''Slowhand at 70 – Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' is a November 2015 album by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

recorded live at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

on 21 May 2015 during his "70th Birthday Celebration" tour. A film of the concert was released on 14 September 2015 via cinema broadcasting in various territories. The cinema release included a report on Clapton's history at the Royal Albert Hall. A

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

and

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

release of the performance was released on 13 November 2015.

Recording

Keyboardist

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

recalled in an interview with the Canadian ''National Post'': "I thought the playing was amazing. Eric doesn't make much fuss about the fact that it's the 70th so in that respect it was just like any other gig but there was a special atmosphere in the hall. When we came off stage the first night Eric said he wasn't gonna let it go on. I think the second night must have been a lot better. ..With Eric, playing at the Albert Hall … it's really just about the music. It feels like you're playing in a small club, almost. Especially when you’ve been out playing those big auditoriums, which aren't built for music. But the Albert Hall has this wonderful, intimate atmosphere".

Content

According to the official release announcement, the movie features "classic songs and fan favourites from throughout

's career", including tracks the British rock musician recorded with bands like

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, Derek & the Dominos and titles Clapton made famous throughout his extensive career as a solo artist. The track listing features hit single releases including "

Layla "Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compose ...

", " I Shot the Sheriff", "

Tears in Heaven "Tears in Heaven" is a song by English guitarist, singer, and songwriter Eric Clapton and Will Jennings, written about the death of Clapton's four-year-old son, Conor. It appeared on the 1991 ''Rush'' film soundtrack. In January 1992, Clapton ...

" and "

Wonderful Tonight "Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album ''Slowhand''. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd. "the hard-rock pioneer and guitar god also become a soft-rock star in the mid-1970s. He cel ...

". A special

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

filmed for cinema audiences only consists of interviews by Paul Gambaccini with both fellow band members

, Andy Fairweather Low and

Chris Stainton Christopher Robert "Chris" Stainton (born 22 March 1944) is an English session musician, keyboard player, bassist and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s. In addition to his collaboration with Cocker, Stai ...

, as well as music journalists Paul Sexton and Hugh Fielder. Besides showing Clapton, who plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

sings Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

at the performance, the six-piece band of Stainton and Carrack on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Steve Gadd on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, and Michelle John and Sharon White singing background vocals is shown equally alongside scenes of the English venue.

Release

Both a trailer and an official announcement were released by Clapton's official management and concert promoters on 19 August 2015 over the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. The movie, featuring a selected number of songs performed by Clapton at London's Royal Albert Hall on 21 May 2015 during his "70th Birthday Celebration" tour, was released from 14 September 2015 onwards via cinema broadcasting worldwide under license of Arts Alliance,

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and Eagle Rock Entertainment. On 1 September 2015 a sneak preview featuring Clapton's live performance of "

Cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

" was released. The release features a high-definition picture and

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

. On 31 August 2015 it was announced that a DVD, Blu-ray, compact disc and gramophone record version of the recordings would be released on 13 November 2015 through Eagle Rock Entertainment. A DVD and three vinyl record package was made available through

pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...

via

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

on 16 September 2015. Just before the release was made visible on Amazon.com, an executive of Germany's Warner Music Group told the German radio station ''Radio NRW'' that there would be limited gramophone record pressings of the recordings made for the market. On 13 November 2015, the following packages were released: Double DVD with double CD, gramophone record, double CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc and a triple vinyl release with included DVD.

Track listings

Personnel

Taken from the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. *

– electric and acoustic guitar · lead vocals *

– keyboards *

– keyboards · Hammond organ · background vocals * Andy Fairweather Low - guitar · vocals - ''High Time We Went'' *

– bass guitar · background vocals * Steve Gadd – drums * Michelle John – background vocals *Sharon White – background vocals * Paul Gambaccini – interviews *

Blue Leach Blue Leach is a video director. He is the winner of the 2009 TPI Video Director of the Year Award. He has recently directed shows for the Taking Back the Cities Tour for Snow Patrol. Other recent projects include R.E.M., directing the live album ...

– director *

Simon Climie Simon Climie (born 7 April 1957) is an English songwriter/producer and the former lead singer of the UK duo Climie Fisher. Biography Climie was born in London. Beginning his career primarily as a songwriter/session musician, Climie found him ...

– audio mixing · audio production *Alan Douglas – engineer · additional engineering *Audrey Davenport – producer *Luca Ciuti – director of photography *Bob Ludwig – audio mastering *George Chin – photographs *Stuart Green – package design *Martin Dacre – legal issues *Michael Eaton – executive producer *Martin Dacre – executive producer *Peter Worsley – supervising producer *Simon Hosken – executive production *Melissa Morton-Hicks – production manager *Rebecca Bradshaw – legal issues *Charlotte Godfrey – legal issues *Paul Bullock – production assistant *Mark Fossitt – production co-ordinator *Claire Higgins – production co-ordinator *Rosie Holley – production manager *Terry Shand – executive producers *Geoff Kempin – executive producer

Critical reception

Music journalist Or Barnea of ''Utab Music'' calls the concert documentary "fantastic" and notes, Clapton and his band perform on stage "like never seen before".

Charts

Video certifications

References

External links

* *
"Official Announcement"
royalalberthall.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slowhand at 70 2015 films 2015 live albums 2015 video albums British documentary films Concert films Eric Clapton video albums Eagle Rock Entertainment live albums Eagle Rock Entertainment video albums Universal Music Group live albums Universal Music Group video albums Warner Records live albums Warner Records video albums 2010s British films