Rating : 10/10

10 September 2006

I believe George Terry should get the "credit" for a lot of the lead guitar on this disc. EC was really coasting (LAZY!!) in those days.

Rating : 10/10

10 April 2006

The backup band is so lousy. On 'Rambling' you can hear EC speaking out the chord (C sharp, E, funny). But wait, the guitar is simply the best blues rock I've ever heard.

In HYELAW, each singing line is completed by a poignant guitar phrase that complete the emotion.

The Presence of the Lord chorus shows what heavy guitar can be when it goes beyond the usual cliche. It's at par with the best Led Zeppelin.
All acoustic work is better than anything in Unplugged.
Rambling is a meditation, the same kind he would do years after in Old Love. Close your eyes and take the trip with him.
Further On Up The Road is a classy boogie, showing EC amazing sens of timing and crescendo.

I truely respect all EC work. But I wish he build on this kind of inspiration rather than go puppy like he did next in his career.

Rating : 8/10

9 December 2003

E.C. was here is a concert recording. I was able to see Clapton in this tour. It is a well recorded CD and shows you where he was at this point in his career. "Have you ever loved a woman" is first and has some wonderful guitar licks. It has always been one of my favorite Clapton songs. Next he pulls out the classic Blind Faith song,"Prescence of the Lord. This version he sings with Yvonne Elliman on vocals. It lacks the punch of the Bling Faith version. Next is the standard "Driftin" which on the orignal versions was shortened. On the newer versions they have included the entire recording. The song basically has an accoustic phase and an electric phase. Again it show Clapton playing as he did at that time. His guitar work although very solid was not as good as he was with Cream or later in his career. "Cant find my way home" is sung as a duet with Elliman again. Again the song lacks any real punch. Even the guitar solo is not Clapton at his best. Next is the "Gem" of the CD. Ramblin on my mind". He slows it down and plays blues the way he plays it best. One of the better live performances of his career. He ends with "Further on up the Road" which is another strong performance. This album has some outstanding performances and some very lackluster ones.
If you want more songs from this period, let me suggest his box set "Crossroads 2".

This is a collectors item for any true EC fan!

Rating : 7/10

31 October 2001

The great thing about Clapton live albums is that they always give fans a chance to hear Eric stretch out on the guitar and do what he does best, and in that respect E.C. Was Here is no exception. 'Have You Ever Loved a Woman' features some incredible, lightning-fast lead licks, while 'Rambling On My Mind' and 'Further On Up the Road' demonstrate Eric's seemingly effortless mastery of the mid-tempo blues groove. On these three tracks, however, the backing band fails to keep up with Eric, and sound quite tired and sluggish. This problem is even more apparent on 'Presence of the Lord,' where the song's loose new arrangement simply sounds clumsy and amateurish. Indeed, after hearing these cuts you can understand why Eric eventually dumped this American band for the crack British outfit featured on 1980's Just One Night live album.

On a more positive note, though, the two acoustic cuts included here ('Drifting Blues' and 'Can't Find My Way Home') are quite convincing, and they anticipate the live sound later perfected by Eric on his 1992 Unplugged recording.

Rating : 8/10

19 November 2000

By the year of 1975 the critics and Eric's audience had begun wondering if Clapton had lost his guitar-skills during his long absence from the public's eye. He had released two albums, "461 Ocean Boulevard" and "There's One In Every Crowd", both albums far away from the guitar based blues/rock he had performed with John Mayall, Cream and Blind Faith. He was no longer God, just another talented guitarist.

The record-company released "EC Was here", a live album. Each and every song on this record shows that the record-buyers and critics could not be any more wrong! This album features some great guitar-performances and is well worth getting. It's not as fantastic as the Derek & Dominos' "Live At Fillmore", but still very good. "EC Was Here" opens with a very slow, yet very good, version of Have You Ever Loved A Woman. Eric uses his guitar to do the talking! "have you ever loved a woman, so much you..." and then there's some great guitar playing replacing the words. He even let George Terry handling some soling! No question who's the best guitarist... But no matter how good this version is I still prefer the version presented on "24 Nights". Next a Blind Faith number, Presence of The Lord. This is also very laidback, with the exception of that great guitar part in the middle. Eric's voice is very strong and he's sharing vocals with Yvonne Elliman. Now, I have the original vinyl version and on this Driftin' is shortened with a faid-out after 3 minutes or so. The complete version is included on the new, re-mastered CD version and also on the box-set "Crossroads II - Live In The Seventies". Eric's playing acoustic and does a great vocal performance. I think that this version match the one on "From The Cradle". Then Terry does some electric soloing while EC switches his acoustic for an electric. This is when the fade out begins. The first song on side B is another Blind Faith song, Can't Find My Way Home, and again Eric's sharing vocals with Elliman. I like this version too, but I still prefer the original studio recording. Back to the blues: Rambling On My Mind. Eric does a great job with this Robert Johnson written song. Starts within the key of E and during the solo the key gets higher all the time, which gives the song a push forward. Last song on the album is an up-tempo shuffle: Further On Up The Road.

This version's great too and as usual is the solos very good! Very good vocals, al though Eric mess up the first verse. Singing wrong words. Instead of singing "Someone's gonna hurt you like you've hurt me", he's singing "You gonna hurt someone like you've hurt me"!

Yet this is a great record and it shows Eric in top-form.

All the songs can be found on "Crossroads II", with the exception of Further On Up The Road.