Eric Clapton - Unplugged, Live Magic from the Ultimate Guitar God

I once declared during a gig that if I was elected Prime Minister I would send every kid home with a copy of this album as a matter of priority. Everybody laughed. I suppose I laughed along, but deep inside I was deadly serious. It is an unparalleled achievemant in many senses, certainly from the point of view of a live performance. Clapton and a band of fanatastic session musicians laying it down with immaculate precision. Now this is an unusual addition for me into the Classic Album archive because it is not strictly a studio album. My intention when creating this blog was to avoid collections, greatest hits, and live albums etc etc, but this is somehow exceptional. It has to qualify because it is so damn important. Of course, it is a live album, and it is a collection of Clapton's own hits throughout his career plus classic covers, but that takes nothing away from the magnitude of Unplugged as a classic record. It is such essential listening in the scheme of things, so influential on me, my life, and my music, and is so bloody good that it is impossible to dismiss!

Eric Clapton is the ultimate guitar God. In a career that is spanning nearly half a century, he has achieved everything. There are, of course, others that stand out; Hendrix and Jimmy page most notably. Then there is Dave Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pete Townshend and B.B King. It is Clapton though that has stood the test of time, survived reinvention, continued recording and performing right at the top, and pioneered the finest. He has switched from guise to guise with consummate ease, and continued to make relevant records throughout the decades for all generations. His live performances are still stuff of legend; I saw him headline a gig in London's Hyde Park in 2008 in front of 100,000 people that was nothing short of breath-taking. I have also seen him raise the roof on his Me and Mr Johnson tour in Sheffield Hallam Arena (2003) with the late, great Billy preston on keys, just last year (2009) in Liverpool's brand new Echo Arena, and back in 2006 as a guest with John Mayall at a Unite For Unicef benefit gig in a tent on Liverpool's Kings Dock.

So, to the record. Clapton's beautiful and moving plea to his tragic son Connor - tears in heaven - is perfectly executed by a man whose heart, you can tell, still bleeds for his loss. The reinvention of layla is simply thrilling. running on faith is massive, particularly with the angelic backing vocals of Tessa Niles and Katie Kissoon, whilst Chuck Levell's piano solos on old love are stuff of legend. The two raw Robert Johnson covers, walkin' blues and malted milk are testament to the importance of this man on Clapton's own playing and songwriting. san francisco bay blues is a lively jaunt, alberta a magical arrangement of a trad song, and nobody knows you when you're down and out a brilliant, vibrant appeal to peoples' compassion, and exposure of peoples' greed. That leaves lonely stranger - a delicate self-penned blues, hey hey - an exciteable foot-stamper, and before you accuse me, a stunning cover in which Clapton's vocal is astounding - he is one of the few musicians whose voice has got better with age. Unplugged is definitely a players album, and one that has taught me so much about my own music, and my own approach to playing live and acoustic.

Unplugged achieved six Grammy Awards in 1992: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Rock Male Vocal Performance, and Best Rock Song. It was voted #71 in Q Magazines Top 100 Albums Ever, gained numerous five-star reviews, and commanded mass critical acclaim. It has become the definitive MTV special performance, since emulated by acts as diverse as Chris Isaak, Bon Jovi, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. At very nearly 65 years young, Clapton is the first to admit that he probably shouldn't be here; years of drug problems throughout his Yardbirds, Cream and Derek & The Dominoes years put a great strain on his well-being, but left his guitar playing and songwriting, thankfully, untouched. He is a music legend in every sense - a giant to rival The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan and all other long-lived revolutionaries. Recent collaborations with JJ Cale and B.B King have been equally well acclaimed, and his electric live performances seem to go from strength to strength. Bless the weather that brought this genius to us all. . . . . . .