Well I’ve managed to get hold of the new Crossroads DVD. A few years ago I bought the first one, and have got endless hours of enjoyment out of it both directly and indirectly. By indirectly I mean that there were some performers that I had never heard of before. Subsequently I have followed up on their studio recordings, with really good results. Examples of this are both John Mayer and Jonny Lang - what talented young axe-meisters they are, with voices to go with their axe wielding!
Crossroads, for the uninitiated, is a concert hosted by none other than Eric Clapton himself, in order to raise funds for his rehabilitation centre based in Antigua. According to Mr. Clapton he calls all his favourite guitarists and invites them to attend. Apparently most respond in the affirmative.
The first crossroads DVD based on a concert in Texas in 2004 was excellent. The quality of performances and the calibre of artists featured was extremely high. While some performances were ultimately a little too esoteric for my tastes, these numbered only about 3 tracks. The rest pure bliss! We had brilliant performances as already mentioned from both John Mayer and Jonny Lang. My favourite on this two disc set was without a doubt Robert Cray. Then there were special moments such as EC teaming up with JJ Cale himself. Not to mention an on form Joe Walsh wearing the loudest pair of shoes that I have ever seen (he probably needs them in the Rocky Mountains as an aid to being found should he get lost), as well as BB King, Robert Randolph and Steve Vai. In addition we have Santana, who were joined onstage by EC demonstrating how in touch with his funky side he can be. Country music also had representation from the brilliant Vince Gill as well as members of AKUS. The DVD set ends with ZZ Top masterfully ripping the crowd up with two of their classic songs (La Grange and Tush). If you don’t have it, there is a big gap in your life.
However, this is a review of the second crossroads DVD, recorded in 2007 from a similarly themed concert based in Chicago. I was surprised to find the DVD in a local shop so soon after being released, and naturally snapped it up. This time the line-up is fairly different. Regulars are John Mayer, Robert Randolph, Vince Gill, Jimmie Vaughan, the highly talented Robert Cray and Doyle Bramhall II, but for the rest - a new cast. Also, this concert had a compere (or MC) in the form of the great Bill Murray. In fact he starts the DVD sessions with his own unaccompanied rendition of ‘Gloria’. Considering the line-up for the rest of the day, you cannot underestimate how brave that was. Halfway through the song EC rushes onstage with his guitar to, I think, save Bill (or on second thoughts maybe the song).
The first disc is actually only OK. There are some revelations that I have noted for following up, namely the really cool sounding Derek Trucks, as well as his wife Susan Tedeschi, and an awesome Sonny Landreth. But Doyle Bramhall II, while onto a conceptually good thing of having two drummers onstage with him, fails to rock out as expected. Robert Cray is in my opinion too understated, seeming to prefer to take the backseat while he and his band support the likes of Jimmie Vaughan, Hubert Sumlin and BB King. Vince Gill puts in a strong performance and then we are onto Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson with what I would call fairly shambled performances.
On a more poignant note is the presence of Johnny Winters. He has apparently been rescued from some Svengali type career arrangement, close to complete collapse, and he has slowly been trying to rebuild his career, life and health. That he is able to perform at all is therefore a blessing.
So a little worried about the wisdom of having spent all this money on the DVD, I slotted the second disc in. John Mayer kicks it off – and how! These are really good performances of a couple of tracks from Continuum and they really rock live. Next up we have Los Lobos. On the previous Crossroads DVD we had some of them performing, namely David Hidalgo and backing band which was basically a low-light for me. So seeing Los Lobos coming up did not have me that excited. Well suffice it to say, the whole is a whole lot better than its individual components. They delivered a fine set.
Up next is Jeff Beck. Wow, what a revelation! Not only in terms of Jeff with his utter mastery of the electric guitar, but also relating to band member Tal Wilkenfeld on bass guitar. This lady really can play. To see the respect and enjoyment in Jeff Beck’s eyes as she takes the bass solos during parts of the songs is to understand how amazingly talented she is. Beck is followed by EC himself with, like Bramhall, two drummers. His backing band included both Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II on guitar, and the sound is fantastic. EC is then joined by Robbie Robertson for a couple of songs, and then, as the highlight of the entire DVD as far as I am concerned, he is joined by Steve Winwood. First they do ‘Presence of the Lord’ and ‘Can’t find my way home’ before EC leaves the stage with Winwood carrying on without him – this, to be honest, is compelling viewing and listening, if only for these five songs, it is worth getting hold of this DVD.
Steve Winwood is followed by Buddy Guy who closes the show by bringing the house down. His performance is funky and menacing (or maybe it’s just his band that looks menacing – watch the DVD you will see what I mean, his guitarist is so big he looks like he is playing an Ukelele and the drummer is even bigger…) as he closes off with ‘Sweet Home Chicago’.
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