Following the death of his young son in 1991, Eric returned to work in 1992. On 16 January, he and his band filmed the now-legendary MTV “Unplugged” episode. This singular television event, with it’s accompanying CD and Video, would bring him an entire new legion of fans. In February, Eric played dates at the Albert Hall before taking his band to America and Europe for the spring and summer. The summer tour would feature some live stadium dates with co-headliner Elton John.
A core collection of recordings from 1992 consists of:
Acoustic Waltz (Mid Valley)
Complete Unplugged (EC Is Here)
Completely Unplugged (The Gold Standard / SB5)
double set catalog numbers UP356 and CM340
These three titles were all recorded at Bray Studios on 16 January 1992. The Mid Valley title has a complete audience recorded version of “Rollin and Tumblin” which does not appear in its entirety on the other discs as the master tape was not running during the beginning of the song. These sets include the officially released numbers, as well as alternate takes and unreleased songs. Note that The Gold Standard also released a single CD from this show with the catalog number UP356 that only has 14 of the 27 tracks. At a minimum, try to obtain Acoustic Tale (Backstage / SB5) which has most of the unreleased material on a single disc. Its version of “Running On Faith” is the same as the official release. Eric’s comments between songs are priceless.
High Geared (Mid Valley / 5)
This is a good audience recording that is a warm-up show for the annual Royal Albert Hall run. Recorded on 1 February 1992, Eric is amazing on the first three songs: “Anything For Your Love”, “Pretending”, and “I Shot The Sheriff.” It features the first concert performances of “Tears In Heaven”, “Circus”, “My Father’s Eyes” (plugged), and a rare performance of “Signe”. This concert takes place barely two weeks after the Unplugged taping. It also marked the first time Eric played an acoustic set on stage since the mid-70s. Some say this set contains the ultimate version of “Layla”.
Note: In previous incarnations of this list, Another Page (Red Phantom / 4), Tears In Heaven (KTS / 4), The Circus Has Left Town (KTS / 4) and Eric Clapton Live Volumes 2 & 3 (AMCOS / 4) were listed as the titles to own. They have been replaced by the Mid Valley version which benefited from advances in computer-based sound engineering software. This resulted in an upgrade in overall sound quality. The levels during the acoustic set are now better balanced with the rest of the concert and are much more audible. On the others, the audio level drops during the acoustic numbers.
Live At The RAH (ECCD07A / 4)
Royal Albert Hall 2-12 (S&H Music / 4)
This show, like the warm-up in Brighton, features “Tears In Heaven”, “My Father’s Eyes”, “Circus”, and “Signe”. This very good audience recording is from 12 February 1992 and features a solid performance of “Before You Accuse Me” and “Layla” is still plugged-in.
Where’s ERIC! does not encourage or condone the manufacture of bootleg recordings. They are illegal and artists do not receive royalties from their sale. However, Where’s ERIC! realizes that there are fans who collect these recordings. In that spirit, information about them is provided for fans’ research and guidance purposes. Where’s ERIC! does not sell, trade or provide free copies of bootleg recordings nor can we tell you how to obtain them.
