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30 Years On: MTV Unplugged with Eric Clapton
16 Jan 22
Hard to imagine, but 16 January 2022 marks the 30th Anniversary of the filming and recording of Eric Clapton’s blockbuster Unplugged before a live studio audience. On that date in 1992, 300 music fans boarded coaches in London for Bray Studios near Windsor. Little did they know music history would be made on Soundstage 1 as MTV filmed the opening episode of Unplugged’s third season.
When MTV Unplugged with Eric Clapton debuted on television in March 1992, it became the series’ highest rated show. It proved so popular that a “Part 2” featuring a few songs not included in the original broadcast was put together for broadcast in June. The resulting live album, released that August, became the biggest selling album of Eric’s career.
The premise of MTV Unplugged was simple: musicians associated with amplified music would “unplug” from their amps and effects and go acoustic performing stripped down and sometimes radically reworked songs. By the time MTV approached Eric, Paul McCartney, Don Henley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Allman Brothers Band, Sting, Elvis Costello and others had been featured. Eric’s episode would become the show’s finest moment. The music was minimalist, alternating between his pop songs and the traditional blues that influenced his youth. He debuted five new songs, all penned in the months following the tragic death of his young son, Conor, the previous March. All together, it was some of the finest music ever recorded by Eric Clapton.
In an interview filmed the afternoon of the taping, Eric said, “When I first started playing, I played a lot of finger style. I could never really find the right combination of flat pick, finger picks or thumb picks so really the easiest way to learn to play – though it’s quite strenuous on the fingertips – is finger-style. I think you get a nice tone that way; there’s a beautiful sound to be gained from the finger actually touching the string. I wouldn’t mind trying it on electric. It’s something I just recently started to work on again.” One of the outgrowths from Unplugged was that he did indeed begin to play finger style on the electric guitar and continues to feature prominently in his live shows and recordings.
On 6 January 1992, BBC Radio 1 gave away 150 pairs of tickets for the taping. The competition question was a no brainer, even for casual music fans, “Where did Eric stay whilst recording ‘I Shot The Sheriff’?” Answer: 461 Ocean Boulevard. The winners were told the show would take place at a “secret location”. They were also given a letter that read in part: “You should all be aware that sitting is not on a ‘first come first served basis.’ The producers of the show will allocate everybody their seats. This will depend on various points eg. colours that you are wearing etc. Please be patient while this process is happening.”
After everyone was seated and directions given by the stage manager, Eric walked out to loud applause. He sat center stage with 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars and a dobro within easy reach. New band recruit Andy Fairweather Low (rhythm guitar and mandolin) was sat to his right with Nathan East (bass) to his left. Behind them were Steve Ferrone (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), Chuck Leavell (piano) and Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles (backing vocalists). It was a typical television shoot with a lot of stopping and starting over the course of two hours. Some songs had to be redone due to technical concerns.
Eric and his band opened the two hour taping with the bouncy samba, “Signe” (the song order would be changed for the television broadcast and again for the home video release and CD; the interview segments would also be cut from the home video release). On Eric’s hand-penned set list – which can be glimpsed taped to a table next to him – it’s listed as “instrumental”. It was also the first public indication of Eric’s love of Brazilian music. Eric later said he wrote it on a yacht named “Signe,” which he had charted the previous summer. It was also the first song he wrote as part of his healing process following his son’s death.
Bo Diddley’s 12-bar blues “Before You Accuse Me” and “Hey Hey” featured Eric and Andy on guitars without the rest of the band were performed next. Eric pointed out, “this show was a great opportunity for me to pay homage to the things that originally influenced me. ‘Hey Hey’ is a semi-instrumental by Big Bill Broonzy, and that was probably one of the first blues albums I ever heard. It was a piece I used to play in pubs when I was very young. I never felt that I mastered it, so that’s why we’re doing it with two guitars.”
Three new songs followed – “Circus Left Town”, “Tears In Heaven” and “Lonely Stranger“ – with the full band. Warmly received, they were written during the summer of 1991 as Eric grieved the loss of his four-year-old son, Conor. He said, “Some of the songs are still in a very early stage of development, but they will be on a record someday. “The Circus Left Town” is about my son and the last night I spent with him, which was, in fact, at the circus. It’s….there’s not much I can say about it except that these songs helped me get through a very hard patch in my life and I wanted to make them public.” Over the next several years, fans heard “Circus Left Town” evolve on stage during Eric’s worldwide tours. In 1998, the title was shortened to “Circus” when Eric recorded it for his album, Pilgrim.
“Tears In Heaven” dealt with Eric’s loss in stark, powerful terms. Throughout his career, Eric’s most popular songs originated from emotions at the core of his very being. “Tears In Heaven” resonated with the public like no other. He said, “I think that with what happened to me last year – the loss of my son – my audience would have been very surprised if I didn’t make some reference to it. And I wouldn’t want to insult them by not sharing my grief with them in some way. So I do intend to make these things known and I will play the songs in concert and put them on record. It is a healing process for me, and I think it’s important to share that with people who love your music.” After the song was over, Eric was clearly moved by the audience’s response to it; a scene that would be repeated around the world during his 1992 Tour.
The taping continued with Jimmy Cox’s “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out”. “I learned it and played it around the pubs, myself when I was 15, 16. It was part of my early repertoire. I played it unaccompanied and it was one of the first songs I felt I could sing because it was a melodramatic song. I could put all this angst into it. When I was with Derek and The Dominos, we did a version of it, but this is the way I originally used to do it with acoustic guitar,” Eric related in the between song comments.
The biggest surprise of the night was next. It was also a song that had been recorded by The Dominos. Eric radically reworked one of his best-known songs, “Layla”, as a slow shuffle. Saying to the audience, “See if you can spot this one,” Eric and the band launched into it. It took only a brief measure before one audience member shouted “yeah!” with the rest breaking into tumultuous applause, hoots and whistles a split second later. Eric recounted that “‘Layla’ sort of mystified me. I’ve done it the same all these years, and never considered trying to revamp it. A lot of artists do that. Bob Dylan, for instance, changes everything every time he plays a song. I thought this was another great opportunity to just take it off on a different path and make it into a shuffle. For a start, making it acoustic denied all the riffs which would have sounded a bit weak really on the acoustic. It just seemed to become jazzier somehow. And, of course, I’m singing it a whole octave down, which gives it a nice atmosphere”. Reception was so favorable it was released as the album’s single, backed with the Unplugged version of “Tears In Heaven”.
Throughout the taping, Eric’s keen sense of humor was at the fore. The most amusing moment came after “Layla”. A makeup artist scooted out to powder the shine from Eric’s and Nathan’s faces. The director then decided more makeup was a good idea prompting Eric to inquire, “what happens to the first part of the show as I didn’t have any on in the first place?” The makeup artist tried to cajole him saying “just the smallest, tiniest bit” but Eric playfully growled “I don’t want no makeup. Get off!” Seconds later, Eric wiped at his face and whined sotto voce, “I can’t play with it on,” causing much laughter amongst the band and audience.
The Sun, in typical tabloid fashion, took a massive amount of poetic license with this extremely lighthearted moment when they reported it on 27 January 1992: “ERIC CLAPTON lost his cool with an MTV director who stopped him mid-song during an acoustic show in Windsor, Berks. to apply make-up to the band. ‘I’m a f****** artist, not a bloody Barbie doll,’ he raged.” Talk about gilding the lily!
Following the re-worked “Layla”, Eric introduced another new song, “My Father’s Eyes”. He said, “It’s a very personal matter, but I never met my father, and I realized that the closest I ever came to looking in my father’s eyes was when I looked into my son’s eyes. So I wrote this song about that. It’s a strange kind of cycle thing that occurred to me, and another thing I felt I would like to share”. The song was cut from the broadcast and omitted from official release until the 2013 Expanded and Remastered edition came out. Over the next several years, Eric performed it on stage regularly and like, “Circus,” “My Fathere’s Eyes” would be recorded for 1998’s Pilgrim.
“Running On Faith” was next, with Eric picking up a dobro and glass slide for the song. Eric recounted, “it was on Journeyman so I knew that that song was easily adaptable. It was an obvious choice and it’s also a fairly well known song and part of my usual stage repertoire. I thought it was good to include it.” He continued, “I played the dobro on that because I did on the record. I don’t play it on the stage so it was another opportunity. This program gives me all these opportunities to do things that I’ve always done at home but don’t do on stage.”
The main part of the taping was moving quickly towards its end and it would be nothing but the blues. “Walking Blues” – used as the opening song for the MTV Unplugged with Eric Clapton – Part 2 broadcast – featured Eric alone on dobro. Although it would become commonplace in succeeding years, this was the first time fans got to see and hear a song performed in this manner. “Walking Blues”, as done by Eric for Unplugged, was actually a hybrid. He borrowed the guitar part from Muddy Waters’ “Feel Like Going Home,” and superimposed Robert Johnson’s lyrics. Eric recalled, “It’s sort of my simultaneous tribute to both of them. It’s a piece I’ve played since I was 14, but I only recently decided to start singing it.”
Next up was an old Snooks Eaglin song, “Alberta”, with a humorous false start; Eric forgot to remove the glass slide from his little finger and tells the band to “hang on, hang on.” Like all of the cover songs in the show, it was another that he had heard during his youth that he always wanted to do. He said it was “accessible to me as a beginning guitar player, because it consists of three chords and just straight strumming. It’s just lodged in my head as a very sentimental song and part of my early influences”.
“San Francisco Bay Blues” – performed with kazoo like Jesse Fuller’s original “one man band version” and “Malted Milk” (the second Robert Johnson cover of the night) wrapped things up. But shortly after telling the studio audience “that’s it,” Eric said they needed to do two – no three – no FIVE songs over again and adding “if you don’t mind, I don’t mind.” Needless to say, no one minded!
After the second take of “My Father’s Eyes” there was a brief break and cameras were off. Eric broke into an impromptu “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”, which he had last performed with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in Cream. The seasoned musicians quickly picked up on it and the crowd clapped along. The director, realizing what a gem this was, signaled the crew to start filming. They only managed to capture part of it which is why there’s such an abrupt start to the recording. In fact, Eric was so pleased when the song ended, he asked the director, “did you get that?”
“Running On Faith,” “Walking Blues”, “San Francisco Bay Blues” and “Malted Milk” were then set down for the second time. The final songs recorded were “Worried Life Blues” – which was cut from the broadcast and 1992 release but included in the 2013 edition – and “Old Love” from 1989’s Journeyman. The latter is one of the high points of the night, with Eric taking his usual long improvised solo during the song. It was captured in one brilliant take at the very end of the evening.
What was surprising to many at the time was the rich sound of Eric’s voice. He said, “it’s such a joy to sing with a full band acoustically and be able to hear your voice; I find it so much more easy to adjust the volume of my own voice. On stage, I seem to be singing flat out all the time. Here, I could sing quietly, and have more dynamic range.”
Nathan East, a long-time member of Clapton’s band, reminisced with WE! in 2012 about the recording of Unplugged. Nathan said, “It’s always an honor to be on stage with Eric and this became a very special performance for many reasons. The new arrangements of songs like ‘Layla’, ‘Old Love’ and ‘Running On Faith’ turned these songs into classics all over again. Of course, ‘Tears in Heaven’ had a powerful impact on the overall concert being such an emotional tribute to little Conor whose spirit definitely filled the room. I loved the entire experience and the challenge of presenting Eric’s music in a truly unplugged fashion! The vibe on stage was so relaxed, the band was amazing and it just felt like a room full of friends sharing music together one afternoon out in the country.” When asked what his favorite track was, Nathan told us, “‘Tears In Heaven’, ‘Alberta’, ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’, ‘Running On Faith’, ‘Layla’, ‘Before You Accuse Me’, ‘San Francisco Bay Blues’, ‘Old Love’, ‘Hey Hey’ and ‘Walkin’ Blues’.”
On the occasion of the album’s 20th Anniversary, Guitarist Andy Fairweather Low told WE!, “I have only one thought – ‘Hey Eric, we should do this again!’ It was the most unbelievable moment in my life. No more, no less. Unbelievable.”
At the time, nobody realized how successful the album would become. In fact, Eric did not even want to release it because he felt it would not do as well as a studio album of new material. After some cajoling, the album was released on 25 August 1992 to some of the best reviews of his career. The album renewed the public’s interest in Eric, boosted his popularity to an almost unimaginable level (much like his 3 song performance at Live Aid had done 7 years before in 1985) and re-established him as an artist to be reckoned with. An entirely new crop of fans came on board and another generation of guitarists were inspired. The album later received the first Diamond Record Award (sales of more than 10 million in the US), and garnered 3 Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Best Rock Song – “Layla” and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance). For 18 months after its release, “Layla” and “Tears In Heaven” were in heavy rotation on radio stations worldwide. It charted number one in four countries, including the United States, and was top three in four more.
A re-edited version of the show was released for home viewing on VHS and laser disc. In 1997, it was issued on DVD. The DVD format was of great interest to audiophiles as it had audio in Dolby Digital Surround sound. In 2013, Reprise Records released Unplugged: Expanded and Remastered as a 2-CD/DVD set with a remastered version of the original album plus six unreleased outtakes on the second CD. The DVD had a newly restored version of the concert, as well as more than an hour of previously unseen footage from the rehearsal.
In retrospect, the critical acclaim and public reception of Unplugged helped to pave the way for Eric’s return to an all blues format with From The Cradle (1994) and allowed him to record far more personal albums, as well feature an “unplugged” set on subsequent tours. Stunning live performances such as “Driftin'” attest to the strength and development of Eric’s acoustic playing. The acoustic set, like the orignal Unplugged broadcast, now serves as a platform for Eric to perform songs that influenced him like “When You’ve Got A Good Friend,” “Alabama Woman,” “Goodnight Irene” and “Man Of The World,” and to re-work songs from his back catalog such as “I’ve Got A Rock N Roll Heart,” “Wonderful Tonight” and “Lay Down Sally.” Lastly, Eric’s episode of Unplugged clearly demonstrated that a man armed only with an acoustic guitar can seriously rock out.
The Eric Clapton MTV Unplugged Band
Eric Clapton – guitar / vocals
Andy Fairweather Low – guitar
Nathan East – bass
Steve Ferrone – drums
Ray Cooper – percussion
Chuck Leavell – keyboards
Katie Kissoon – backing vocals
Tessa Niles – backing vocals
The Complete Performance Set List
01. Signe
02. Before You Accuse Me
03. Hey Hey
04. Tears In Heaven (not broadcast)
05. Circus Left Town
06. Lonely Stranger
07. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
08. Layla
09. Signe – Take 2 (not broadcast)
10. My Father’s Eyes (not broadcast)
11. Running On Faith
12. Walking Blues (not broadcast)
13. Alberta
14. San Francisco Bay Blues (not broadcast)
15. Malted Milk (not broadcast)
16. Signe – Take 3 (not broadcast)
17. Tears In Heaven – Take 2
18. My Father’s Eyes – Take 2 (not broadcast)
19. Rollin’ And Tumblin’
20. Running On Faith – Take 2 (not broadcast)
21. Walking Blues – Take 2
22. San Francisco Bay Blues – Take 2
23. Malted Milk – Take 2
24. Worried Life Blues (not broadcast)
25. Old Love
MTV Original Broadcast Version
Debuted 11 March 1992 in the US and 27 an 29 March in the UK
01. Before You Accuse Me
02. Lonely Stranger
03. Running On Faith
04. Nobody Knows You
05. Layla
06. Tears In Heaven
07. Circus Left Town
08. Alberta
09. Rolling And Tumbling
10. Old Love
MTV “Part 2” Broadcast
Debuted June 1992
01. Walking Blues
02. Hey Hey
03. Layla
04. Rollin’ And Tumblin’
05. Signe
06. Malted Milk
2013 Unplugged: Expanded & Remastered Track List
CD and DVD Disc One
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 Disc Three – Rehearsal
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
Little known fact: Lou Reed was scheduled to record a show for MTV at Bray Studios immediately after Eric’s taping, which had started at 6:15PM. The Clapton prizewinners were invited to remain for this second taping, but Lou Reed never showed up!