Watch Eric Clapton Play Soulful ‘Wonderful Tonight’ From New Live Album
Eric Clapton leads an all-star live band through the soulful “Wonderful Tonight” in a teaser promo for his recently released concert album, Live in San Diego With Special Guest J.J. Cale. The exclusive performance of the 1977 hit finds Clapton cranking out bluesy guitar fills and crooning the song’s romantic lyrics, supported by perky organ and backing vocals.
Live in San Diego is available now as a two-CD and digital album. A three-LP vinyl set will be released on November 18th.
The album documents Clapton’s March 15th, 2007, performance at San Diego’s iPayOne Center. The two-hour set features guitarists Derek Trucks (Tedeschi Trucks Band, formerly Allman Brothers Band) and Doyle Bramhall II; Clapton’s blues-guitar idol J.J. Cale appears on five tracks, including his own classics “After Midnight” and “Cocaine,” which Clapton helped popularize with cover versions. Guitarist Robert Cray joins for the final track, “Crossroads.”
Clapton recently reunited with producer Glyn Johns – who helmed 1977’s platinum-selling Slowhand – for his 23rd solo LP, I Still Do. The album, released in May, features a mixture of originals, traditional tunes and cover versions of tracks by Cale, Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan, among others.
The guitarist told Rolling Stone that, barring health complications, he hopes to tour soon. “I’ve had some health issues with my back and a neurological thing that is tricky, that affects my hands,” he said. “If there’s no serious fallout, I’ll start looking to do some work. If there is, I’ll have to figure out what to do next – maybe take it easy for a while.”
Watch Eric Clapton talk making of ‘Slow Hand,’ and more in our Q+A.