Description
We have obtained the best stereo audience DAT master from the first day of the 1997 Japan tour! We are releasing yet another treasured DAT master from Eric Clapton! This time we have obtained a stereo master DAT recording of the Nippon Budokan performance on October 13, the first day of the 1997 Japan tour. This first day performance was released as a 16CD box set containing all the performances called “ON GUITAR AND VOCALS, ME!” and “Japan Tour ’97 – First Night”, but this master is of course different from those, and is a master that has appeared in Japan for the first time. ★The first day is known for having more songs performed than the other days in the latter half. The sound quality of this board, which captures such a special moment that it seems that Clapton was fired up for the first day at his favorite Budokan, is a superb stereo recording that is typical of DAT, which boasts high sound quality. It is very clear, has good stereo separation, and has a wide sound image. It can be said that it is an excellent recording in which each instrument and Clapton’s vocals are clearly audible. The moderate audience noise creates a sense of realism, capturing the atmosphere of the Budokan and bringing back reality. For some reason, the sound pressure of each song varied in the master, but our engineers adjusted and mastered it, making it very easy to listen to. This is a famous sound source that you can listen to with quality that is comparable to the simultaneously released “Munich 1998 DAT Master”. The Japan tour had an unprecedented “special” set list! Let’s take a look back at what position the 1997 Japan performance held in Clapton’s career. The following year, the US and European tours were held along with the album release, but the Japan tour the year before had a special meaning. Clapton’s activities this year were as follows. February 26: Attended the 39th Grammy Awards ceremony held at Madison Square Garden. Change The World won Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and performed with Babyface to celebrate the award. ・July 3-17: He embarked on a short European jazz festival tour under the name of Legends, a fusion unit he formed with Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Steve Gadd, and Joe Sample. ・September 15: He appeared with a host of other artists at the Concert for Montserrat, a benefit concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the invitation of George Martin to support victims of the volcanic eruption on Montserrat Island. ・September 25: He appeared on Babyface’s MTV Unplugged show, recorded at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, and performed with Babyface.・October 9th and 10th: Performances in Seoul, Korea ・October 13th to 31st: Japan Tour (13 performances in total) ←★Here★ ・December 31st: Organized and performed at the annual charity concert “New Year’s Eve Dance” in Woking, Surrey, England. From the above, you can see that he did not do a worldwide tour this year, and apart from appearing at spot events and short tours with a spot fusion unit, his only regular solo tours were this Japan performance and the Seoul performance just before, which served as a warm-up. This is because Clapton continued to record a memorial album with his late son (released the following year as “PILGRIM”), which he had been working on for six years since 1992, and he was focusing on that. It would have been expected that he would have wanted to devote himself to making an album, but Japan tours are customarily held “once every two or three years,” and it is believed that this was done because he had already booked for 1997 when he came to Japan in 1995. This situation made this year’s Japan tour “special.” The biggest reason for this is that he performed songs that were to be included in the album, which was still in production, on this Japan tour earlier than anywhere else in the world. It is rare for Clapton to perform unreleased new songs live, and the only previous Japan tour to do so was in 1977, before the release of “SLOWHAND.” However, when he came to Japan in 1977, the album was already completed and was waiting to be released, so he performed the completed songs, but in 1997, the album was not yet mixed down, so it was performed. Considering that the sample of “PILGRIM” (the song title was still tentative) distributed to those involved later was credited with a production date of December 27, 1997, it could be said that the song performance at the time of this Japan tour was in an unfinished, groping state, so to speak, that Clapton wanted to “complete it almost in this form”. In other words, Clapton really wanted to let his beloved Japanese fans hear the new song as soon as possible. That part corresponds to 6. to 9. on Disc 1. What is interesting is that in the world tour carried out the following year after the album release, Broken Hearted was removed from the set list and was no longer played. Despite it being a great masterpiece, the reason is unknown, but it can be said that the only live version where you can hear this song in a form close to the album version is this Japan tour. Also, for some reason, the new hard blues song Sick and Tired was dropped from the set from the fourth day performance on October 17th. It is thought that it was necessary to cut one song due to the end time. Therefore, it can be said that the charm of this board is that you can listen to the earliest live version of this song. And Change The World. This song, which won a Grammy Award earlier this year, was played on the Japan tour for the first time. Moreover, since it was the first day, Clapton’s enthusiasm for the first performance must have been extraordinary. Furthermore, the solo on Have You Ever Loved A Woman that day was amazing! Although the same song was played every day, it was definitely the first day that showed the best play quality during the tour. It’s a great performance. Also, at this time, two songs were performed as an encore. It’s a service that is unthinkable after the 2000s. The two blues numbers that play like a fish in water are also worth listening to. The words that Clapton introduced himself after introducing each member at the time of the member introduction, which is also the title of the already released board, were uttered at the Osaka performance on the 21st, but such a rare “self-introduction” was only for this Japan tour. In that sense, this tour and this first day were “special”. This was the only tour featuring Joe Sample, a master of piano! What was even more “special” was the use of the late Joe Sample (Crusaders), who had worked with him on “Legends” in July and had a good relationship with him, on piano. It is said that Sample readily accepted Clapton’s call, and there was no doubt that his lyrical piano playing gave each song a special flavor. You can tell this by listening to the solo at the beginning of Layla. The highlight is the solo at Old Love. This piano solo, which expresses the way the quietly swaying folds of the heart finally transition into something that bursts with passion, is truly exquisite. It is a wonderful performance that is a match for Clapton’s emotional solo. It is safe to say that this is also a masterpiece. The first day of the Budokan performance, which was full of great performances. This is the first appearance and the master of the finest sound quality. Live at Budokan, Tokyo, Japan 13th October 1997 TRULY PERFECT SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc 1 (53:26) 1. Introduction 2. Layla 3. Change The World 4. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out 5. Tears In Heaven 6. Goin’ Down Slow 7. Broken Hearted 8. Pilgrim 9. Sick And Tired 10. I Shot The Sheriff Disc 2 (57:49) 1. Wonderful Tonight 2. I’m Tore Down 3. Have You Ever Loved A Woman 4. Cocaine 5. Tearing Us Apart 6. Old Love 7. Sunshine Of Your Love 8. Everyday I Have The Blues 9. Before You Accuse Me Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals Andy Fairweather Low – guitar / vocals Chris Stainton – keyboards Joe Sample – piano Dave Bronze – bass Steve Gadd – drums Katie Kissoon – backing vocals Tessa Niles – backing vocals
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