Eric Clapton 'Backless' Tour Nov/Dec 1978 w Muddy Waters

Still puzzling over the details of this magnificent tour. I'm pretty certain I saw seven of the ten gigs on this tour but I am only sure of five of the venues. I know we saw him at Victoria Hall, Hanley, Gala at West Brom, Gaumont Southampton and twice at the Hammersmith Odeon and I feel reasonably confident we saw them at Brighton Centre but if I saw seven then was the seventh City Hall Newcastle of the Manchester Apollo? Perhaps I'll never know. What I can say was that the sets and the gigs didn't vary that much - from an extremely high standard I might add. It was a real privilege to see Muddy Waters seven(?) times and Clapton was pretty much near his peak. There was blues a-plenty, 'Crossroads', 'Double Trouble', 'Worried Life Blues', 'Key to the Highway' and so on and long blues solos plus the now mandatory 'Layla', 'Cocaine' and so on. 'Tulsa Time' used to feature at this time and that was real buzz live as was 'Badge'. The Clapton band was: Eric Clapton - Guitar / Vocals George Terry - Guitar Dick Sims - Keyboards Carl Radle - Bass Jamie Oldaker - Drums They were all formidable musicians - loved the George Terry guitar period and Jamie Oldaker on drums was as good as it got on Clapton bands Muddy Waters was superb as well. He played all the famous stuff and his voice was as bluesy as it gets. I followed a Clapton tour in 1980 as well - good times to remember as we stay in Lockdown from the virus with not a gig in five months and we probably won't see one for at least another five.

Roy Harper 17/3/1974

I found out the date of the gig I saw in 1974 from an online complete list of Harper gigs. It was March 17th 1974 at Newcastle City Hall. This gig was notable for a weird reason - the morning of the gig I sat upright whilst still asleep and said 'Zieg Heil we're going to a rally'. I was woken up and asked what I was dreaming about but I had no recollection. Fast forward to the gig when about twenty minutes in Roy gazed at the audience and said ' This is just like being at Nuremberg'. Weird! As to the gig, I can't actually place specific songs or memories. So many Harper gigs over the years that they merge into each other. Safe to say that during this period you got to hear '12 Hours of Sunset', 'Highway Blues' , 'One Man rock and roll band' and 'Another day' for sure. By 1974 Harper had a tremendous catalogue of songs to pick from, his guitar playing always rhythmic and confident,and provided he could drag himself away from extended monologues every gig a joy.