For many years, Eric Clapton has quietly played a New Year's Eve show for Alcoholics Anonymous with a band that featured many of his close friends, including the late Gary Brooker of Procol Harum.
Brooker talked about those show he played with Clapton.He said, "I always say it was the only night I didn't have a drink, but nor did anybody else there. But it was always a great event. Eric used to totally relax. And he, I think, did it, 25, 30 years."
This year's show was dedicated in memory of Brooker, who died last February from cancer.
The show was billed as Eric Clapton and the Promises, the "Sober and Substance Free event" in Woking, England. It was broken into two one-hour sets, both featuring covers of blues and rock and roll songs, along with a several of Brooker's songs, including Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale."
Clapton performed one of his original songs, "Bad Boy," off his 1970 self-titled debut album.
Here’s a look at the songs performed on both sets. Set one included:
- Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd cover
- Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson cover
- Blueberry Hill – made famous by Fats Domimo (with Paul Carrack)
- Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out - Jimmy Cox cover
- Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan cover
- Lead Me to the Water - Gary Brooker cover
- How Long - Ace cover (with Ace vocalist Paul Carrack)
- Bad Boy
- She's Alright - Muddy Waters cover (with Doyle Bramhall II)
- Sweet Little Rock & Roller - Chuck Berry cover
Set two included:
- Auld lang syne
- In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett cover (Paul Carrack)
- I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Willie Dixon cover
- Stormy Monday - T‐Bone Walker cover (with Doyle Bramhall II)
- Key to the Highway - Charles Segar cover
- Call Me the Breeze - J.J. Cale cover
- The Sky Is Crying - Elmore James cover
- A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum cover
- Little Queenie - Chuck Berry cover
[Source: Classic Hits Today]