
6. Tangled in Love
7. White Room
8. Steppin' Out (Shaun Murphy, vocalist)
9. Wonderful Tonight
10. She's Waiting
11. She Loves You (Marcy Levy, vocalist)
12. Badge
13. Let it Rain
14. Double Trouble
15. Cocaine
16. Layla
17. encore break
18. Forever Man
19. band intros
20. Further on Up the Road
The band:
Jamie Oldaker: drums
Donald "Duck" Dunn: bass
Chris Stainton: keyboards
Tim Renwick: guitar
Marcy Levy: vocals
Shaun Murphy: vocals
Eric Clapton: guitar and vocals
Comment:
This is the second of a two-night run at Concord Pavilion. Research suggests that both nights have circulated, but
I don't think I ever traded this recording. I managed to get every note, and it sounds quite nice!
Clapton was pushing "Behind the Sun," a Phil Collins-produced collection of radio-friendly blues. It was less than
two weeks after Live Aid, and Eric was playing great, in strong voice, and having a good time on stage. And he was stretching out
nicely, too: a couple songs clock in around the 10-minute mark. I didn't expect a good result, but the recorder did a remarkable
job for having
no way to adjust levels. Plus, I was using the little mic that could: an Aiwa CM-30. It was a reliable stereo mic,
delivering good sound for a number of recordings I made around that time.
On playback, I was greeted with close-up and even sound, much truer than I recalled hearing when I last played the
cassettes --- probably some 25 years ago when I made it. I employed a degree of EQ across the spectrum, and normalized to -1
db. In sum, I was really pleased with the result.
I recall reading that this tour was the first to include "White Room" since the days of Cream. Here, it sounds
marvelous. The band plays great, too, and vocalist Marcy Levy dials in a very nice arrangement of the Beatles' "She Loves You," which
is worth a listen. And of course, Eric Clapton toured this time with a very special guest: Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass. I wish the mix
would have made him more prominent, but to be fair the sound man got it right. Could be that Duck's sound just got lost in the rafters.
Enjoy this --- I had a lot of fun putting it together.