Unplugged (Eric Clapton album)

Unplugged
Live album by Eric Clapton
Released 25 August 1992
Recorded 16 January 1992
Studio Bray Film Studios, Windsor, England, UK
Genre Acoustic rock, acoustic blues
Length 61:47
Label Reprise, Duck, MTV
Producer Russ Titelman
Eric Clapton chronology
Rush
(1991)Rush1991		 Unplugged
(1992)		 Derek and the Dominos Live at the Fillmore
(1994)Derek and the Dominos Live at the Fillmore1994

Unplugged is a 1992 album by Eric Clapton, recorded at Bray Studios, England in front of an audience for the MTV Unplugged.[1] It includes a version of the successful 1991 single "Tears in Heaven" and an acoustic version of "Layla". It won two Grammy awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and became the bestselling live album of all time and Clapton's bestselling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.[2][3]

Recording

Clapton performed the show in front of a small audience on 16 January 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England.[4] In addition to the final album tracks, the performance included early versions of "My Father's Eyes" and "Circus Left Town" along with "Worried Life Blues" and a version of "Rollin' and Tumblin'".[5] Shortly after telling the studio audience "that's it," Clapton said they needed to do "two – no, three - no, five" songs over again, adding "if you don't mind, I don't mind." After the second take of "My Father's Eyes" there was a brief break and cameras were off. Clapton broke into an impromptu "Rollin' and Tumblin'", which he had last performed with Cream. The seasoned musicians quickly picked up on it and the crowd clapped along. The director signaled the crew to record, which is why there is such an abrupt start to the song mid-verse. Clapton was so pleased with it that when the song ended, he asked the director, "did you get that?"[6]

Clapton played Martin 000-42 acoustic guitars for much of the performance, and in 2004, one of the guitars sold for $791,500 (£434,400) in auction.[1][7]

Critical reception

The album was released on 25 August 1992 to some of the best reviews of his career. The album renewed the public's interest in Clapton, and boosted his popularity.[6] Critical reception has been mixed though muted; in general, reviewers report that the album, if unremarkable, is "relaxed" and "pleasant". Stephen Thomas Erlewine for AllMusic feels that people have misrepresented and mythologised the album; that though it came after Paul McCartney's MTV Unplugged album, Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) (1991), people often mistake it for "the first-ever MTV album", that they often feel that "it alone was responsible for revitalizing Clapton's career", and that "Tears in Heaven" was first recorded here. Erlewine feels that the songs are "lively and relaxed", that Clapton turns "Layla" from an "anguished howl of pain into a cozy shuffle and the whole album proceeds at a similar amiable gait" while "Clapton is embracing his middle age".[8] Robert Christgau was sharper in his comments, feeling that in an effort to be inoffensive "Clapton-the-electric-guitarist" has been relegated "to the mists of memory", and that "Layla" was turned into a "whispery greeting card".[9]

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune calls the release a "blues album for yuppies" and rates it with 2.5 of 4 stars, saying it is between fair and good.[10] Entertainment Weekly journalist Steve Simels scores the album an A- calling the album "a charmer, a collection of blues standards and recent Clapton songs rendered with just the right combination of intensity (a deeply felt version of "Tears in Heaven") and giddy fun (Clapton actually plays kazoo on "San Francisco Bay Blues")".[11] Steve Hochman in the Los Angeles Times felt that "Tears in Heaven" was "maudlin but moving", "Layla" was "low-key but seductive", but the blues numbers performed in an intimate setting makes the album "Clapton's most passionate collection in years".[12] Commenting on the popularity of the album in his 2007 autobiography, Clapton wishes the reader to understand the great emotional toll he experienced around that time, and suggests that they visit the grave of his son Conor in Ripley to do so.[13]

Accolades

Clapton was nominated for nine Grammy Awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and won six, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance - Male, Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male, and Best Rock Song.[2][14] Although "Tears in Heaven" also earned three Grammy Awards, it was the version from Rush that the judges awarded.[14]

YearOrganisationAwardWorkResultRef.
1992Guitar WorldBest guitar-albums of 1992Unplugged#9[15]
MusikexpressBest albums of 1992#8[16]
1993NARASGrammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal PerformanceWon[17]
Grammy Award for Album of the Year[18]
Grammy Award for Best Rock SongLayla[19]
NCTACableACE AwardUnpluggedNominated[20]
2000QBest British albums#71[21]
2005MusikexpressBest albums of the 1990s#32[22]

Personnel

Commercial performance

In Germany the album peaked at #3 in the German Albums Chart and sold a total of 1.25 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling albums in Germany. In Austria, Unplugged held itself 46 weeks in the Austrian Albums Chart and sold more than 100,000 copies in total. In Switzerland the album also reached #3 in the country's chart. Selling 60,000 copies in the first two weeks, the live album was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry – a record for any British artist.[23] In the U.S. the album peaked at number one.

Re-release

On 15 October 2013 the album and concert DVD were re-released, titled Unplugged: Expanded & Remastered. The album includes the original 14 tracks, remastered, as well as six additional tracks, including two versions of "My Father's Eyes". The DVD includes a restored version of the concert, as well as over 60 minutes of unseen footage from the rehearsal.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Signe"Eric Clapton3:13
2."Before You Accuse Me"Bo Diddley3:44
3."Hey Hey"Big Bill Broonzy3:16
4."Tears in Heaven"Clapton, Will Jennings4:36
5."Lonely Stranger"Clapton5:27
6."Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"Jimmy Cox3:49
7."Layla"Clapton, Jim Gordon4:46
8."Running on Faith"Jerry Lynn Williams6:30
9."Walkin' Blues"Son House3:37
10."Alberta"Traditional, arr. by Huddie William Ledbetter3:42
11."San Francisco Bay Blues"Jesse Fuller3:24
12."Malted Milk"Robert Johnson3:36
13."Old Love"Clapton, Robert Cray7:54
14."Rollin' and Tumblin'"Muddy Waters4:11
Total length:61:47

Single releases

The acoustic rework of "Layla" was released as the single "Layla (Acoustic)", sometimes titled as "Layla (Unplugged)" in September 1992.[24] The release reached top positions in both 1992 and 1993, reaching No .1 in the RPM Canadian Top Singles chart[25] as well as peaking at No. 4 in the Canadian Adult Contemporary Tracks the same year.[26] It also became popular in the US reaching No. 4[27] on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, peaking at No. 9 in the Mainstream Rock chart[28] and reaching place 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.[29] It also reached the top ten five of other countries.

Clapton's acoustic version of "Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out" was released as a single in Argentina only on 27 September 1992. Journalist Morten Holgersson from Norway liked the cover version noting that Clapton recorded the song more sinfully and in a more modern style than any other artist before. This, recalls Holgersson, is due to the changing of Clapton's finger picking and guitar playing with a pick. He therefore ended his review saying this was "tactful and percussive".[30] American music critic Will Branson also liked Ray Cooper's and Chuck Leavell's work on their instruments.[31]

"Running on Faith" was not released as a single, but reached No. 15 on the Billboard Mainstream rock chart in 1993 as well as No. 28 on the Adult Contemporary chart which are based on radio airplay.[32] "Tears in Heaven" was not released as a single from Unplugged but from the soundtrack for the film Rush.

Chart positions

Certifications

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Clapton's guitar smashes record BBC News Retrieved 28 January 2011
  2. 1 2 "35th Annual GRAMMY Awards". grammy.com. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 Steffen, Chris (January 23, 2015). "Bassist Nathan East on Eric Clapton and "Change the World", Plus, Watch His Documentary". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ "UNPLUGGED DELUXE". whereseric.com. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. ↑ Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography (autobiography)|format= requires |url= (help). Crown Archetype. p. 254. ISBN 1-61688-076-7.
  6. 1 2 "It Was 20 Years Ago Today: MTV Unplugged With Eric Clapton". January 16, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  7. ↑ Fretbase: Eric Clapton Unplugged – His Guitars and Gear
  8. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Unplugged at AllMusic
  9. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Reviews: Eric Clapton". Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  10. ↑ Kot, Greg (21 February 1993). "It's A Roller-coaster Career From Blues To Pop And Back". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  11. ↑ Simels, Steve (28 August 1992). "Unplugged Review". ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  12. ↑ Hochman, Steve (27 September 1992). "In Brief". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  13. ↑ Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography (autobiography)|format= requires |url= (help). Crown Archetype. ISBN 1-61688-076-7.
  14. 1 2 Billboard 6 Mar 1993 Billboard Retrieved 28 January 2011
  15. ↑ "The Top 10 Guitar Albums of 1992". Guitar World. Tony Grassi. 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  16. ↑ "Die besten Alben und Songs des Jahres 1992". Musikexpress. 1992. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  17. ↑ "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  18. ↑ "Grammy Awards: Album of the Year". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  19. ↑ "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Song". Roch on the Net. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  20. ↑ Awards for Eric Clapton on IMDb
  21. ↑ "Q - the 100 greatest British albums (june 2000)". www.muzieklijstjes.nl. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  22. ↑ "Die besten Alben der 90er (2005)". Musikexpress. 1992. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  23. ↑ See BPI Gold/Platinum.
  24. ↑ "Eric Clapton – Layla (Live Acoustic)". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
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  31. ↑ Branson, Will (1992). Clapton rocks the Charts. The Rarest Copy. p. 7.
  32. ↑ "MTV Unplugged – Eric Clapton – Awards – AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  33. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  34. ↑ "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora.nla.gov.au (570): 28. 29 January 2001. Archived from the original on 21 February 2002. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  36. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Eric Clapton – Unplugged" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  37. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Eric Clapton – Unplugged" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  38. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums (CD's & Cassettes)". RPM Magazine. Vol. 56 no. 18. Library and Archives Canada. 31 October 1992. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  39. ↑ "Hits of the World > Canada". Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 104 (48): 61. 28 November 1992. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  44. 1 2 "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music and Media. BPI Communications: 22. 14 November 1992. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
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  47. ↑ "Kereső - előadó/cím szerint - Archívum - Hivatalos magyar slágerlisták". Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége (in Hungarian). Slagerlistak.hu. Type "Clapton" in the field "Előadó/cím", select "előadó", press "Keresés" and look for "DVD TOP 20 lista". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  50. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  55. ↑ "Eric Clapton Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  56. ↑ "Eric Clapton Chart History (Top Catalog Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  68. ↑ "Bestenlisten – 90-er album" (ASP) (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  69. ↑ Geoff Mayfield (25 December 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade – The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  70. ↑ "Argentinian album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  71. ↑ "Argentinian album certifications – Eric Clapton – Desconectado". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  72. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  73. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 12 February 2016. Enter Eric Clapton in the field Interpret. Enter Unplugged in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen. 
  74. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2007". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  75. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  76. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". Music Canada. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  77. ↑ "Danish album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 12 February 2016. Click on næste to go to page if certification is from the official website.
  78. 1 2 "Eric Clapton" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  83. ↑ "Polish album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  84. ↑ Cumulative sales:
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
    • "Gaon International Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
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  87. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Eric Clapton; 'Unplugged')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  88. ↑ "British album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 February 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Unplugged in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  89. ↑ "American album certifications – Eric Clapton – Unplugged". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 12 February 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  90. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music and Media. BPI Communications: 22. 1993-10-23. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  91. ↑ "Brazilian video certifications – Eric Clapton" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  92. ↑ "Danish video certifications – Eric Clapton". IFPI Denmark. Click on næste to go to page if certification is from the official website.
  93. ↑ "French video certifications – Eric Clapton" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  94. ↑ "British video certifications – Unplugged". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 24 September 2015. Select videos in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Unplugged in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  95. ↑ "American video certifications – Unplugged". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 24 September 2015. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Video Longform, then click SEARCH. 
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