When Eric Clapton attended the memorial service for Jeff Beck back in February, he left with two tasks. He wanted to organize a tribute concert, suggested to him by Rod Stewart. The first show was last Monday, followed by a show on Tuesday. The second task was to think of something to do with Tom Jones.
Clapton talked about a conversation he had with Tom Jones at Jeff Beck’s service in February:
"We used to hang in the '60s, in the clubs, you know, and he said, 'We better do something before it's too late.' He's right. And I got home and I thought of the song, an old R&B song by Freddie Scott."
Clapton hasn’t named the song, but said they'll record it in June. Clapton also has a new album in the works. He said, "We record online. So I record a part on my phone. Then it goes to my pal Simon [Climie] in France who creates a rhythm track. Then he sends it back to me then I overdub on that. Then we send it to L.A. for Nathan [East] to play bass. Then we send it to Sonny Emory in Atlanta to play drums. Then I do vocals and lead. So, we go an album. But, there's also an album coming out that I suppose I ought to promote called 24 Nights, and it's an anniversary box set."
The album will be released on June 23rd, it documents 24 shows he performed at London's Royal Albert Hall back in 1991 where he was backed up by a rock band, a blues band and an orchestra. Clapton’s guests for the shows were Johnnie Johnson, Jimmie Vaughan, Chuck Leavell, Phil Collins, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and several others.
Clapton's most recent studio albums were I Still Do in 2016. That was followed by Happy Xmas in 2018.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]