Eric Clapton / CA, USA 03.30.1976 Sessions Soundboard Edition

This release captures a 2-hour and 20-minute soundboard recording of Eric Clapton’s 31st birthday session, which took place on March 30, 1976, at a studio in Malibu, USA, during the recording of the album “No Reason To Cry.” This impromptu studio session took place at Shangri-La Studios, owned by The Band at the time, while they were working on the album with a large number of renowned guests. While some of this session has been circulated before, the master released this time is a low-generation master directly connected to the mixing console, provided by the sound engineer who worked at the studio at the time, resulting in exceptional sound quality and the longest recording time to date. Disc 1 mainly contains mono rough mix versions of the album tracks, which were mixed for listening purposes before the final master version was decided. The first three tracks on Disc 2 are numbers primarily sung by Dylan, while Disc 3, starting from the fourth track, features sessions with all the members of The Band who participated in the all-night session that day, along with Ronnie Wood, Van Morrison, Billy Preston, and the Clapton Band. In particular, the tracks featuring Van Morrison and Billy Preston were not included on the album, so it’s a rare opportunity to hear their vocals. Incidentally, although it’s a rough session, Clapton plays various instruments including the dobro, members of The Band take turns on vocals, and there’s even a solo battle between Clapton and Robbie Robertson. With such a star-studded lineup, this is a recommended item not only for Clapton fans. Live at Shangri-La Studios, Malibu, CA, USA 30th March 1976 : Stereo Soundboard Recording Disc 1 : 1. Shangri-La Jam 2. Sign Language 3. All Our Past Times 4. County Jail 5. Tenho Sede 6. Carnival Disc 2 : 1. Adios Mi Corazon 2. The Water Is Wide 3. Idiot Wind 4. Right Now 5. Shuffle Jam 6. Right Now 7. Steppin’ Out 8. What Would I Do Disc 3 : 1. Who Do You Love 2. Tried To Make The Devil Mad 3. What Would I Do 4. Won’t Somebody Tell Me 5. It’s Eric’s Birthday 6. Hard Times 7. Big River 8. Stormy Monday Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals / Carl Radle – bass / George Terry – guitar / Jamie Oldaker – drums / Dick Sims – keyboards / Yvonne Elliman – vocals / Marcy Levy – vocals / Sergio Pastora – percussion / Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar / George Fame – organ / Ron Wood – guitar / Van Morrison – vocals / Rick Danko – bass, vocals / Robbie Robertson – guitar / Jesse Ed Davis – guitar / Billy Preston – vocals, keyboards / Garth Hudson – organ / Richard Manuel – vocals, piano / Levon Helm – vocals, drums / Wah Wah Watson – guitar