Eric Clapton Issues ‘Nothing But the Blues’ Soundtrack, Film

Eric Clapton’s Nothing But the Blues, a film – which aired once in the U.S. on PBS in 1995 – has been upgraded to 4K for its long-awaited official release. In addition to the film, Reprise Records has issued a new soundtrack with more than an hour of previously unreleased live performances recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 1994 during the legendary guitarist’s tour supporting From the Cradle, his Grammy®-winning, multi-platinum blues album. The film and soundtrack arrived on June 24, 2022, in a variety of formats. Watch several live clips below.

Written and produced by Scooter Weintraub and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the documentary includes an in-depth interview with Clapton conducted by Scorsese. Throughout the interview, Clapton discusses his love for the blues and the profound impact bluesmen like Muddy Waters and B.B. King had on his music. Many of those artists (Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Walker) appear in the film through vintage performances, interviews, and photographs.

At the heart of the film and audio formats are Clapton’s performances of blues standards and lesser-known blues songs. The CD features 17 songs; and the DVD and Blu-ray each contain 20 tracks. Two nights at the Fillmore (Nov. 8-9, 1994) were filmed and recorded and the highlights from the two shows were selected for this release. Clapton’s longtime co-producer, Simon Climie, has remixed the audio from those performances from the original multi-tracking recordings.

A Super Deluxe Edition includes with the documentary on Blu-ray, the soundtrack on both 2-LPs and CD, and a bonus CD with four extra tracks, and an exclusive hardcover book with memorabilia, including a numbered lithograph, 12×24 poster, Clapton guitar string set, custom guitar picks, and an exclusive bandana.

The collection features a previously unreleased video of Clapton’s searing, seven-minute performance of “Groaning the Blues.” The song was originally written by singer-bassist Willie Dixon, whose prolific songwriting helped define Chicago blues. Guitarist and fellow Chicagoan Otis Rush released the song in 1957 as a single on Cobra Records, the independent Chicago blues label. Clapton recorded this version in San Francisco at the Fillmore in November 1994.

Watch Clapton’s previously unreleased live performance of Freddie King’s “Have You Ever Loved A Woman”

More from the May 6 announcement: The previously unreleased live performances on Nothing But the Blues serve as a vital counterpart to From the Cradle, which was recorded in the studio. While several songs appear on both (“Motherless Child,” “Standing ’Round Crying,” and “I’m Tore Down”), the performances are entirely different.

The soundtrack also includes songs that did not appear on From the Cradle, including Jimmy Rogers’ “Blues All Day Long” and Robert Johnson’s “Malted Milk,” as well as the standards “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “Forty-Four.”

Initially released in 1994 by Warner Bros. Records, From the Cradle was certified triple-platinum in the U.S., where it topped the Billboard 200.

Watch the performance of “It Hurts Me Too”

Nothing But the Blues Track Listing

CD and 2-LP:
1. “Blues All Day Long”
2. “Standing ’Round Crying”
3. “Forty-Four”
4. “It Hurts Me Too”
5. “Early In The Morning”
6. “Five Long Years”
7. “Crossroads”
8. “Malted Milk”
9. “Motherless Child”
10. “How Long”
11. “Reconsider Baby”
12. “Sinners Prayer”
13. “Every Day I Have The Blues”
14. “Someday After A While (You’ll Be Sorry)”
15. “Have You Ever Loved A Woman”
16. “I’m Tore Down”
17. “Groaning Blues”
18. “County Jail Blues”* (exclusive to 2-LP vinyl)

DVD, Blu-Ray, Super Deluxe Edition*
1. “Blues All Day Long”
2. “Standin’ Round Crying”
3. “Forty-Four”
4. “It Hurts Me Too”
5. “Early In The Morning”
6. “Five Long Years”
7. “Crossroads”
8. “Malted Milk Blues”
9. “Motherless Child”
10. “How Long Blues”
11. “Reconsider Baby”
12. “Sinner’s Prayer”
13. “Every Day I Have The Blues”
14. “Crosscut Saw”
15. “Someday After A While”
16. “Have You Ever Loved A Woman”
17. “I’m Tore Down”
18. “Groaning The Blues”
19. “T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness”
20. “Driftin’” (Bonus Track)

*Super Deluxe Edition includes includes a bonus CD with four exclusive tracks – “Driftin’,” “County Jail Blues,” “Kid Man Blues,” and “It’s Too Bad.”

Watch the official unboxing video

Clapton is touring the U.S. and Europe. Tickets are available here and here.

[easy_sign_up title=”Sign up for the Best Classic Bands Newsletter”]