Eric Clapton – Blues All Day Long (Tarantura TCDEC-44)

Blues All Day Long (Tarantura TCDEC-44)

Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyougijoh Daiichi-Taiikukan, Tokyo, Japan – October 5th, 1995

Disc 0 (72:41):  JR Shinjuku Station, JR Yoyogi Station, JR Harajuki Station, ticket bending machine at Harajuku station, ticket dealers, noodle stands, go to arena of Yoyogi Olympic pool, ticket and camera check, goods stands, go to the seat, begin seated, announcement, announcement for goods, announcements for tickets, announcements, announcements for goods, announcement for tickets, announcement,  announcements for goods, announcement for tickets, announcement,  buzzer – opening announcement, announcement before opening, turned off the lights, EC appears, Motherless Child 

Disc 1 (70:50):  buzzer – opening announcement, announcement before opening, turned off the lights, EC appears, Motherless Child, Malted Milk, From Four Till Late, How Long Blues, Kidman Blues, I’m Gonna Cut Your Head, Forty-Four Blues, Blues All Day Long, Standing Around Crying, Hoochie Coochie Man, It Hurts Me Too, Third Degree, Reconsider Baby, Sinner’s Prayer, Everyday I Have The Blues

Disc 2 (72:57):  Groanin’ The Blues, Before You Accuse Me, Someday After A While, I’m Tore Down, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Crossroads, Five Long Years, Ain’t Nobody’s Business, ending announcement, exit announcement, ticket info, opening rear exits of the arena, ticket info, leaving the seat, goods stands, exit for Harajuku station, ticket stand, goes for Harajuku station, Layla (Budokan, December 3rd, 2001 from the DAT master)

1995 would be the third and final year of Eric Clapton’s touring blues revue across the world.  Blues All Day Longon Tarantura with the October 5th show is the fourth of five nights at the Yoyogi Olympic Pool in Tokyo.  An older DAT recording was pressed on Just Blues Night: Live In Japan 1995 (ECJP9501/2 – 6) with additional material from the October 1st and October 6th shows and on the massive The Complete Japanese Tour 1995 – 10 Days (Hoochie Coochie Man – 6), a twenty disc set with the entire tour. 

Tarantura present a brand new excellent quality DAT recording made by Crypton, the same one responsible for the October 21st, 1993 and George Harrison and Eric Clapton on December 17th, 1991.  And like the previous releases the taper turns his machine on at the train station and keeps the tape rolling through his entire adventure including visits to the goods and noodle stands.  There is so much extra tape that Tarantura include a special bonus disc (numbered zero) to fit it all in.  

Again some collectors will mention this, but since it doesn’t add to the overall cost it is fine.  Granted it is something that will be listened to once if at all.   Tarantura do start the second disc at a natural starting point, with the buzzer and opening announcements right before here the house lights go down and Clapton walks on stage.

After listening to a Mozart symphony pumped over the venue’s PA, Clapton begins the set similar to the 1993 visit with several very old blues classics and precedes in roughly chronological order.  And unlike the previous visit to Japan, the setlist is comprised almost entirely of blues covers with only small sample of his well known songs.  “Motherless Child” is a cover of the Robert “Barbecue Bob” Hicks single recorded for Columbia in 1927. 

Clapton duplicates the flailing style of the old blues man as he sings the famous opening words of the piece:  “If I mistreat you gal, I sure don’t mean you no harm / I am a motherless child and I don’t know right from wrong.”  The band accompany his during this song.  Afterwards he says, “We’re gonna play a lot of songs tonight.  They’re all blues songs.  And we’ll start out with some old stuff and work our way up to the modern times.” 

The two Robert Johnson songs, “Malted Milk” (which actually opened the show two years before) and “From Four To Late” are both sung by Clapton accompanying himself on acoustic guitar alone. Leroy Carr’s “How Long Blues” and “Kidman Blues” by Memphis Minnie follow as it did in the older show. 

“I’m Gonna Cut Your Head” by Homer Harris is a new cover as well as “Blues All Day Long,” “Standing Around Crying,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “It Hurts Me Too,” and “Third Degree.”  The Clapton classics in the get, “Crossroads,” “Before You Accuse Me” and “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” all prominently feature the Kings Horns in interesting new arrangements.  The show ends with a ten minute workout on “Five Long Years” and the only encore is Bessie Smith’s “Ain’t Nobody’s Business.”

After the taper leaves the arena Tarantura include a bonus track, the final three and a half minutes of “Layla” from the December 3rd, 2001 Budokan from a DAT master tape.  Its inclusion probably serves as a sneak preview of their next Eric Clapton release from Crypton.  Like the 1995 tape, it is an excellent stereo recording with a wonderful performance. 

Blues All Day Longshares the same packaging as the other Tarantura Clapton releases of late.  The discs are stored in sleeves with fit into a deluxe box and poster of the front cover and like the others is an excellent addition to the Clapton collection.