Name: ERIC CLAPTON - LONG BEACH 1974 2ND NIGHT: FLAT TRANSFER FROM MULTITRACK TAPES - 2 CD
SKU: K61820270
Availability: BackOrder

Description

Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, CA, USA 20th July 1974 STEREO SBD(from Original Masters)

★UPGRADE!!!

[Second release of legendary multi-track soundboard master available!]

　In addition to the first day, we also obtained a flat transfer master of the multi-track soundboard tape of the second day of the 1974 Long Beach performance from the heavyweight taper who lives in the UK, who is familiar to us in our store for Eric Clapton’s secret sound source! It is a donpika, official recording of the same level as the first day “Long Beach 1974 1st Night: Flat Transfer From Multi Track Tapes (2CD)” released at the same time this week.

　Among Clapton’s live recordings, this is the multi-track soundboard master from the second day of the performance in Long Beach, California on July 20, 1974, which was used on the official albums “EC WAS HERE”, “CROSSROADS 2”, and “TIME PIECES VOL.2”. From this day, the seven songs Smile, Willie And The Hand Jive ~ Get Ready medley, Can’t Find My Way Home, Driftin’ Blues ~ Ramblin On My Mind medley, and Presence of The Lord are famous for being adopted for the official live album.

　The existing discs were produced based on cassette copies of the masters or copies of master reel tapes that had deteriorated over time, so this work boasts the highest sound quality ever, and it can be said with confidence that it is a master of quality that cannot be expected any more. Any enthusiast will be intoxicated by this sound quality and sound balance.

　Interestingly, when we examined the master at our shop, we found that the sound pressure/fine pitch did not match perfectly at the end of Disc 1 and the end of Disc 2, so we speculate that it was recorded on two console decks to ensure perfection in the recording for the official live album. Furthermore, since the disc division was sent in this state, and considering that Can’t Find My Way Home, which was supposed to have been played acoustically after Let It Grow at the beginning of the concert, is recorded at the beginning of Disc 2, it can be inferred that editing from the two decks had already been done at this point.

　What’s fascinating is that the set list was very different from the first day, yet the play quality was as high as the first day. There were no guest musicians on this day, like on the first day, but the encore was interesting and the concert itself was very attractive. Please enjoy it together with “Long Beach 1974 1st Night: Flat Transfer From Multi Track Tapes (2CD)”.

[The second day performance maintained high performance quality despite a different set list]

　Now, let’s take a look at how this performance was positioned in the comeback year of 1974.

・June 19th and 20th, 1974: Warm-up gigs in Northern Europe for the US comeback tour
・June 28th to August 4th, 1974: US tour ←★Here★
≪August 5th, 1974: Album “461 OCEAN BOULEVARD” released≫　
・August to September, 1974: Album “THERE’S ONE IN EVERY CROWD” recorded in Miami
・September 28th to October 6th, 1974: Second US tour　
・October 31st to November 6th, 1974: First Japan tour
・November 27th to December 5th, 1974: European tour

　You can see that this performance was the middle date of the comeback US tour that began in June of that year. After the warm-up gig, Clapton regained his confidence on the live stage, and in order to ease his tension, he went on this US tour while drunk. Although the influence of this was somewhat felt in the MC on this day, he generally took the vocals properly and showed accurate and smooth guitar playing. The best proof of this is that Presence of The Lord, Driftin’ Blues ~ Ramblin On My Mind, and Can’t Find My Way Home from this day were included in the official live album “ECWAS HERE”, Willie And The Hand Jive ~ Get Ready were included in “CROSSROADS 2”, and Smile was included in “TIME PIECES VOL.2” (however, Presence of The Lord was cut and edited for one chorus on the official album). As it was a comeback tour, the set list was attractive because it gave an overview of Clapton’s career so far. It included five songs from his comeback new album “461 OCEAN BOULEVARD,” which had not yet been released at this point, as well as Badge and Crossroads from his Cream days, Presence of the Lord and Can’t Find My Way Home from his Blind Faith days, Let It Rain and Blues Power from his first solo album, Dominos numbers Little Wing and Layla, and blues. It was a fulfilling concert that also included a surprise opening with the theme song “Smile” from Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times,” which Clapton said was his favorite movie. He also played Easy Now from his first solo album. This is the only tour where you can hear the live version of this song, so it’s very valuable. Unlike the first day, Let It Grow changes the vocal line ad lib. Even if he is drunk, he does not go out of tune, and this vocal line is very attractive. It is worth a listen. In general, the performance was not intoxicated by alcohol, and the performance was sharp, so it can be said to be a representative sound source of the 1974 tour along with the performance at the same venue the day before.

　The charm of the second day is that you can hear Easy Now, Driftin’ Blues, Ramblin On My Mind, Little Wing, Let It Rain, Presence of The Lord, and Blues Power, which were not played on the first day. Little Wing is a genuine masterpiece. It’s worth listening to. In the band member introduction before the encore, he introduced himself as “Robert Johnson, vocals!” at the end (he must have been quite drunk). And in the encore Blues Power, during the several breaks in the intro, he playfully inserted the arpeggios in the bridge part of Badge and the phrases of Ticket To Ride and Day Tripper by The Beatles. It was probably a drunken freakout, but there was a maniac background to “Clapton playing a Beatles number”.

　In 1965, Clapton left John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, which he was a member of, and formed a band with his friends, which performed on stage at a club in Greece. The owner of the club recognized Clapton’s skills and asked him to join the band, the popular local band The Juniors, who were the main act. Since The Juniors were a Beatles cover band, it is speculated that Clapton played Ticket To Ride, which was a hit at the time. And Day Tripper was a phrase that Clapton had inserted for fun into What’d I Say on the classic album “JOHN MAYALLS’ BLUESBREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON,” which he recorded after rejoining the band after returning from Greece.

In other words, he remembered playing both songs when he was younger, and he played them on stage in a drunken state.

　Even more interesting is that at the beginning of Layla, Clapton announces, “This is for Nelly.” This is actually what Clapton said to Patti Harrison (Boyd), also known as Layla. As Clapton wrote in his autobiography, he and Patti called each other “Elle” and “Nell (Nelly).” So when he performed this song, he called her by her nickname (Patti is said to have ended her life with George Harrison that year and joined Clapton on his US tour, but it is not clear whether she was at the venue on that day). Clapton said he dedicated the song to the woman who motivated Layla. He must have been quite drunk and in a good mood. Still, the play quality is excellent, and if the sound quality of this official recording, and the set list is different from the first day, I would like you to listen to both “Long Beach 1974 1st Night: Flat Transfer From Multi Track Tapes (2CD)” and this work.

　This is the second day of the Long Beach performance, which has plenty to offer. Please enjoy this work, which has the highest sound quality ever, produced from a flat transfer of a multi-track master.

Disc:1 (58:00)
1. Intro.
2. Smile
3. Easy Now
4. Let It Grow
5. I Shot The Sheriff
6. Layla
7. Little Wing
8. Willie And The Hand Jive
9. Get Ready
10. Badge

Disc:2 (68:49)
1. Can’t Find My Way Home
2. Driftin’ Blues
3. Ramblin On My Mind
4. Let It Rain
5. Presence of The Lord
6. Crossroads
7. Steady Rollin’ Man
8. Band Introductions
9. Little Queenie
10. Blues Power

STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING