Crossroads: Eric Clapton Guitar Festival 2007
This video starts with Bill Murray playing ‘Gloria’ on guitar, which was not quite as bad as his singing on another movie soundtrack. Murray is the MC and while playing his guitar he is ‘rescued’ by Eric Clapton. This is interesting in itself as the Crossroads Guitar Festival is a fundraiser for Clapton’s Crossroads Centre rehab facility in Antigua, which is essentially about rescuing people.
Held in Chicago last July, this event showcases several of the guitarists who featured at the inaugural festival held in Dallas (2004). They were Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, John Mayer, Vince Gill, John McLaughlin, and Robert Randolph.
While most the festival was blues, blues-rock or country, Jeff Beck takes you to another zone with the sounds he creates and no one else comes close. His band features Australian bassist Tal Wilkenfeld who at the age of 22 clearly captures the moment with an extensive solo.
Hubert Sumlin (ex-Howling Wolf guitarist) also makes an appearance and shows why many call him the ‘guitarist’s guitarist”. Los Lobos does a great set and Johnny Winter shows you how to make a Gibson growl!
Steve Winwood plays a great selection, particularly the Blind Faith material which he plays with Clapton.
Eric Clapton plays a ‘Derek & the Dominos’ set with Derek Trucks filling the Duane Allman role spectacularly, which isn’t surprising given he has been playing in the ‘Allman Brothers’ band for the last ten years!
The video also features: Willie Nelson, Susan Tedeschi, Albert Lee, Vince Gill, Robbie Robertson, Jimmie Vaughan and more.
Buddy Guy closes the event with his usual intensity and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was his show.
The Jeff Beck performance makes this video a worthwhile purchase as there is not much footage of him playing available. Overall, there is roughly four hours of music on the two discs, making `Crossroads’ required viewing for all fans of blues-based rock and roll.
PS for trivia buffs: Bill Murray sang ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ in the 1980 film ‘Where the Buffalo Roam’. The high cost of music licensing has seen DVD release replace most of the original music with generic approximations. I have the 1980 soundtrack album on vinyl and it has not been released on CD.
