Eric Clapton's first live album since 1992's zeitgeist-capturing Unplugged, is, as one would expect, full of well-tailored highlights from his back-catalog of bristly, well-kept blues. Recorded in Los Angeles and Tokyo dur... more »ing his 2001 world tour (the accompanying DVD is taken exclusively from the Los Angeles show), and featuring backing from the likes of Andy Fairweather-Low and Billy Preston, it's an album that serves to satisfy both Clapton purists (there's a four-song sequence of tracks from Pilgrim, shorn of their original anodyne synthesizer embellishments) and adult pop fans who prefer their blues from the decanter rather than the bottle ("Tears in Heaven," a sublime "Bell Bottom Blues," a rather poised, applause-riddled "Layla"). One More Car is an engaging live document that finds EC far from asleep at the wheel. --Kevin Maidment« less
Eric Clapton's first live album since 1992's zeitgeist-capturing Unplugged, is, as one would expect, full of well-tailored highlights from his back-catalog of bristly, well-kept blues. Recorded in Los Angeles and Tokyo during his 2001 world tour (the accompanying DVD is taken exclusively from the Los Angeles show), and featuring backing from the likes of Andy Fairweather-Low and Billy Preston, it's an album that serves to satisfy both Clapton purists (there's a four-song sequence of tracks from Pilgrim, shorn of their original anodyne synthesizer embellishments) and adult pop fans who prefer their blues from the decanter rather than the bottle ("Tears in Heaven," a sublime "Bell Bottom Blues," a rather poised, applause-riddled "Layla"). One More Car is an engaging live document that finds EC far from asleep at the wheel. --Kevin Maidment
CD Reviews
A great deal, and a great deal more
Gordon Pfannenstiel | Russell, KS United States | 11/29/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Most of my favorite music artists are pushing retirement age, and furthermore, are looking it. It makes me feel a bit old, it's true, but it's great that these folks are still out there, giving us some wonderful music. The advent of the DVD has made some really nice things possible. Those of us who unfortunately did not see Mr. Clapton on his last tour have the unprecedented opportunity to have both an audio and video record of the show, in one compact, tidy package. What a nice gift from Clapton to his fans, and what a great price. If you are considering purchasing this new live album, you should definitely buy this package, as for just a few more dollars, you get all the tracks from the audio package, PLUS Billy Preston's Will It Go Round in Circles on a very well-filmed and recorded DVD.Just a few observations: The band is great; they're all consumate pros, and certainly do not disappoint. Guitarist Andy Fairweather/Low, keyboardist Greg Phillingames and and bassist Nathan East have been with Clapton a long time, while reletive newcomers (to Clapton's band) Billy Preston, David Sancious and Steve Gadd certainly need no introduction. These guys are the Cream (pardon me) of session men, and provide Clapton a wonderful bed over which to lay his distictive guitar and vocals. Clapton's dressed like your dad in his his Miami Beach best, and the band follows suit. These guys may dress like old men, but they play like angels.There are really no surprises or revelations. Clapton rarely even speaks, preferring, I guess, to let his music do the speaking. And it certainly does. All the songs, but particularly the selections from Pilgrim, convey a warm, intimate feel. The songs all sound well lived-in, and wash over you like a clear mountain stream. The sound is very good, but sometimes the detail on the keyboards and 2nd guitar are lost. That said, the sound is warm and inviting, making you truly feel like you are sitting in the audience.This man clearly has nothing to prove. This is about the music, plain and simple. One can't help notice that Clapton seems a bit detached. He rarely smiles, rarely looks at the audience, and rarely speaks. But I guess he doesn't need to."
Eric Clapton's Finest Live Moment.
Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 07/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Without a doubt, Eric Clapton is one of the world's greatest and respected guitarists as well as being an extraordinary vocalist. With his latest live release, "One More Car, One More Rider", Clapton and his band of well-known accomplished musicians take the listener on a wonderful journey through his amazing 40 year career.
Besides his solo classics such as "Cocaine" "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight", Eric goes back even further with outstanding renditions of the Cream classics "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Badge" as well as a remarkable nine-minute take on the Clapton standard "Layla" from Derek and The Dominos.
Of course, no Clapton set would be complete without a little bit of blues. Here, Eric tackles a solo acoustic rendition of "Keys To The Highway" and later on when fully plugged-in, he tears into smoking takes of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Have You Ever Loved A Woman?" showcasing some brilliant and flawless lead guitar and gritty vocals.
To make this live set complete, Clapton also performs some of his most recent hits including the Grammy award winning "Tears In Heaven" as well as "Change The World" and "River Of Tears".
A slight departure from the norm is the beautiful instrumental title track to Clapton's "Reptile" album and his cheerful uplifting version of the standard "Over The Rainbow" from the 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz".
Overall, this is the most solid live album ever to be released by Eric Clapton during his long career. It seems as if many of today's aging musicians get better as they get older. Eric Clapton is no exception. In my opinion, he sounds better now at 57 than he did at 27 or 37.
This live CD set also comes with a DVD which includes all of the music heard on the CDs plus a great performance of Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round In Circles?" in which Mr. Preston himself steps up to the microphone and gets the crowd going. He also displays some fancy footwork as well.
What else can I say? "One More Car, One More Rider" shows that Eric Clapton has definitely not run out of gasoline. He and his wonderful band of seasoned pros (Nathan East, Andy Fairweather-Low, Steve Gadd, David Sancious, Billy Preston and Greg Phillinganes-who appears on the CDs but not the DVD) display an acceptional talent. This is one that you'll definitely not want to miss. Great performance. Great musicianship. Great songs."
Will It Go Round In Circles? Yes!
Exguyparis | Lansdowne, PA USA | 12/27/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a fan of Eric Clapton for ages. The fist time I saw him perform was with Cream at the Camden County Music Fair (I snuck under the tent, and I was in awe). The last time was in Paris, and it was an "all blues" show- too much of a good thing, for me. This CD/DVD set offers a wonderful career retrospective. The band is awesome-lots of superstars here. Nathan East, on guitar, has recorded, performed and co-written songs with artists like Quincy Jones, Anita Baker, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Babyface, Al Jarreau, and David Benoit. Nathan East co-wrote " Easy Lover" with Phil Collins & Philip Bailey.The DVD contains a track not listed here- Billy Preston's 1973 # 1 hit, "Will It Go `Round In Circles." What a pleasant surprise! It is an awesome version of the song, and Billy plays the organ, sings, and dances with great style (he is 55, but you'd never guess it from the way he moves!). Billy Preston has performed with the Beatles; he was on George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" album; he co-wrote Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful." His keyboard work on in this CD/DVD is superb."Layla" is performed in its original version, not the mellow, funked-up version of recent years- another pleasant surprise.Buy this CD/DVD to appreciate outstanding musicians; they look like they are having a blast, and the music is superb."
Clapton is still god
Dan Schumaker | Byron Center, MI USA | 11/06/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD and DVD is just amazing. After listining to it for the first time and watching the DVD over and over and over again, the only thing that can come to mind is that this is amazing. The first disk of the CD is mainly Clapton doing some acoustic work. Key to the Highway is great with just Clapton and his Martin. The versions of Tears in Heaven and Bell Bottom Blues are great as well. After some of the acoustic work, he gets to the meat and potatoes of what makes Clapton great. Badge and I want a little girl are just amazing. And then there is Layla. It is an awesome song, and it is even better live. And to top it off there is Sunshine of your love and a suprisingly good rendition of somewhere over the rainbow. All in all, this is a very good disk. I personally liked this better than Unplugged and 24 Nights. If you are a Clapton fan, pick it up. If you aren't, pick it up anyway because this is a good place to start to learn about the greatest guitar player of our time."
Get it!
jj | CA USA | 04/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you even like one Clapton song, get this DVD. The CD is great too, but the DVD is fantastic. If you have ever picked up a guitar and found out what it is to play even the simple cords, this DVD will blow your mind. Clapton, must have a gift direct from God to be able to make the sounds he does with the guitar.But wait, that isn't all Nathan East, Billy Preston and Dave Sancious are all out there, every one of the musicians are front cabin and will thrill you. Billy Preston was "Seargeant Pepper" with the Beatles and he does a fantastic version of "Will it Go Round in Circles" and it does.You will love it."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1