Give Me Strength:
The ’74/’75 Recordings
Mid-’70s might be considered the best years of Eric Claton‘s career in creative terms. Having beaten his drug addiction, the guitarist had also somehow gotten rid of his blues purism and in 1973 recorded “I Shot The Sheriff,” arguably the ultimate version of Bob Marley’s song. It was Eric’s cover that was inducted in Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003 and it was that take that Clapton reluctantly included on his 1974’s LP “461 Ocean Boulevard” where one could find the artist’s arguably most delicate ballad “Let It Grow” as well as other cuts of similar quality. 2004 saw the deluxe edition of the album, with a live disc attached to it, but now all the recordings from the same period, remastered and expanded, are to be out in a box set.
Scheduled for November 25th release, “Give Me Strength: The ’74/’75 Recordings” is a 5CD and a Blu-ray Audio package, to be available also as a 3LP box, which houses “Boulevard” along with its 1975’s follow-up “There’s One in Every Crowd” and, from the same year, “E. C. Was Here” that is a whopping 16-track set now instead of the original 6-piece, plus tracks laid down for Freddie King’s “Burglar” – all comprising previously un-issued material. So it’s a lot to desire and want, given that the expanded reissue of Eric’s “Unplugged” will be out soon, too.
Here’s the full breakdown.
CD 1: 461 Ocean Boulevard
1. Motherless Children
2. Give Me Strength
3. Willie And The Hand Jive
4. Get Ready
5. I Shot The Sheriff
6. I Can’t Hold Out
7. Please Be With Me
8. Let It Grow
9. Steady Rollin’ Man
10. Mainline Florida
Session out-takes:
11. Ain’t That Lovin’ You
12. Meet Me (Down At The Bottom)
13. Lonesome Road Blues (Walkin’ Down the Road)
14. Getting Acquainted (previously unreleased)
15. Getting Acquainted 2 (Too Late) (previously unreleased)
16. Eric After Hours Blues
17. Please Be With Me (acoustic – previously unreleased)
18. Give Me Strength (Dobro 1 – previously unreleased)
CD 2: There’s One in Every Crowd
1. We’ve Been Told (Jesus Is Coming Soon)
2. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
3. Little Rachel
4. Don’t Blame Me
5. The Sky Is Crying
6. Singin’ The Blues
7. Better Make It Through Today
8. Pretty Blue Eyes
9. High
10. Opposites
Session out-takes:
11. Burial (previously unreleased)
12. What’cha Gonna Do
13. I Found a Love
14. (When Things Go Wrong) It Hurts Me Too
15. Fools Like Me (previously unreleased)
Non-album single:
16. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
17. Someone Like You
CD 3: E.C. Was Here (disc 1)
1. Smile
2. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
3. Presence Of The Lord
4. Crossroads (previously unreleased)
5. I Shot The Sheriff (previously unreleased)
6. Layla (previously unreleased)
7. Little Wing (previously unreleased)
8. Can’t Find My Way Home
9. Driftin’ Blues / Ramblin’ On My Mind
CD 4: E.C. Was Here (disc 2)
1. Ramblin’ On My Mind / Have You Ever Loved A Woman
2. Willie and the Hand Jive / Get Ready
3. The Sky Is Crying / Have You Ever Loved a Woman / Ramblin’ on My Mind
4. Badge
5. Driftin’ Blues
6. Eyesight To the Blind / Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad
7. Further on up the Road
CD 5: The Freddie King Criteria Studios Sessions
1. Sugar Sweet
2. TV Mama
3. Boogie Funk (previously unreleased)
4. Gambling Woman Blues (previously unreleased)
Blu-ray:
1. 461 Ocean Boulevard – Elliot Scheiner 5.1 Surround Sound mix (previously unreleased)
2. 461 Ocean Boulevard – original 1975 quadraphonic mix by Tom Dowd
3. There’s One in Every Crowd – original 1975 quadraphonic mix by Tom Dowd
4. E.C. Was Here – original 1975 quadraphonic mix (previously unreleased)
