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Following incendiary stints with The Yardbirds, John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith, Eric Clapton struck out on his own in late 1969. By March 1970, he'd amassed enough material to comprise his solo debut for Polydor (in the U.K.) and Atco (in the U.S.). Released in August of that year, Eric Clapton reintroduced the guitar god. It still showcased his fiery blues riffs but in service of a more laid-back blend of pop, soul, gospel, and country. On August 20, UMe and Polydor will reissue the album for its (slightly belated) 50th anniversary in an expanded 4-CD box set and a standalone single LP black vinyl presentation. The box can be previewed today with the digital release of two tracks: the Delaney Bramlett mix of "After Midnight" and the Clapton mix of "Blues Power."
Produced and arranged by Delaney Bramlett, Eric Clapton bore many of the same rootsy hallmarks as the music of Delaney and Bonnie and Friends - no surprise, considering the involvement of both Delaney and Bonnie, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, trumpeter Jim Price, saxophonist Bobby Keys, and the trio of Friends that would form Derek and the Dominos with Clapton: Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock, and Jim Gordon. Stephen Stills joined in, too, on "Let It Rain," and Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison of The Crickets added rock-and-roll verisimilitude with their background vocals. Eric Clapton reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and the single release of the J.J. Cale cover "After Midnight" reached No. 18.
The upcoming Anniversary Deluxe Edition presents Eric Clapton in three separate mixes, with one mix on each of the first three CDs in the box: The Tom Dowd Mix, The Eric Clapton Mix, and The Delaney Bramlett Mix. The mix by Dowd (Dusty Springfield, The Allman Brothers Band) was originally released in 1970; the earlier mix by Delaney Bramlett was first issued in full on Polydor/UMe's 2-CD Deluxe Edition in 2006. Clapton's own mix officially premieres in full on this set. (This mix crept out on early pressings of the LP in 1970 before being quickly recalled; his mixes of "After Midnight" and "Let It Rain" then appeared again on the 2018 soundtrack Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars.)
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The fourth and final CD offers eight additional bonus tracks. All seven of the bonus cuts from the 2006 edition are featured, including the outtake "Blues in A," the Olympic Studios alternate versions of "I've Told You for the Last Time" and "I Don't Know Why," the early version of "Let It Rain" entitled "She Rides," the Delaney and Bonnie and Friends single sides "Groupie (Superstar)" and "Comin' Home," and the King Curtis-led "Teasin'." A previously unreleased mix of "Comin' Home" has been added.
The Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Eric Clapton is due on August 20 along with the original album on vinyl. Information as to the remastering engineer isn't yet available. You'll find pre-order links plus the track listing with discography at the links below.
Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton: Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Polydor (U.K.) 2383 021, 1970 - reissued Polydor/UMe, 2021)
4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP (Original Album Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
CD 1: The Tom Dowd Mix
- Slunky
- Bad Boy
- Lonesome And A Long Way From Home
- After Midnight
- Easy Now
- Blues Power
- Bottle Of Red Wine
- Lovin' You Lovin' Me
- I've Told You For The Last Time
- I Don't Know Why
- Let It Rain
CD 2: The Eric Clapton Mix (all tracks previously unreleased on CD except Tracks 4-5, 11)
- Slunky
- Bad Boy
- Lonesome And A Long Way From Home
- After Midnight (released on Life in 12 Bars, UMe CD B0028337-02, 2018)
- Easy Now (released on original 1970 LP as part of the Tom Dowd Mix)
- Blues Power
- Bottle Of Red Wine
- Lovin' You Lovin' Me
- I've Told You For The Last Time
- I Don't Know Why
- Let It Rain (released on Life in 12 Bars, UMe CD B0028337-02, 2018)
CD 3: The Delaney Bramlett Mix (first released on Eric Clapton: Deluxe Edition, UMe B0006798-02, 2006)
- Slunky
- Bad Boy
- Easy Now
- After Midnight
- Blues Power
- Bottle Of Red Wine
- Lovin' You Lovin' Me
- Lonesome And A Long Way From Home
- I Don't Know Why
- Let It Rain
CD 4: Singles, Alternate Versions & Session Outtakes (first collected on Eric Clapton: Deluxe Edition, UMe B0006798-02, 2006 except Track 2 which is previously unreleased)
- Teasin' - King Curtis with Delaney Bramlett, Eric Clapton & Friends
- Comin' Home (Alternate Mix) - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends featuring Eric Clapton unreleased mix
- Blues In "A" (Session Outtake)
- She Rides ("Let It Rain" Alternate Version)
- I've Told You For The Last Time (Olympic Studios Version)
- I Don't Know Why (Olympic Studios Version)
- Comin' Home (Atlantic U.K. single 584308-A, 1969) - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends featuring Eric Clapton
- Groupie (Superstar) (Atlantic U.K. single 584308-B) - Delaney & Bonnie & Friends featuring Eric Clapton
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bout time.
Even more alternate mixes...YAWN.
It's amazing that the Blind Faith album, Delaney & Bonnie's On Tour With Eric Clapton, the Eric Clapton s/t album and Derek & The Dominos' Layla were all recorded in basically an 18-month period from early 1969 to late 1970. Collecting that material and placing it in context along with some intelligent notes would make for a great box set, as opposed to this, where the only unreleased material is Eric moving the faders around on the multis and slapping a $60 price tag on it. Contempt for his audience -- a trait EC possibly learned from buddy Van Morrison?
I share in the collective disappointment about what could have been included instead, but I don't understand the notion that the artist is somehow sticking it to the fans with this type of double (triple?) dip. No one has to buy these editions if they don't seem worth it. If one just wants to add the Clapton version to their previous deluxe set, I can understand the frustration, but if one doesn't care about that anyway, then what's the problem?
I know what you're saying -- no one needs to buy this if they don't want it, totally get it. The frustration comes in the fact that the artist and record company have set aside time, money and resources for a project that could have been executed better.
There are a lot of completists out there who are going to feel like they need this, whether they're actually excited about shelling out the money for it or not. And that's the piece that feels like sticking it to the fans. There's definitely a calculus here that dedicated fans will buy this album a 3rd or 4th time, and if you think they will, the least the artist and label can do is be thoughtful about the product.
The Lennon Plastic Ono Band box is a good example of how to present material that has been released several times over the past 50 years and make a consumer feel like the creators have been intentional about offering value for money.
Everything in this set has either been released officially, or has been released unofficially with full fidelty. This is a hollow, empty piece of product. It keeps graphics designers and liner notes writers employed.
Another missed opportunity. A Blu-Ray with hi res stereo and surround mixes would have been the icing on the cake.
In all likelyhood, the multitracks for this album no longer exist.
Not much new here if you already have the 2CD Deluxe Edition like I do. Passing on this one. In other news, George Harrison's ATMP Deluxe has finally announced a release date!
“I left the tapes in L.A. for Delaney to mix, and he was waiting on me to finish one of the tracks. And he didn’t realize that I was waiting on him to mix the tracks and send them over. Finally, my manager got kind of impatient and told Atlantic to send the tapes to me, and I mixed them very badly. Atlantic heard them and didn’t like them. Then they sent them to Tom Dowd, who mixed them again.” - Eric Clapton, Melody Maker interview, 1970.
what must be noted is the all 3 mixes differ. if you collect clapton then it essential. the delaney mix was issued and its very rare($1000 and up), so in reality all 3 mixes in one place plus whats left over. about the cover thats a picture from the supershow event filmed in dec 68. why not have a outake photo from the lp session?
Not sure what you mean with the “very rare ($1000 and up)” comment. The Delaney Bramlett mix is on the 2006 DeLuxe.
the mix by delaney was issued as a white label promo by mistake.and quickly withdrawn, hence the high price due to the rareity.
Supershow was filmed on March 25 and 26 in 1969!
yes it my mistake on date.