Eric Clapton – Give Me Strength – The ’74/’75 Recordings (2013) Blu-ray Audio

Tracklist:
• 461 OCEAN BOULEVARD 5.1 Surround Sound mix (previously unreleased)
Mixed by Elliot Scheiner at The Eyeball
1 Motherless Children (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:55
2 Give Me Strength (5.1 Surround Mix) 2:51
3 Willie And The Hand Jive (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:29
4 Get Ready (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:47
5 I Shot The Sheriff (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:24
6 I Can’t Hold Out (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:11
7 Please Be With Me (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:26
8 Let It Grow (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:56
9 Steady Rollin’ Man (5.1 Surround Mix) 3:11
10 Mainline Florida (5.1 Surround Mix) 4:04
Session Out-take:
11 Ain’t That Lovin You (5.1 Surround Mix) 5:26
12 Meet Me (Down At The Bottom) (5.1 Surround Mix) 7:04
13 Lonesone Road Blues (Walkin’ Down The Road) (Studio Outtake / 5.1 Surround Mix) 5:15

• 461 OCEAN BOULEVARD original quadraphonic mix.
Mixed by Tom Dowd at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida, January 1975
1 Motherless Children (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:55
2 Give Me Strength (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 2:51
3 Willie And The Hand Jive (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:29
4 Get Ready (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:47
5 I Shot The Sheriff (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:24
6 I Can’t Hold Out (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:11
7 Please Be With Me (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:26
8 Let It Grow (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 0:56
9 Steady Rollin’ Man (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:11
10 Mainline Florida (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:04

• THERE’S ONE IN EVERY CROWD original quadraphonic mix.
Mixed by Tom Dowd at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida, January 1975.
1 We’ve Been Told (Jesus Is Coming Soon) (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:25
2 Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:30
3 Little Rachel (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:05
4 Don’t Blame Me (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:34
5 The Sky Is Crying (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:58
6 Singin’ The Blues (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:16
7 Better Make It Through Today (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:07
8 Pretty Blue Eyes (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:45
9 High (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 3:24
10 Opposites (Original Quadrophonic Mix) 4:45

461 Ocean Boulevard was Eric Clapton’s comeback, the record that saw him returning from a struggle with heroin addiction to reclaim his position as one of the world’s biggest rock stars. The 1974 album forms the core of Give Me Strength: The 1974/1975 Recordings, a massive five-CD/one-BluRay box set documenting Clapton’s mid-’70s recordings. The first CD is dedicated to an expanded version of 461 Ocean Boulevard — an expansion that is different than the 2004 double-disc Deluxe Edition — while the second CD is an expanded version of 1975’s There’s One in Every Crowd. Discs three and four are handed over to an expanded version of the 1975 live album E.C. Was Here, turning the single-LP into a double, while the fifth disc is devoted to a jam session at Criteria Studios with Freddie King. Finally, the BluRay contains a previously unreleased 5.1 mix of 461 Ocean Boulevard, along with its original quadraphonic mix, plus the quad mix of There’s One in Every Crowd. It’s a rather exhaustive overhaul of an era of E.C.’s career that isn’t particularly storied, and all the extra material doesn’t add mystique but it does re-create context, capturing how the mid-’70s could often feel like a long series of languid, meandering blues and reggae jams. Neither There’s One in Every Crowd nor E.C. Was Here were particularly focused, and the additional material accentuates their laziness while having the side effect of having 461 Ocean Boulevard sound bolder (even though it already was a decidedly relaxed affair). All this drifting blues doesn’t mean Give Me Strength isn’t worthwhile. Quite the contrary: this is precisely the kind of archival release that does deepen the historical record, revealing the extent of the guitarist’s reggae fixation while emphasizing how quickly Clapton settled into a relaxed groove after his comeback. Sometimes the jams do wind up cooking — this is particularly true of the jam with King — but usually they’re improvisation as mood music, smoke-filled superstar sessions where the intention is to play on and on until the night is gone

• 461 Ocean Boulevard
Eric Clapton – vocals, guitar, dobro, arrangement
Yvonne Elliman – vocals
Dick Sims – keyboards
George Terry – guitar, vocals
Carl Radle – bass, arrangement
Jamie Oldaker – drums, percussion
Additional
Al Jackson, Jr. – drums on "Give Me Strength"
Albhy Galuten – synthesizer, piano, clavichord
Tom Bernfield – background vocals
Marcy Levy – harmonica, background vocals

• There’s One in Every Crowd
Eric Clapton: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, dobro
George Terry: electric and acoustic guitars, group vocals
Jamie Oldaker: drums, percussion
Dick Sims: organ, piano, electric piano
Carl Radle: bass guitar, electric guitar
Yvonne Elliman: lead vocals, group vocals
Marcy Levy: group vocals

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