I agree with rwm48.......I had the good fortune of seeing Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood perform together back in 2010, and I have to say, they both rang it in with strength and agility. Just shows how tough they are, if you ask me.
Of course! Those were the days of hippies with flower-power-freedom-thing and drugexperience (The Cream era in late 60s). All eyes where on Mr Clapton when Hendrix died and he was so f****d up with the heavy horse-stuff that went into heavy drinking he couldn't even performance as Eric Clapton. That's what drugs do to one, changes ones persona into someone U don't really are. Go and ask Robert Plant how much he remembers of Led Zeppelin when they were on a roll...
listen to "gotta get better in a little while" on this cd, Eric just burns it for about fifteen minutes and no it's one great lick followed by another. You have to consider Clapton was only 25 at the time and the other three were 22. Delany wasn't paying Bobby, Jim and Carl enough so Clapton took them and offered them all 4 equal shares. Hard for a 22 year old to turn down. I agree with someone here that said his voice got much stonger which it did. He turned out to be a great vocalist.
I always thought Eric was at his best with Derek & The Dominos, but drugs killed the group while making their second album. And IMO these live Derek and the Dominos' concerts were some of his best work. I thought he was "ON" those two nights. Anyway I give this album(minus the cuts that weren't on the original) and The Layla album credit for teaching me guitar back in the early 70's. Cream sounded like three separate bands to me, lol..
I always thought Eric was at his best with Derek & The Dominos, but drugs killed the group while making their second album. And IMO these live Derek and the Dominos' concerts were some of his best work. I thought he was "ON" those two nights. Anyway I give this album(minus the cuts that weren't on the original) and The Layla album credit for teaching me guitar back in the early 70's.
Personally I like this better than the Cream version. Not necessarily the best tone in the world but seems a lot more soulful to be and has a lot less noodling on throwaway licks. Derek and the Dominoes was Claptons best band. Cream was great too though.
@discoveringiowa Inferior? To you maybe. Not to me and lots of others. It sounds to me as if you want him to be jukebox and play it your way over and over and over. This is a different version. Open your ears and your heart.
@discoveringiowa You gotta be kidding...i just prefere this over Cream's version...IMO this is closer to the original RJ song. This one and Rainbow Concert's Crossroads are more interesting than Cream's version.
I actually like the slower version of the song. It's more bluesy, which of course (along with country and western) is the direct ancestor to Rock n Roll.
I honestly think that this album is Claptons finest moment on the Stratocaster. Incredible album! Very underrated! Seriously every time i listen to it i am left breathless because of the chemistry of these incredible musicians.
And you have a limited knowledge of Clapton's post-Cream career if you think he plays all slow/"lethargic" songs. Some of the other tracks on the very same album prove otherwise.
@evanguy I agree, not all post-Cream songs r lethargic. Generally I prefer Spector produced & live Dominos over Layla. This is, however, sloppy and undistinguished, and very bush league compared to Cream version - yet he talks about what a focused pro he became post-Cream, who apparently had even more heroin & coke backstage.
I think it's typical for most people to think they've improved since their youth. As a singer/songwriter, he definitely did. Keep in mind that he was only 21-23 during his tenure in Cream. He's said of the Bluesbreakers "Beano" album (on which he played when he was 20), "That's when they say I had the most 'fire.' If I believed that, then I'd just give up."
He is growing up, you can't play strats like gibsons, at all. At all. Also: This version is _blues_. First version is a guy running to the crossroads, this version is the same guy walking back, no youthful bounce and enthusiasm left.
What he's playing, especially in the second solo, is strips torn off of the heart. Experience and craft swing wider and rock harder than the youthful stuff. This version..
It's true that Clapton in the 1970's was bitter about his experience in Cream because he felt it was overhyped (and he had problems with depression and drug addiction through the whole decade). But ever since the mid-1980's he's looked back fondly on the band-- that's when he started playing Cream songs other than his own "Badge." Why else would he have organized a reunion? He certainly didn't need the money.
@evanguy I think the reason he looked back on it so much was because him and Jimi were playing head to head as friendly rivals and at the same time playing with Duane Allman both two of his great friends he met to have them die only a few months apart. It was not a very happy time I wouldn't like to look back at it too much either if I was him.
Like all live recordings it has high and low spots. What you don't get on THIS song is the pyrotechnhics more common in the Cream era. That said, "Why does love got to be so sad?" succeeds in blowing away the album version as far as I'm concerned. Just sit back and enjoy the music !
I have this album and im sad because it should be more popular. Really it is one Clapton´s best moments. I was convinced that it was right after i put the first cd on, i was shocked to hear how good it was.
He really lights some of this up, as with 5:50-6:20. Sneaks the smoothness in there. I don't remember this one from the vinyl I had 35 years ago, but I like it now.
The original "In Concert" LP did not have nearly as many tracks as the "Live at the Fillmore" CD set. That would explain why you don't remember this. :p
EC guitar work is pretty raw on this older "live" version and very good. His vocals in my opinion have vastly improved with age compared to his vocal quality from back then. Eric was a total alcoholic/heroin user during this period and alcoholic many years after. My buddy witnessed his drunkenness during the Miami Criteria studio days when D&theD was starting out. It sure didn't seem to hamper his playing abilities. He is one of the best around and still is considering the life style etc..etc..
I prefer this version to the one by Cream- though that one is also fantastic. This one is more bluesy, more sultry, I like the slower tempo. In the Cream version, Eric sounds a bit more "white". Don't take that as a racist remark, it's not meant to be. For example, the line "Going down to Rosedale"- with Cream, he sounds so very British singing that line. Not here, though!
5:15. Have mercy! Jesus, the guitar is so amazing throughout this whole song, I love it.
i couldnt decide which version is better they're both amazing, the guitar solo at the end is one of the best guitar solos ive ever heared. go clapton!
i definitely agree with you jordan. this version rocks! the cream version is awesome too, but these tools making comments just don't have an ear for whats going on in the music.
damn straight. I was listening to the layla album today and heard Duane's influence on the album. Not just his playing, but the way he played with the Allman brothers band with the 2 guitars harmonizing to each other and licks that clapton picked up. awesome
awsome version! Derek and the dominos are an exellent band and their jams are awsome!, clapton really came alive during this period of his career.(especially with the help of Duane)
My "God".Awesome.. Like this version more than Cream's. and I really like Clapton. Derek and the Dominos put their stamp on this one. and rule it. Hope they made some "Bread" cause they deserve it man.
Geeze, so much bashing of the slower version of this song... I really feel the exact opposite. I think it takes a true musician to completely change the composition of a song that got him so much acclaim. I mean yeah, the obvious choice would be to perform Crossroads at a blazing tempo, but that's not Derek & The Dominos, that was Cream. Clapton modified the song so that it fit the feel of the band and I feel that this version is absolutely amazing. It's like hearing the song for the first time.
@WoweeZowee1995 and to be fair, the first official recording clapton made for this song was with 'THE POWERHOUSE' in 1966 on 'What's Shakin' album, and actually is pretty slow too...
Cream wasn't the original version. It was from Robert Johnson. Search. Then you'll see that it was slow. He isn't incapable to play it fast. But EC changed through the years. First he played blues but hard. No he plays blues slower and more clean. I think he is becoming trough the years!
I agree with rwm48.......I had the good fortune of seeing Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood perform together back in 2010, and I have to say, they both rang it in with strength and agility. Just shows how tough they are, if you ask me.
spacedoginnebraska 7 months ago
this is BLUES
wallawallomane 10 months ago
BEST MOTHERFUCKEN VERSION OF THIS CLASSIC AND THE BEST RHYTHEM SECTION THAT FUCKEN COOK LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER
CARL RADLE IS THE BEST ROCK AND ROLL BASS PLAYER EVER LIVED
yungsu100 10 months ago 3
@yungsu100 Clapton said that Radle and Gordon were the most powerful rhythm section he ever worked with.
bangsmoke 9 months ago 2
Of course! Those were the days of hippies with flower-power-freedom-thing and drugexperience (The Cream era in late 60s). All eyes where on Mr Clapton when Hendrix died and he was so f****d up with the heavy horse-stuff that went into heavy drinking he couldn't even performance as Eric Clapton. That's what drugs do to one, changes ones persona into someone U don't really are. Go and ask Robert Plant how much he remembers of Led Zeppelin when they were on a roll...
TheSnake7Plissken 11 months ago
how is this inferior? i could jam with eric all night to the same song if i could. i'd listen to this one too if i had the time to haha
megajames3000 11 months ago
listen to "gotta get better in a little while" on this cd, Eric just burns it for about fifteen minutes and no it's one great lick followed by another. You have to consider Clapton was only 25 at the time and the other three were 22. Delany wasn't paying Bobby, Jim and Carl enough so Clapton took them and offered them all 4 equal shares. Hard for a 22 year old to turn down. I agree with someone here that said his voice got much stonger which it did. He turned out to be a great vocalist.
cooltooth112 1 year ago
I always thought Eric was at his best with Derek & The Dominos, but drugs killed the group while making their second album. And IMO these live Derek and the Dominos' concerts were some of his best work. I thought he was "ON" those two nights. Anyway I give this album(minus the cuts that weren't on the original) and The Layla album credit for teaching me guitar back in the early 70's. Cream sounded like three separate bands to me, lol..
cooltooth112 1 year ago
I always thought Eric was at his best with Derek & The Dominos, but drugs killed the group while making their second album. And IMO these live Derek and the Dominos' concerts were some of his best work. I thought he was "ON" those two nights. Anyway I give this album(minus the cuts that weren't on the original) and The Layla album credit for teaching me guitar back in the early 70's.
cooltooth112 1 year ago
"Gotta get better in a little while, snifing things that ain't no good for me". He snorted heroin because he was terrified of needles.
cooltooth112 1 year ago
stoned clapton
MrRdub7162 1 year ago
Personally I like this better than the Cream version. Not necessarily the best tone in the world but seems a lot more soulful to be and has a lot less noodling on throwaway licks. Derek and the Dominoes was Claptons best band. Cream was great too though.
Carthsgtr 1 year ago
Sounds like he's feeling his way to B.B. King
thestoryplease 1 year ago
@discoveringiowa Inferior? To you maybe. Not to me and lots of others. It sounds to me as if you want him to be jukebox and play it your way over and over and over. This is a different version. Open your ears and your heart.
JohnBT333 1 year ago
He also does it slowly on the 1986 video Eric Clapton and Friends -- the guitar playing is better on that one.
davidespinosa2 1 year ago
@discoveringiowa You gotta be kidding...i just prefere this over Cream's version...IMO this is closer to the original RJ song. This one and Rainbow Concert's Crossroads are more interesting than Cream's version.
gre1990 1 year ago
I actually like the slower version of the song. It's more bluesy, which of course (along with country and western) is the direct ancestor to Rock n Roll.
AngusGibsonT 1 year ago
I honestly think that this album is Claptons finest moment on the Stratocaster. Incredible album! Very underrated! Seriously every time i listen to it i am left breathless because of the chemistry of these incredible musicians.
RockNRollOverDose 1 year ago
WOW the people bashing this song are fucking losers. This is an amazing peice of music and the idiots that dont appreciate can suck a fat one.
TheDicamillo 1 year ago 3
@discoveringiowa
And you have a limited knowledge of Clapton's post-Cream career if you think he plays all slow/"lethargic" songs. Some of the other tracks on the very same album prove otherwise.
evanguy 1 year ago 3
@evanguy I agree, not all post-Cream songs r lethargic. Generally I prefer Spector produced & live Dominos over Layla. This is, however, sloppy and undistinguished, and very bush league compared to Cream version - yet he talks about what a focused pro he became post-Cream, who apparently had even more heroin & coke backstage.
discoveringiowa 1 year ago
@discoveringiowa
I think it's typical for most people to think they've improved since their youth. As a singer/songwriter, he definitely did. Keep in mind that he was only 21-23 during his tenure in Cream. He's said of the Bluesbreakers "Beano" album (on which he played when he was 20), "That's when they say I had the most 'fire.' If I believed that, then I'd just give up."
evanguy 1 year ago
@discoveringiowa
He is growing up, you can't play strats like gibsons, at all. At all. Also: This version is _blues_. First version is a guy running to the crossroads, this version is the same guy walking back, no youthful bounce and enthusiasm left.
What he's playing, especially in the second solo, is strips torn off of the heart. Experience and craft swing wider and rock harder than the youthful stuff. This version..
lazyweb 11 months ago
@discoveringiowa
It's true that Clapton in the 1970's was bitter about his experience in Cream because he felt it was overhyped (and he had problems with depression and drug addiction through the whole decade). But ever since the mid-1980's he's looked back fondly on the band-- that's when he started playing Cream songs other than his own "Badge." Why else would he have organized a reunion? He certainly didn't need the money.
evanguy 1 year ago 3
@evanguy I think the reason he looked back on it so much was because him and Jimi were playing head to head as friendly rivals and at the same time playing with Duane Allman both two of his great friends he met to have them die only a few months apart. It was not a very happy time I wouldn't like to look back at it too much either if I was him.
DavidKinner 1 year ago
Magnifico!!!
allgrams713 1 year ago
why --just why -do all you have so much to talk about -----This is not Claptons best
MultiShades 1 year ago
Like all live recordings it has high and low spots. What you don't get on THIS song is the pyrotechnhics more common in the Cream era. That said, "Why does love got to be so sad?" succeeds in blowing away the album version as far as I'm concerned. Just sit back and enjoy the music !
RN1805 1 year ago
The Cream version is really better
guilhermevideira17 1 year ago
I have this album and im sad because it should be more popular. Really it is one Clapton´s best moments. I was convinced that it was right after i put the first cd on, i was shocked to hear how good it was.
RockNRollOverDose 1 year ago
He really lights some of this up, as with 5:50-6:20. Sneaks the smoothness in there. I don't remember this one from the vinyl I had 35 years ago, but I like it now.
ITryNot2Crash 2 years ago
@ITryNot2Crash
The original "In Concert" LP did not have nearly as many tracks as the "Live at the Fillmore" CD set. That would explain why you don't remember this. :p
evanguy 2 years ago
EC guitar work is pretty raw on this older "live" version and very good. His vocals in my opinion have vastly improved with age compared to his vocal quality from back then. Eric was a total alcoholic/heroin user during this period and alcoholic many years after. My buddy witnessed his drunkenness during the Miami Criteria studio days when D&theD was starting out. It sure didn't seem to hamper his playing abilities. He is one of the best around and still is considering the life style etc..etc..
rwm48 2 years ago 7
sweetness!!
lahamttt123 2 years ago
sweetness
lahamttt123 2 years ago
What does he say at 4:33? been buggin' me for weeks!
JoyfulNoise1989 2 years ago
@JoyfulNoise1989 Jeez me too, the only difference is that it has been bugging me for over decade now ;o)
and im going back to ewhurst...
aarrghhh
therealnotpalc 1 year ago
clapton played hard when he had to.when he did he was the best.
reg5381 2 years ago 2
you're right, and nevertheless what some might have thought what my comment meant, i love clapton, and this stuff is some of his best.
wholeinmytree 2 years ago
Goddamn. Clapton has such great style by playing relatively simple, Duane's things are harder to play.
wholeinmytree 2 years ago
@evanguy
Let's ask him! :P
Seriously, my original comment was just my opinion. Same as yours.
I think Clapton had a great deal of respect for the bluesmen that paved the way for the many 'Axe Gods' of the sixties.
Whether he bridled at uncredited song plundering? I dunno. I'd like to think he was calling them out on it, 'cos nobody else was back then.
Anyway, two great bands, lots of great songs, some original - some not.
Thanks for uploading. Great to compare both versions.
SetantaCovenant 2 years ago
La buona musica mi appaga sempre!!
mslucianin 2 years ago
I prefer this version to the one by Cream- though that one is also fantastic. This one is more bluesy, more sultry, I like the slower tempo. In the Cream version, Eric sounds a bit more "white". Don't take that as a racist remark, it's not meant to be. For example, the line "Going down to Rosedale"- with Cream, he sounds so very British singing that line. Not here, though!
5:15. Have mercy! Jesus, the guitar is so amazing throughout this whole song, I love it.
harrietcow 2 years ago 4
5:15! You are right! Crazy good stuff!
balcar1 2 years ago 2
i couldnt decide which version is better they're both amazing, the guitar solo at the end is one of the best guitar solos ive ever heared. go clapton!
jordan0derder 2 years ago 2
i definitely agree with you jordan. this version rocks! the cream version is awesome too, but these tools making comments just don't have an ear for whats going on in the music.
rvz77 2 years ago
llol he sings Squeeze my Lemon!! nice version...
PindamonhaMAN 2 years ago
Ending of this song is amazing!!!
CLAPTON > GOD
phishernj420 2 years ago
you can hear Duanes influence on Clapton throughout this performance, especially around 3:42
bthoma1 2 years ago
damn straight. I was listening to the layla album today and heard Duane's influence on the album. Not just his playing, but the way he played with the Allman brothers band with the 2 guitars harmonizing to each other and licks that clapton picked up. awesome
rvz77 2 years ago
Could you post Got To Get Better In a Little While and Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?
mtsrn 2 years ago
awsome version! Derek and the dominos are an exellent band and their jams are awsome!, clapton really came alive during this period of his career.(especially with the help of Duane)
Mrmaniac15765 2 years ago 3
This is the Blues I agree the Cream Version is better.
TL250Rider 2 years ago
great feel to it
gerthie 2 years ago
i really like the cream version better
this is way too slow
rhydiantitch 2 years ago
im very dissapointed.
poorperson 2 years ago
Love this version. Of course this ain't as good as that magical night at the Winterland, but this the relaxed Dominos way... and I love it =)
arrynz 2 years ago 2
My "God".Awesome.. Like this version more than Cream's. and I really like Clapton. Derek and the Dominos put their stamp on this one. and rule it. Hope they made some "Bread" cause they deserve it man.
klintos2 2 years ago
Both versions are masterpieces.
irocktherooster 3 years ago 2
you mean to use the plural of masterpiece: masterpie
Harmondo 3 years ago
Geeze, so much bashing of the slower version of this song... I really feel the exact opposite. I think it takes a true musician to completely change the composition of a song that got him so much acclaim. I mean yeah, the obvious choice would be to perform Crossroads at a blazing tempo, but that's not Derek & The Dominos, that was Cream. Clapton modified the song so that it fit the feel of the band and I feel that this version is absolutely amazing. It's like hearing the song for the first time.
WoweeZowee1995 3 years ago 20
right you are, like hearing it for the first time - and great; and why wouldn't I accept two different interpretations, doncha agree ?
totovillefranche 2 years ago 2
@WoweeZowee1995 Aint gonna ride that whiskey train throwing my bottle down the drain
spacepatrolman 10 months ago
@WoweeZowee1995 and to be fair, the first official recording clapton made for this song was with 'THE POWERHOUSE' in 1966 on 'What's Shakin' album, and actually is pretty slow too...
gre1990 10 months ago
Wonderfull and very relaxed version . Awesome how Erics guitar sings and the drums whip.
jprarch 3 years ago 2
I gotta agree, Crossroads was never as good as it was that fateful night at the Winterland.
gnizak 3 years ago
i like this version classic.
blizzofozz 3 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
slow versions SUCK. It's like Eric was incapable of performing an uptempo version of this song once the original Cream broke up. Pathetic!
cutis1000 3 years ago
Cream wasn't the original version. It was from Robert Johnson. Search. Then you'll see that it was slow. He isn't incapable to play it fast. But EC changed through the years. First he played blues but hard. No he plays blues slower and more clean. I think he is becoming trough the years!
EricClaptonFan24 3 years ago
This has the funk, I prefer it!
dgg3jab 3 years ago 2
This version is not the best,it's a very bored performance!!!
84Django84 3 years ago
crossroads-best played with jack bruce and ginger baker
nickkalisz 3 years ago
A painful and not rock n roll Crossroads. The Hellhound was on his trail this night that EC was at the Crossroads.
kboyxx 3 years ago
Prefer when he done it with Cream. No offence.
chan181 3 years ago 2
He does some 'Travelling Riverside Blues' here, too.
AreYouExperiencedJH 3 years ago
good
russ5150 3 years ago