In November of 2007, legendary guitarist Jeff Beck took to the stage of London’s Ronnie Scott’s, a notorious jazz club with a rich history. Unfortunately, given the size of the club, only a few were lucky enough to see him and his band – Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Jason Rebello (keyboards) and Tal Wilkenfeld (bass) – perform. Lucky for us it was recorded, and released on film. This is a compilation of these concerts of sorts, and I would love to see all seven shows released.
Beck’s series of concerts at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London’s Soho became the must have ticket of 2007 in London.
With a setlist that features classic tracks from across his career, a stunning backing band and special guest appearances by Joss Stone, Imogen Heap and Eric Clapton, this concert film captures for the first time the unique experience of Jeff Beck live in concert.
Highlights: Stratus (shorter than Cobham’s versions but oh so good!), Tal Wilkenfeld’s bass solo on Wonder’s Cause we’ve ended as lovers and Jeff Beck who shines all through this film, what an incredible musician!
The band:
– Jeff Beck / guitar
– Vinnie Colaiut / drums
– Jason Rebello / keyboards
– Tal Wilkenfeld / bass guitar
Guest artists:
Joss Stone
Imogen Heap
Eric Clapton
From the Cradle is a blues cover album by Eric Clapton. It is also his 12th studio album. Released on 13 September 1994, the album was Eric Clapton’s long-awaited follow-up to his massively successful live album, Unplugged. The liner notes states, “This is a live recording with no overdubs or edits except for dobro overdub on ‘How Long Blues’ and drum overdub on ‘Motherless Child’.”
Although he’d long been associated with the blues, From the Cradle was Clapton’s first attempt at an all-blues album.
When I listen to the album, I am transported to a small blues club where a group of fantastic players give us their best, fantastic musicianship. I saw Martin Scorsese’s documentary, Nothing but the blues before I heard the album. I started to seek out the songs from the film, and found From the cradle. It is one of my favorite Clapton albums.
Nothing but the blues:Eric Clapton discusses who has influenced him throughout his career, with clips of performances by Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, etc. Filmed by director Martin Scorsese, this documentary was broadcast once on PBS stations, but never officially released for reasons which remain unclear. A planned release on home video was slated for early summer 1995, and Warner/Reprise produced a limited number of advance copies to be used for promotion. (it is on YouTube in 10 parts)
Eric Clapton – Five Long Years (Eddie Boyd) from Nothing but the blues(doc/live):
“It takes the assurance of a titan like Eric Clapton to muster the humility that inspires From the Cradle. The guitarist’s tribute to the gods who formed him (Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Otis Rush among them), the disc sacrifices flash to sheer blazing force. “Groaning the Blues,” “Five Long Years” — this is the bone and sinew of blues.” – Paul Evans (Rolling Stone Magazine)
The Johnny Cash Show
The Johnny Cash Show was an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
The show lasted a little under two years, but in that time it hosted a lot of fantastic musical guests. Johnny Cash had great taste in music and had to fight to get his choices on tv on several occasions.
There are so many great artists and they’re giving some of the best performances ever done for TV.
Here are my 11 favorite You Tube clips from the magnificent, The Johnny Cash Show:
Bob Dylan – I Threw It All Away , Living The Blues and Girl From The North Country (duet with Johnny Cash):
Neil Young – The Needle and the damage done and Journey through the past:
Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Coming Down:
Cash fought hard to keep the word, “stoned” in the lyrics that were broadcast.
I play patterns. I’ll make up a pattern and just play it.
~Richard Manuel
“Well, let’s see: I started [in music] at nine and quit. Then got back to it when I was twelve. Then I became a party star. In fact, I became a party!”
~Richard Manuel
For me he was the true light of the Band. The other guys were fantastic talents, of course, but there was something of the holy madman about Richard. He was raw. When he sang in that high falsetto the hair on my neck would stand on end. Not many people can do that.
~Eric Clapton
A nice tribute video – I’m just a country boy:
I Shall Be Released (The Band)
Gonna dedicate this song to Mr. Richard Manuel, who does it so well
~Bob Dylan (Introducing “I Shall Be Released” December 8, 1975)
Birth name
Richard George Manuel
Born
April 3, 1943
Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Died
March 4, 1986 (aged 42)
Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his contributions to and membership in The Band.
Here is the wonderful “Georgia On My Mind” from The Last Waltz concert:
“Richard Manuel was a whole show unto himself. He was hot. He was about the best singer I’d ever heard; most people said he reminded them of Ray Charles. He’d do those ballads, and the ladies would swoon. To me that became the highlight of our show.”
~Levon Helm
The Band was a Canadian-American roots rock group that originally consisted of Rick Danko (bass guitar, double bass, fiddle, trombone, vocals), Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, vocals), Garth Hudson (keyboard instruments, saxophones, trumpet), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, baritone saxophone, vocals) and Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals). The members of the Band first came together as they joined rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins’s backing group, The Hawks, one by one between 1958 and 1963.
You Dont Know Me – Tokyo 1983
“He brought a lot of powers and strengths to the group. He brought in gospel music from his church upbringing. Plus, he loved to play and just come up with new things. It was like having a force of nature in the band.”
~Rick Danko
Posthumous recognition
In 1994, Richard Manuel was inducted, posthumously, into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band.
In 2003, Japan’s Dreamsville Records released Whispering Pines: Live at the Getaway, which contains selections from a solo concert recorded in Saugerties, New York in October 1985.
Former bandmate Robbie Robertson‘s song “Fallen Angel” (1987) and The Band‘s song “Too Soon Gone” (1993) are each tributes to Manuel.
On Forbes.com, Allen St. John wrote a tribute article about Richard Manuel and Rick Danko on April 19, 2012.
Eric Clapton’s 1986 album, August, features his tribute to Richard Manuel entitled “Holy Mother”.
San Francisco-area group, The Call, who had collaborated with former Band members Hudson and Robertson, dedicated the video for their 1986 single, “Everywhere I Go” to Manuel.
Counting Crows recorded the song “If I Could Give All My Love -or- Richard Manuel Is Dead”, released on their 2002 album Hard Candy.
The Drive-By Truckers’ song “Danko/Manuel” was released on their album The Dirty South in 2004.
I am, and always will be, a blues guitarist.
~Eric Clapton
“I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.”
~Eric Clapton
….Paul Simon writes great songs. George Harrison great songs, a lot of people, Eric Clapton produces wonderful music.
~Bob Dylan (Press Conference, July 1981)
Robbie Robertson inducts Eric Clapton Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000:
Layla:
Birth name
Eric Patrick Clapton
Also known as
Slowhand
Born
March 30, 1945 (age 68)
Ripley, Surrey, England, UK
Genres
Rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock
Occupations
Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, artist
Instruments
Vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin
Years active
1962–present
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and fourth in Gibson’s Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.
In the mid-1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname “Slowhand”. Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton joined Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and “arty, blues-based psychedelic pop.” For most of the 1970s, Clapton’s output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were “Layla”, recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed, and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”, recorded by Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton’s grief was expressed in the song “Tears in Heaven”, which featured in his Unplugged album.
Tears in heaven (live 1999, NYC)
A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.
