Sometime in late 1967, when the Beatles' George Harrison invited Cream's Eric Clapton to play guitar on a tune—a psychedelic instrumental rocker that would wind up on Harrison's ...
Sometime in late 1967, when the Beatles' George Harrison invited Cream's Eric Clapton to play guitar on a tune—a psychedelic instrumental rocker that would wind up on Harrison's Wonderwall Music album—a great classic-rock tradition was born.
For the next five decades—or at least through 2013—Clapton and his guitar would wind up in recording studios with the Beatles. And, of course, by "the Beatles," we mean the actual band and/or any of its four members.
As we've noted before, Clapton is the only guitarist—ever—to play on a Beatles song and on official studio recordings by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Last year, we spotlighted 11 studio tracks [1]recorded between 1967 and 1970 that pair Clapton with at least one Beatle—and occasionally three or more Beatles ("Sour Milk Sea" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"). That era was, in fact, the golden era of Clapton/Beatles collaborations.
Today, we're picking up where we left off—covering the rest of the Seventies, heading into the Eighties (skipping the Nineties) and entering the 21st century.
Note that this is not a guide to every recorded Clapton-Beatle collaboration during this period, just 13 highlights. Be sure to check out whereseric.com for a list of Clapton's session work. Also note that this story doesn't include live performances, such as the Prince's Trust[3] Rock Gala in 1987, the Concert for George in 2002 and so on. Enjoy![2]
P.S.: Before you get started, you might want to revisit our 1967-to-1970 list[4]. Or not.
THIS BE CALLED A SONG | Ringo Starr | 1976
Eric and Ringo
Ringo's 1976 solo album, Ringo's Rotogravure, is a fun, laid-back, star-studded affair. The disc features appearances by John Lennon (who contributed a song), Paul and Linda McCartney (who also contributed a song), Peter Frampton, Harry Nilsson, Melissa Manchester, pedal steel guitar