Description
The 2004 sound source of a rare charity concert hosted by the late Gary Brooker will also be available for the first time! Taper, a veteran of the UK who provided the DAT master of “GARY BROOKER with ERIC CLAPTON – Christmas Show 2003: DAT MASTER”, also provided the master of the best sound source of the charity concert held by Gary Brooker at the same venue the following year in 2004! Of course, Eric Clapton also participated in this concert. Although the concert hosted by Brooker under the pseudonym “No Stiletto Shoes” has been held for many years, only the audience shot video from 1989 has seen the light of day, and like the annual New Year’s Eve charity concert “New Year’s Eve Dance” hosted by Clapton, it was a rare event that has not been blessed with a sound source for many years. However, as if the heavyweight tapers had broken the dam, they began to provide masters of the finest sound quality that they had recorded themselves, and finally Brooker’s “No Stiletto Shoes” concert became available, which is a topic for long-time British rock fans. This week, two rare concert recordings will be released simultaneously from the first generation masters of the recording artists themselves. This year, 13 days after this concert, the annual charity concert “New Year’s Eve Dance” hosted by Clapton was held, and the recording was provided by heavyweight tapers and released as “Woking 2004: DAT Master (2CD)” in our shop. Brooker also participated in this concert, but few people know that a concert with the same purpose was held 13 days earlier, hosted by Brooker. The band members were mostly veteran British session musicians, just like Clapton’s charity concert, but since the charity’s cause (organization) was different, Brooker organized the Christmas concert under the pseudonym “No Stiletto Shoes.” Clapton was scheduled to perform a concert with the same members 13 days later, but being Brooker’s best friend, he participated in Brooker’s activities. Clapton’s event also originally started in 1982 when Clapton, who participated in a “year-end live” held by Gary Brooker, who was a band member at the time, at a local pub, liked the idea of the event, and it was held intermittently at the end of the year, but in 1993 it became a regular event hosted by Clapton, and was established as the “New Year’s Eve Dance,” with two live shows on the night of New Year’s Eve and the morning of New Year’s Day after a break, so Clapton must have felt indebted to Brooker. Even for such a rare local concert, the heavyweight taper used his usual connections to successfully infiltrate and record in stereo with the finest sound quality using advanced equipment. The master of this heavyweight taper is not inferior to “Woking 2004: DAT Master (2CD)”, and is unrivaled in terms of stereo feeling and directness of sound, making it truly the finest sound quality. Just listening to it for a moment makes it seem like a soundboard recording. Considering the club environment, it can be said that this work captures more vivid and powerful musical sounds, and it is the same level of superb sound quality as “GARY BROOKER with ERIC CLAPTON – Christmas Show 2003: DAT MASTER”. This event has a reputation for being rare only for the members and set list at this time, and of course this work is the first sound source to appear in history. You can listen to it from the first generation’s finest DAT master. This is amazing. The end of a fulfilling year with the release of a new album and a successful tour. Now, let’s review what this concert held in 2004 meant to Clapton. – January 4th: Appeared in a concert titled “The Last Fringe” in response to the closure of the Guildford Civic Centre, a hall in his hometown of Surrey. – March 15th: Appeared in a charity concert titled “One Generation 4 Another” held at the Royal Albert Hall in London for a fund set up by Lord Taverners. <March 30, 2004: Release of the album “ME AND MR. JOHNSON”>・March 24 – May 11, 2004: European tour ・June 4, 5, 6, 2004: First Crossroads Guitar Festival ・June 9 – August 2, 2004: US tour ・August 4: Appeared at The Crickets’ commemorative concert at the House of the Blues, a club in Hollywood, California. ・December 16: Appeared on Jools Holland’s New Year’s broadcast program at the BBC TV studio in London. ・December 18: Appeared at a concert by Gary Brooker’s front band, No Stiletto Shoes, held in Chiddingford, Surrey.←★This work★・December 31: Held the annual charity concert “New Year’s Eve Dance” in his hometown of Woking, Surrey. This was also a very busy year, and as you can see, it was the year they toured in conjunction with the release of the album “ME AND MR. JOHNSON”. It was also the year they held their first big event, the “Crossroads Guitar Festival”, which they organized themselves. It was a year filled with a sense of satisfaction, with the satisfaction of having successfully completed all of these events, and they participated in this event with a cheerful feeling. Moreover, immediately after this, they also held their own charity gig with the same members, showing their energetic side. It must have been such a fulfilling year that they couldn’t wait to perform live. Even at this end-of-year event, they played a variety of setlists, including blues, rock and roll, and standards, with very solid performances. However, while the setlist for “New Year’s Eve Dance” included Clapton’s own songs, here, Brooker took the lead and composed a variety of numbers, including Stones numbers, Traffic, Dylan numbers, blues, rock and roll, soul standards, and traditional numbers. Clapton joined midway through the album, and only participated in six songs this year, from Kansas City to Natural Born Sinner (it’s fun to hear Brooker play Layla’s phrase on the piano as Clapton appears). Listening to this master, it seems that the first part was up to Natural Born Sinner, then there was a break, and the second part started with Mary Ann. So, Clapton participated as a guest in the second half of the first part. There are fewer songs in this album compared to 2003, but it is noteworthy that Clapton’s featuring degree is higher than the previous year. He sings alone on Kansas City and Love Me With a Feeling. Especially in Kansas City, Clapton’s vocals make the stage feel like it’s getting a little more exciting. He has a great presence. What’s very interesting is that you can hear Clapton playing on The Beatles’ Come Together and The Band’s The Weight, which were not included in the set list for “New Year’s Eve Dance”. Although there is no Clapton solo in these numbers, the excellent obbligato is the best. It is extremely rare for him to play these songs in his career, so it is extremely valuable. I’m sorry for Brooker’s house band, but when you listen to this work, the quality of the songs is different whether Clapton is participating or not. As expected, I have to say that he is a master Clapton. If you are a fan, you will want to listen to just these six songs, and this work is the perfect content to commemorate Brooker, who passed away in 2022. The set list is significantly different from “GARY BROOKER with ERIC CLAPTON – Christmas Show 2003: DAT MASTER (2CDR)”, so I would like you to listen to it. High sound quality unique to the master of the heavyweight taper Heavyweight taper has provided many masters of rare sound sources of Clapton so far, but the master of this work has a special sound image among his recordings of this event so far. As mentioned above, the sound of the band is too vivid. This sound quality is really amazing, as if the band is playing in front of you. In addition to using high-end equipment and high-performance microphones for recording, it is the result of capturing the sound reverberating in the narrow box of a rural club in the front row. After all, if it was a concert in the local UK, there would have been a heavyweight taper’s pride. Listening to this work, I sincerely think that I wanted to experience this warm and luxurious concert once. I am grateful to the heavyweight taper for delivering such a concert that we Japanese could not go to see with such reality. Unprecedented ultra-high sound quality recording, first appearance! Chiddingfold Club, Surrey, UK 18th December 2004 ULTIMATE SOUND(from Original Masters) Disc1 (57:59) 1. Intro 2. Let’s Work Together 3. Rock House 4. Sea of Heartbreak 5. Lay My Burden Down / Will The Circle Be Unbroken / What a Friend We Have in Jesus 6. I Hear you Knocking 7. Kansas City * ** 8. Love Me With a Feeling * ** 9 Come Together * 10. My Babe * 11. The Weight * 12. Natural Born Sinner * 13. Mary Ann 14. (If Paradise is) Half as Nice Disc2 (63:37) 1. Home Loving 2. Further on up the Road 3. Blueberry Hill 4. Mystery Train 5. Honky Tonk Women 6. Gimme Some Lovin’ 7. This is a Man’s World 8. Can’t Judge a Book (By Looking at the Cover) 9. I Got a Woman 10. Little Queenie 11. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Gary Brooker – piano / vocals / organ / percussion Andy Fairweather Low – guitar / vocals Dave Bronze – bass Henry Spinetti – drums Frank Mead – saxophone / harmonica Eric Clapton – guitar * / vocals **
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