Eric Clapton has released a new live album, recorded during lockdown, The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions. The collection of 17 songs include mostly acoustic renditions of such classics as “Layla” and “Bell Bottom Blues,” performed with his longtime bandmates Nathan East (bass and vocals), Steve Gadd (drums) and Chris Stainton (keyboards). The title arrived on November 12, 2021, via Mercury Studios on multiple formats. Watch the official trailer and their performance of several favorites, including “Black Magic Woman” and “After Midnight,” below.
The recording was overseen by Clapton’s longtime Grammy-winning producer Russ Titelman and was recorded live at Cowdray House in West Sussex, England. The performance features Clapton standards and an assortment of other numbers encompassing blues, country and rarified originals.
Watch them perform “After Midnight” from the sessions
The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions also offers versions of songs that had a profound effect on his career and those of his contemporaries including the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac tracks “Black Magic Woman” and “Man of the World.”
Watch the performance of “Black Magic Woman.” (“This one’s for Peter… “)
The project was initiated as the result of the postponement of Clapton’s concerts scheduled for May 2021 at London’s Royal Albert Hall due to the pandemic. He reconvened with his band to the English countryside and staged a concert in the presence of only the participants themselves while letting the cameras roll. The mostly acoustic set was envisioned to be like an Eric Clapton Unplugged II, but not quite, as three songs are played with electric guitars.
Watch the album trailer
The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions is available on
DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD, 4K UHD+Blu-ray, 2 LPs pressed on yellow vinyl, and a Deluxe Edition containing the DVD, Blu-ray & CD packaged in a 40 page 12” x 12” hardback photo book, digital video & digital audio.
The Lady in the Balcony: Lockdown Sessions Track Listing
1. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
2. Golden Ring
3. Black Magic Woman
4. Man of the World
5. Kerry
6. After Midnight
7. Bell Bottom Blues
8. Key to the Highway
9. River of Tears
10. Rock Me Baby
11. Believe in Life
12. Going Down Slow
13. Layla
14. Tears in Heaven
15. Long Distance Call
16. Bad Boy
17. Got My Mojo Working
Watch them perform “Golden Ring,” from Clapton’s 1978 album, Backless
Clapton has an extended tour planned for 2022. Tickets are available here and here.
Listen to several more tracks from the album below the links.
Related: Our recap of opening night of his 2021 U.S. tour
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1 Comment
Hasn’t he tortured and mauled poor “Layla” enough already? It’s not enough that he’s destroyed his own legacy, he’s bent on destroying the legacy of a classic song as well.