Eric Clapton/PA,USA 1995

This is a nice item to coincide with Eric Clapton’s new release this week. This is a 116-minute live video of the Philadelphia performance on September 13, 1995, which is said to be the only time Eric Clapton played a Gibson Firebird on stage in his solo career spanning more than 40 years since 1973, recorded completely with a good audience shot. The stage is captured beautifully at an angle with no obstacles from the third floor stand about 45 degrees to the left of the stage. This video is also uploaded on the Internet, but the image quality of this board is better than that. This performance captured the middle of the US tour held as the “Nothing but the Blues Tour”, and the concept was that only old blues were on the set list as the tour name suggests. The stage, which started with an acoustic sitting set, switched to an electric standing set, and then transitioned to harder and deeper blues, was Clapton’s true essence and was given tremendous praise at the time. It was also meant to show Clapton’s gratitude to the music of “blues” that nurtured him as a musician, and for that reason he changed guitars for each song, tried to maintain a tone faithful to the original blues musicians, and announced the composer and title of the song before each song. Clapton, who only uses one Martin and one Stratocaster on other tours, is a sight to behold as he uses 10 guitars, including an acoustic. The scene with the Firebird in question is in the two songs, Third Degree and Reconsider Baby. Originally, he played these two songs with a Gibson ES-335TD brown sunburst. However, on this day, a general fan brought a Firebird to Clapton’s guitar tech Lee Dixon before the concert, wanting to give it to Clapton as a gift, and Clapton, who heard the story from Dixon, picked it up on a whim. At Clapton’s level, he has reached the level of what is known as “the great master does not choose his brush,” proving that he can perform great plays on any guitar. Incidentally, this Firebird was put up for auction at a charity guitar auction held by Clapton at Christie’s in 1999. Please enjoy this rare scene as well as the full concert footage of Clapton unfolding his raging blues world on this disc. The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA. USA 13th September 1995 (116:03) 1. Motherless Child 2. Malted Milk 3. From Four Until Late 4. How Long 5. Kidman Blues 6. I’m Gonna Cut Your Head 7. Fourty-Four 8. Blues All Day Long 9. Standin’ Around Cryin’ 10. Hoochie Coochie Man 11. It Hurts Me Too 12. Blues Before Sunrise 13. Third Degree 14. Reconsider Baby 15. Sinner’s Prayer 16. Every Day I Have the Blues 17. Groanin’ the Blues 18. Before You Accuse Me 19. Someday After a While 20. Tore Down 21. Have You Ever Loved a Woman 22. Crossroads 23. Five Long Years 24. Ain’t Nobody’s Business Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals Andy Fairweather Low – guitar Chris Stainton – keyboards Dave Bronze – bass Steve Gadd – drums Jerry Portnoy – harmonica The Kick Horns (Simon Clarke – baritone saxophone, Roddy Lorimer – trumpet, Tim Sanders -tenor saxophone) COLOUR NTSC Approx. 116min.