Eric Clapton - Guild (CD1) - Bootleg Album, 1988

Eric Clapton with Mark Knopfler, Elton John and Phil Collins Civic Hall Guildford, Surrey, England February 7, 1988 1. Opening 2. Crossroads 3. White Room 4. I Shot The Sheriff 5. Wonderful Tonight 6. Run 7. Same Old Blues 8. Tearing Us Apart 9. Holy Mother Eric Clapton: Guitar and Vocals Mark Knopfler. Guitar Nathan East: BassElton John: keyboards Alan Clark: keyboards Tessa Niles: Vocals Katie Kassoon: Vocals Ray Cooper: Percussion Steve Ferrone: Drums Phil Collins: Drums Elton John: piano The final concert in this collection is the February 7th, 1988 show at the Civic Hall. This masterpiece occurs right after a nine night run at the Royal Albert Hall in London. There was no new album associated with this tour (the latest studio album August was released in 1986), but rather these shows were a celebration of twenty-five years in the music industry. Mark Knopfer of Dire Straits joined him for the entire year and comes close, as in this show, to blowing Clapton off the stage. This would be the last concert until two shows in June for the Prince’s Royal Trust, a US tour in September and a short tour of Japan with Elton John playing in the band. The show kicks off with an incidinary ”Crossroads” and the show never abates in intensity. ”White Room” recalls the days of Cream ”Wonderful Tonight” is gorgeous. After the forgettable “Run” Clapton introduces Elton John to the stage, saying “We’d like to do a slow blues for you now and bring on a dear friend of mine. Reg Dwight….You feel comfortable?” Over the next eighteen minutes they take turns jamming in the middle. Nathan East plays a virtuoso bass solo followed by a cocktail piano solo by Elton John. Clapton follows with an emotional masterpiece and East has to introduce him to the audience afterwards to a rapturous ovation! “Tearing Us Apart” is an innocuous disco number and is followed by the sublime “Holy Mother.” Knopfler steals the show with his solo in “Badge” and the song is again segued with “Let It Rain.” A funky synthesizer driven instrumental is played as a prelude to “Cocaine.” Afterwards Clapton says, “we’d like to dedicate this to the late, great Jaco Pastorius. I hope you bear with us” and proceeds to cover Pastorius’ “A Remark You Made.” The slow tempo contemplative number abruptly ends after five minutes before the opening notes to “Layla.” The point where John beings the second half of the song on piano is pure magic. A seven minute elongated version of “Sunshine Of Your Love” closes the set with East in particular shining on vocals. “Money For Nothing” is the first encore and sounds interesting with the backup singers. After Clapton's great solo(Enlight), Knopfler jokes around with Clapton by singing, ”Look at them yo-yo’s, yeah that’s the way you do it. You play the guitar, what’s his name? EC!” They jam on a basic 12-bar as Clapton takes his time introducing the band before the final, eight minute jam on “Further On Up The Road.” They pound the blues notes hard in this one and alternate between playing piano and forté. Everybody takes a solo including the second bass solo of the evening by East and Ferrone on the drums. After ten years and five recorded shows, it is obvious the special nature these concerts hold and why Tarantura chose to bind them together in this box set. This is a unique way to tie several shows together but it works very well given the great performances, guest apperances and variety included. Guild is limited to 130 numbered copies and is packaged in a special shuffle box to hold the five individual sleeves. Enjoy the music and feel free to Subscribe!