Eric Clapton - 24 Nights

Classic style as well as the experience and the maturity of a true rock legend

The premise of Eric Clapton's live double compact disc, `24 Nights,' to quote Derek Taylor's liner notes, was an undertaking "to celebrate his (Clapton's) music at the Royal Albert Hall over 24 nights with first a four-piece band and then a nine-piece and then a batch of blues giants and finally a mighty orchestra..." For any fan of rock, but especially for fans of Eric Clapton, there is lot to like about `24 Nights.'

Recorded live in 1990 and 1991 at about the same time as Clapton's studio release, `Journeyman,' `24 Nights' includes classics such as `Badge,' `White Room,' and `Sunshine of Your Love' recorded with the four-piece band, blues standards `Have You Ever Loved A Woman' and `Hoodoo Man' with the blues band, `Pretending' and `Bad Love' with the more contemporary nine-piece band, and `Bell Bottom Blues' with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.

As one would expect, many of the musicians with whom Clapton surrounds himself are legends in their own right. The various line-ups feature such Phil Collins, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Jimmy Vaughn, and Johnnie Johnson. There are quite a few names familiar to the fans of "Eric Clapton and His Band" releases and tours, including Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, and Ray Cooper. Even Jamie Oldaker, who was a part of Clapton's bands during the 1970's and early 1980's on the studio release `Backless,' among others, is the percussionist for the `24 Nights' blues band.

Each of the bands produce a sound that combines both Clapton's blues and "Cream-y" roots as well as Clapton's mature and confident style reminiscent of the more recent Clapton releases. The `Sunshine of Your Love' track is the Clapton/Bruce/Baker edition on steroids. The energetic `Pretending' and `Bad Love' jump right through the speakers, while the version of `Wonderful Tonight' featuring vocalist Kitty Kissoon is literally erotic.

The only criticism for `24 Nights' is relates to the collaboration with the orchestra. While other rock band/orchestra associations really seemed to have clicked, Clapton's effort just misses the mark. On the `Bell Bottom Blues' track, in particular, the band and the orchestra seem to be about a half or quarter note off, although `Edge of Darkness' is fairly powerful and quite a bit more on. Maybe it just took a while for the band and the symphony to warm to one another.

In all, `24 Nights' is bottled lightning. Clapton's guitar riffs shoot right out from the tracks and, with the exception of the symphony tracks, the music and the musicians are tight. `24 Nights' provides just about any music fan with a great listen, while dedicated Clapton fans will appreciate both the classic style as well as the experience and the maturity of a true rock legend.
January 2, 2008

A very strong live album

24 Nights is a concert that was recorded over the period of 9 evenings at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
During the couse of the 24 evenings he uses essentially 2 bands and a band with an orchestra.
The fist installment is his current band at the time.
They do songs from his latest CD. The songs include, Pretending, Bad Love, Old Love, and Wonderful Tonight.
The second phase is a blues phase with Robert Cray and Buddy Guy playing guitar with Chuck Berrys piano player Johnny Johnson.
The Blues tracks in my mind are the best on the CD.
Clapton does Watch Yourself, Worried Life Blues and Voodoo Man, as well as Have You Ever Loved A Woman.
The third phase is with an orchestra that includes Bell Bottom Blues, Hard Times and Edge of Darkness.
The version of Wonderful Tonight is haunting. He slows the song down and with Katie Kasssons vocals the song is outstanding.
If you like Blues or if you like EC you need to get this one. November 23, 2005

Good, tear-it-up live stuff

Solid and powerful music. The live recording quality is A+. A reminder that EC still has it. Make it part of your collection. March 21, 2005

Almost 3 and half stars but still worth the purchase

I love live Clapton releases. This is a good release but I feel the songs are rushed and bland compared to other "live" versions. I cannot stomach the end of "Wonderful Tonight", especially if you ever seen the video of it, sounds like a cat in heat...but there are highlights including the songs released during this time period "Pretending", "Bad Love", and a nice version of "Bell Bottom Blues"....maybe this was the 24th night, I just feel the energy had left the building. January 21, 2005

Another solid outing from a more mature Clapton

This is an excellent compilation taken from 24 night run at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1990. This is a great CD for hardcore Clapton fans or for the unfamiliar music lover. The sound quality is top notch and the whole band is in fine form.

Disc one- Badge is a great opener with a cathcy little piano riff that will bring a smile to your face and get your head boppin. White Room and Sunshine kick as usual although a little more soloing from Clapton and few other insturments would of been appreciated. A fun Watch Yourself and interesting Edge round out an overall solid disc that you will leave in your player for a long while

Disc two- Pretending is my favorite song on the whole album and this song prooves that Clapton hasn't lost contrary to what some of his fans think. He still has the ability and the drive/energy, he just displays less often which is a little unfortuante. Both Bad and Old Love are good follow ups and the rest finish suit nicely.

Bottom Line: a great two disc set. If you are new to Clapton than go with Crossroads 2 instead but if you don't want shell out a 50 than you might want to consider 24 nights although there are decent Clapton offerings for the rookies that might be better. June 23, 2003

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