Home Music Happy Birthday Eric Clapton: Career-Spanning Live Spotify Playlist

Happy Birthday Eric Clapton: Career-Spanning Live Spotify Playlist

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Today is legendary guitarist Eric Clapton’s 74th birthday. Since the early-1960s, Slowhand has shared the live stage with a vast array of some of the most talented musicians of his lifetime, thrilling audiences around the world for more than a half-century. This week’s edition of Saturday Stream presents a chronological, career-spanning Spotify Playlist of Clapton’s live recordings from the past several decades.

The set begins with The Yardbirds in concert performing “Smokestack Lightning” in 1963 and “I’m A Man” in 1964. Clapton’s 1960s live output continues with tracks by the supergroup Cream featuring drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce rounding out the power trio and the subsequent short-lived Blind Faith featuring Clapton, Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Gesch.

The playlist also includes one-offs with John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band, The Rolling Stones, Delaney & Bonnie, The Band, Otis Rush, Sheryl Crow, Babyface and others. A few tracks come from all-star concerts such as Clapton’s 1973 Rainbow Concert, Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary, Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame concerts and the Concert For George Harrison at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2002, that saw Clapton on stage with Harrison’s son Dhani, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and more.

There are many selections from throughout Clapton’s solo career, such as his work leading Derek & The Dominos, his famed MTV Unplugged appearance and collaborations with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, J.J. Cale and his former Yardbirds band mate Jeff Beck. Stream the live playlist on Spotify below: