News
Eric Clapton Unplugged Gets Amplified
5 Sep 13
Expanded And Remastered Version Of Eric Clapton’s Multi-Grammy Winning, Diamond-Certified Album Features Unreleased Music And Previously Unseen Rehearsal Footage. Available Worldwide Mid-October 2013.
Eric Clapton was already an acknowledged master of the electric guitar in January 1992 when he traded his signature Stratocaster for an acoustic Martin to record Unplugged. The live album captured the legendary guitarist, backed by a small band, performing acoustic versions of his own songs and several blues standards. Released later that same year, the album was an unqualified blockbuster, selling more than 19 million copies worldwide and earning six Grammy Awards, sweeping the top honors, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.
Reprise Records celebrates Clapton’s electrifying acoustic performances with a new 2-CD/DVD collection that includes a remastered version of the original album along with six unreleased outtakes on two CDs. The DVD features a newly restored version of the concert, as well as more than an hour of previously unseen footage from the rehearsal. UNPLUGGED: EXPANDED AND REMASTERED will be available in mid-October 2013 (see below for worldwide release dates). A 2-CD only version without the DVD will also be available on the same dates.
For the original album’s 14 performances, Clapton reinterpreted songs from his rich catalog, including Layla — completely reimagined as a shuffle — from his time with Derek and the Dominos, Running On Faith and Old Love from 1989’s Journeyman, and the hit single Tears In Heaven, a song he wrote after the passing of his young son Conor the previous year. Much of the album showcases blues songs Clapton grew up listening to, like Bo Diddley’s Before You Accuse Me, Big Bill Broonzy’s Hey Hey, Leadbelly’s Alberta and Robert Johnson’s Malted Milk.
The second disc of UNPLUGGED: EXPANDED AND REMASTERED includes several songs not on the original album, such as a cover of Big Maceo Merriweather’s Worried Life Blues, an alternate take of Walkin’ Blues and early versions of Circus and My Father’s Eyes — songs that would surface six years later on Clapton’s album Pilgrim.
The DVD included in this collection contains a newly restored version of the original broadcast, which aired in March 1992 on MTV. For the first time ever, fans will also have the opportunity to see more than an hour of unreleased footage recorded during the pre-show rehearsal. Filmed from multiple camera angles, it features an intimate look at Clapton and the band working on arrangements and running through 14 songs, including Circus and My Father’s Eyes, which were not featured in the final broadcast.
UNPLUGGED: EXPANDED AND REMASTERED
CD & DVD Track Listing
01. Signe
02. Before You Accuse Me
03. Hey Hey
04. Tears In Heaven
05. Lonely Stranger
06. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
07. Layla
08. Running On Faith
09. Walkin’ Blues
10. Alberta
11. San Francisco Bay Blues
12. Malted Milk
13. Old Love
14. Rollin’ & Tumblin’
CD Disc Two – Outtakes & Alternates (All Tracks Previously Unreleased)
01. Circus
02. My Father’s Eyes (Take 1)
03. Running On Faith (Take 1)
04. Walkin’ Blues (Take 1)
05. My Father’s Eyes (Take 2)
06. Worried Life Blues
DVD Rehearsal Track List
01. Signe
02. Before You Accuse Me
03. Hey Hey
04. Tears In Heaven
05. Circus
06. Lonely Stranger
07. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
08. Layla
09. My Father’s Eyes
10. Running On Faith
11. Walkin’ Blues
12. Alberta
13. San Francisco Bay Blues
14. Malted Milk
AVAILABLE ON THE FOLLOWING DATES:
Friday, October 11: Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, & The Netherlands
Monday, October 14: UK, Czech Republic, Austria, South Africa, Hong Kong, Poland, France, Denmark, & Norway
Tuesday, October 15: US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Italy, & Spain
Wednesday, October 16: Japan & Sweden