Eric Clapton/IL,USA 1985 Soundboard Edition Upgrade

The representative SBD sound source of the 1985 BEHIND THE SUN US tour is now available as a 1st GEN. master! This time, the treasured master delivered by the heavyweight Taper, who lives in the UK and is familiar with Eric Clapton's sound source, is a first generation stereo soundboard master that completely recorded the performance in Hoffman Estates, Illinois (Chicago) from the second leg of the 1985 "Behind the Sun American Tour" with a superb stereo soundboard recording. Speaking of the 1985 tour, it was a memorable tour in which Clapton had almost overcome alcoholism and played in a fearless manner. This sound source is a famous sound source that has been released by multiple labels in the past, and was recorded at the PA desk of the venue, so-called "PA out", because the level of the audience's cheers was small. Although the previously released version was a low-generation master, it was a master that had gone through several generations, but this time, the first-generation master that the heavyweight taper obtained after a lot of hard work using his connections is a major upgrade, and the quality is worthy of being called "perfect" in terms of clarity, tone grain, sound balance, stereo separation (mix), etc. While the PA out is often recorded appropriately in mono, this master has Jamie Oldaker's drums, especially the snare, tom, and floor tom, and the voices of the two female choruses are separated to the left and right, and the cleverness of the stereo mix further enhances the value of this stage. Taking Clapton's guitar play as an example, it is as if he is playing 50 centimeters in front of you. This "liveliness" is a quality that can be recommended to everyone, exceeding the official live version, in other words, it is no exaggeration to say that it cannot be achieved on the official live version. The appeal of the second leg with a changed set list Let’s clarify the position of this performance in this year in chronological order.・February 28th to March 15th, 1985: European tour including the UK During this period, <March 1st, 1985: Release of the album "Behind the Sun"> ・April 9th ​​to May 3rd, 1985: First leg of US tour ・May 8th, 1985: Appearance on the US live music program Late Night With David Letterman ・June 21st to July 27th, 1985: Second leg of US tour ←★Here★ ・October 5th to October 11th, 1985: Sixth Japan tour ・October 14th to November 6th, 1985: Short European tour after touring Alaska and London ・December 3rd to 23rd, 1985: A break, but during this time, he made surprise appearances on stage at concerts by Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Sting, Gary Brooker, Dire Straits, and others. Following the release of the album "BEHIND THE SUN" which was recorded the previous year, it was a year spent promoting this album, but this performance was the final leg of the tour around the United States, the largest market. You can see that Clapton had made two tours, especially in the United States, to make his ambitious work a hit. The half-official release "RICHMOND 1985" was the first leg, so this work will allow you to listen to a performance with different legs and full of highlights. By visiting the United States twice, each leg was full of charm. The set list was changed. The second leg was characterized by the fact that Cream's famous song White Room was featured for the first time in 17 years, and that Badge and Let It Rain were played in a medley. The former was triggered by an appearance on the American TV program "David Letterman Show" on May 8th. In response to the desire of Paul Shaffer, who was the musical director of this program, he played White Room with the program's house band for the first time in 17 years (Steve Jordan, who would later support Clapton, was a member of this house band on drums). Clapton was satisfied with the result and included this song in the set from the second leg of the tour. Four new songs from the album were performed (Same Old Blues, Tangled In Love, She's Waiting, Forever Man). They are not inferior to the representative songs, and all of them are performed wonderfully. These are numbers that you can no longer expect to be set in the set, so you can feel Clapton's enthusiasm at the time when he was burning with the desire to perform new songs. In particular, the solo on Same Old Blues has reached a raging realm that can be said to be beyond words, and combined with the mix of this work, anyone who listens to it is sure to be knocked out. Anyway, Clapton plays the whole thing. It's amazing. As for the second leg, this is also a recording source where you can listen to Marcie Levy's featured number She Loves You (a Beatles cover) on the schedule. Marcie's song was replaced from Something Is Wrong With My Baby at this time. Although you can't hear Clapton's playing in this song, this Beatles number arranged in a slow tempo is an excellent arrangement that highlights Marcie's skill in singing earnestly with only Chris Stinton's piano and Tim Renwick's chord-breaking arpeggio playing in the background. Meanwhile, in the featured number Steppin' Out by Sean Murphy (who later joined Little Feat as the lead vocalist), Clapton stays on stage and plays a sharp solo. The scene at the end where she shouts "Chicago, No bad blues!" and the audience gets excited is also a highlight of the local recording. Even in such a varied set, the minor blues song Double Trouble is a part of Clapton's style, and it can be said that the set list was well-balanced, with representative songs, new songs, and blues, and fully conveyed Clapton's charm. Clapton's singing and aggressive guitar solos are a wave attack. It seems that Clapton's singing has improved dramatically on this tour. His confident and imposing singing style also exudes a manly sexiness. Please listen carefully. Furthermore, the guitar solos are more aggressive than ever, and there are many patterns of fast passages. This is very thrilling! Following the two songs with sharp slide play in the opening, he shows off his true form early on with the solo in the backstory of I Shot The Sheriff, and the tension rises all at once with the following Same Old Blues. Clapton's solo in White Room is a wonderful phrase composition with wah-wah stomping, which is as good as the Cream era, as it is played by the same person who made the original Cream version a masterpiece. After Cream broke up, Jack Bruce, the composer, had many guitarists play this song in his own band, but Clapton's playing in this work seems to be better than any of them. After the performance, the excited audience cheers and applause does not stop, and Clapton can be seen stopping it by saying "Stop it." That's how amazing his playing is. Tangled In Love, Badge, and Let It Rain also feature high-speed slow-hand playing. In the midst of all this, Blackie is crying as much as he can in the de Blues' Double Trouble. Listening to this play, you can really feel that Clapton is a blues guitarist. Layla's solo in the afterword is also at an incredible level, and you will be left speechless here as well. This is a great take that makes you realize how much effort Layla put into playing her solos at this time. There were two encores. From Forever Man, which can only be described as cool, to Further On Up The Road, where all the members had solos, you will feel refreshed by Clapton's appearance as he ran at full throttle. Blackie's last tour! Blackie, the Stratocaster that debuted at the Rainbow Concert in 1973 and has been with Clapton ever since his comeback as his favorite instrument. Since it had been used as his main guitar for many years, the neck had worn out, to the point where it would come off the neck when the first string was choked down, so Clapton retired Blackie at the end of this tour and began using a newly developed custom Strat the following year. In other words, this tour was the last time we heard that withered "half tone". After I Shot The Sheriff on this album, Blackie roars and cries (he uses another Strat made by Roger Giffin as an open-tuned slide for the first two songs and Tulsa Time). This tone is truly unique to Blackie. It can be said that Clapton's playing had a mature flavor because of this guitar. Please enjoy the raw Blackie sound of the amp direct in this work. Top-class backing men only for this period The backing men were the famous Stax bassist Donald Duck Dunn and Jamie Oldaker of the Tulsa Tops, who could be said to be the strongest rhythm section in Clapton's history, from the flow of the 1983 tour. Please enjoy the bouncy bass playing of the late Donald Duck Dunn, who supported Clapton only during this period, and the dynamic drumming of the late Jamie Oldaker, who has many hands, as well as Duck Dunn's unique comments introducing Clapton in the member introduction (Clapton seemed to get along really well with Duck Dunn, so much so that when he started his own label in 1983, he named it "Duck Records"). It is also the only tour where you can hear the playing of Tim Renwick, a veteran British guitarist who would later support "Gilmore Pink Floyd". His solid playing without any mistakes is also a highlight. His unique playing can be heard in the obbligatos in I Shot The Sheriff and White Room, Badge, the second solo in Cocaine, the obbligato and the seven-phrase in Layla, and the closing solo in Forever Man. And we must not forget Chris Stinton, who still supports Clapton. From the opening piano prologue, he is active not only on piano, but also on organ and synthesizer. The bond between the two was strong 39 years ago. This is a wonderful stage where you should listen to their support along with the resounding tone of Blackie Strat. This work boasts the highest sound quality ever, and is the first to record the soundboard sound source representing the "Behind the Sun American Tour" from the first generation master.