Eric Clapton
"Slowhand in the Garden"
Madison Square Garden
New York, New York, USA
April 27, 1987

3Br Records - nun - sb6

Disc 1:
1) Crossroads
2) White Room
3) I Shot the Sheriff
4) Hung Up On Your Love
5) Wonderful Tonight
6) Miss You
7) Same Old Blues

Disc 2:
1) Tearing Us Apart
2) Holy Mother
3) Badge
4) Let it Rain
5) Cocaine
6) Layla
7) Further On Up the Road (*)
8) Sunshine Of Your Love

Band Lineup:
Eric Clapton Guitar, Vocals
Nathan East Bass
Greg Phillinganes Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Phil Collins Drums

* Robert Cray (Guitar, Vocals) on "Further on up the road"

LINEAGE: Original 3BR (Directly from Igor and the Professor) > LiteOn iHAP322 (UL18 Firmware) > EAC v. 0.99 Prebeta 4 (Secure Mode, Calibrated Offset +6, 0) > FLAC (Level 6) > You !!!

Geetarz Comments:

Here's a personal favorite, featuring the band many of us refer to as "The Dream Team".

Oh, did I mention ... it's a killer close-miked extra-crispy soundboard as well? You know that restaurant down south, with that double battered fried chicken? Well this is crispier than that - "finger lickin' good" as they say!

Not only is this a great, hot performance, but probably the best show in one of EC's best years - one that featured quality over quantity. 

This show is also special to me ... back in the day, like everyone else I was a CD collector / tape trader. I had given thought to acquiring one of those newfangled "CD burner" things, but had some reservations - were they as good as they claimed? My friend Niels in Denmark rode to my rescue ... I had been looking to buy a copy of the Imperial release "MSG" with no luck, and Niels said "give me your address, I'll send you a copy". A few days later, there it was in my mailbox. I walked up the drive to the house, put the CD on, and the opening seconds made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! When the full band kicked in, I turned off the CD, picked up the phone and ordered my first CD burner (a $1700 HHb CDR-800, which I still have - lovely machine). 

There are a bunch of different releases of this show, a few years after that Igor at 3BR was kind enough to send me this one for review. What can I say, as usual Igor and The Professor do great work. Check the samples and make your own decisions, and as always I'm interested to hear which versions fans prefer.

Even if you already have a copy of this title, this may be a nice upgrade for you, direct from the masters with known lineage.

Also, the original scans I did "back in the day" weren't very good (because my scanner, wasn't very good) so for this torrent I have included new scans at 300 DPI.

Of course, EAC logs and checksums included. Funny how some people complain bitterly at any suggestion of calibrating offsets in EAC or running it in "secure" mode - when they could set it up properly in the time it takes to complain!

There's been a lot of discussion lately about what is "essential" Clapton, and I'm really glad this has come up. It's so easy for those of us who are familiar with an artist to lose track of what's essential, and accessible to everyone, not just diehard fans. This is definitely one that you can give to a friend who may not be a huge music fan and say "play this ... it'll blow you away!".

This is a great one ... and remember, kids ... PLAY IT LOUD!

~Geetarz, August 2009