Jan 13, 1973: The Eric Clapton ‘Rainbow Concert’
by Best Classic Bands Contributors
Clapton flanked by Wood and Townshend
Pete Townshend was worried about his pal Eric Clapton. The latter had more or less holed himself up in his Surrey home in the English countryside following the break-up of Derek & The Dominos and the deaths of Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix. He was indulging his heroin habit and wallowing in his unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his dear friend George Harrison, and for whom he’d written the impassioned love song “Layla.”
The only time Clapton had recently played in public was at Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971; he’d passed out on stage and had to be revived.
But Townshend figured that the best tonic for Clapton would be to get him out and playing some music with his mates. He arranged to book the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park in North London on this day. (It was actually the Rainbow Concerts, plural, as there was an early and late show.)
A ticket stub from the evening performance (Photo: Robert Keren personal archives; used with permission)
The Who leader pulled together a core band of classic rock stars: Ron Wood on guitars, Steve Winwood on keyboards, Blind Faith bassist Ric Grech and Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi, Jimmy Karstein on drums and Rebop on percussion.
The music on the shows wasn’t all that exciting. When six songs including “Badge” and “Little Wing” came out as Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert on RSO Records the following September, Rolling Stone reviewer Bud Scoppa described the package as “monolithic melancholy” and “not fun.”
The album was reissued in 1995 on Polydor with 14 songs including eight previously unreleased tracks including “Crossroads,” “Blues Power,” “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Layla.”
Related: Our Album Rewind of Clapton’s lifesaving Rainbow Concert
Nonetheless, Townshend’s tactic did the trick. By the next year Clapton had kicked his heroin habit. He put together a touring band that went into Criteria Studios in Miami and recorded the album 461 Ocean Boulevard that focused on more compact songs and fewer guitar solos; the cover version of “I Shot the Sheriff” was Clapton’s first #1 hit and was important in bringing reggae and the music of Bob Marley to a wider audience.
Related: 10 great Clapton collaborations
Tickets for Clapton’s concerts are available here and here. His extensive recording catalog is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
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5 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationUsed to have this LP. A terrible show, and was disappointed with such great musicians. This was Clapton at his worst. Having seen Eric a couple of times live, he just was not that exciting. Seen Beck, Page, Gilmour etc…, Clapton isn’t in the same league. At least not from I’ve seen.
I have not seen GIlmour, Beck, god rest his soul, or Page live and in person. But I have live videos from YouTube and other Sources to enable a comparision. The Rainbow show was a successful attempt at getting Eric back on his feet and off drugs. If you don’t think he can plan, listen to Queen of Spades at the Dallas Crossroads Festival accompanied by Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall then followed by Clapton is awesome. There are literally 200 or more great guitarists. Jeff Healey may be the best of them all. but no one knows that.
This was a pure money grab by RSO. A bad sound recording and a not up to par Eric. But at least it started the comeback the following year.
There are good recordings of both shows to be found
Still waiting all the material of both concerts to be released. No matter how many mistakes there are. We may never see that day, but i’m hoping and waiting!