Eric Clapton: Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings

Eric Clapton
Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings
(Polydor/Universal)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

It’s been a great time to be an Eric Clapton fan over these last couple of years from a deluxe format standpoint. Not only has his work with Derek & The Dominos on the Layla album been assembled in a multi-disc box set, Slowhand saw similar treatment in 2012. Now in 2013, we’ve been given an expanded version of his wildly popular Unplugged set and his most recent super deluxe edition set entitled Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings.

The six-disc set collects three major albums with various previously unreleased material and session outtakes including 461 Ocean Boulevard (CD1), There’s One In Every Crowd (CD2), E.C. Was Here (CDs 3 and 4) as well a sessions disc with Freddie King (CD5), and a Blu-Ray audio disc containing surround and quadrophonic mixes of the three albums noted above (without the bonus material).

The fourth disc of Freddie King sessions is a blues lovers dream, pairing Clapton with one of his guitar idols. King handles vocal and guitar duty while Clapton and George Terry supply him with guitar backup alongside other Clapton studio bandmates on drums, organ, and bass. Of the four tracks (totaling approximately 35 minutes), two have seen release before on a Freddie King compilation (“Sugar Sweet” and “TV Mama”), one having been released in a pared down edit (“Gambling Woman Blues”), and one previously unreleased entirely (“Boogie Funk”). “Gambling Woman Blues” is slow-boil work that nearly triples its edit time at 21:44, by far the most ambitious work of the sessions. However, the other three tracks are significantly more upbeat with “Sugar Sweet” tailoring to a blues/R&B party vibe, “TV Mama” with a bouncy blues-club sound, and “Boogie Funk” as a balls-to-the-wall instrumental boogie extravaganza. As King asks at the beginning of “Gambling Woman Blues,” “All set?” you can almost hear Clapton licking his chops. It’s unfortunate that King would pass just over two years later as these sessions showcase that the guitarists had some fantastic chemistry working together.

The albums proper don’t necessarily need any further adulation thrown their way. All did very well chart-wise, two in the top 15 and the live E.C. Was Here just missing the top 20 (#21), but more importantly they represented Clapton showcasing just what a guitar god he truly was(/is) and that he could write an original tune or arrange a classic from virtually any genre with equally awe-striking effect.

On bonus material like the completely solo acoustic, “Please Be With Me” is an intimate work, void of the guitar solo presented in its album form, and the dobro-led “Give Me Strength” is an instrumental, backwoods jam with George Terry (guitar) and Carl Radle (bass). Sure, it makes sense that it didn’t make the cut for the album as it doesn’t fit the overall vibe in this incarnation even if it’s still a really good song, but it’s the type of track that makes period sets like these so interesting and entertaining.

The super deluxe edition is presented with a 60-page book of behind-the-scene photos and liner notes penned by John Lynskey. For those not wanting to shell out for such an extravagant package, a 2-CD deluxe set is also being issued covering 461 Ocean Boulevard and There’s One In Every Crowd with a handful of the other bonus offerings (although you’ll miss out on the Freddie King material) as well as a 3-LP offering also covering a shortened tracklist.

Your audiophile friends will salivate over the Blu-Ray audio disc, and it remains completely exclusive to the bigger set, but it’s not the only reason to splurge. The expanded tracklist and beautifully-crafted book are worth the extra money to take the full dive into Clapton’s continuing ascent into rock & roll-hallowed territory.