Eric Clapton hosted his seventh Crossroads Guitar Festival this past weekend in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena, where he performed with a stellar lineup of musicians and raised funds for his Crossroads Centre rehabilitation center on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
The two-day event, which was emceed by comedian Bill Murray, featured Clapton joining many of the artists on stage during their sets, showcasing his versatility and generosity as a guitarist and a collaborator.
Some of the highlights included:
● Clapton playing with Santana on covers of Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" and The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues"
● Clapton jamming with Jimmie Vaughan, who opened Clapton's recent short U.S. tour, on "Early One Morning" and "Sweet Home Chicago," both of which also featured Gary Clark Junior. (Clark also played with Vaughan on a cover of Jimmie's brother Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood.")
● Clapton teaming up with Sonny Landreth on "Walkin' Blues"
● Clapton rocking with The Wallflowers on a cover of The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" with Roger McGuinn; Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird" with Stephen Stills and McGuinn; and Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Questions" with Stills and McGuinn. McGuinn also did The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" and "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" with The Wallflowers
● Clapton singing with Bill Murray on the chorus of Cream's "I'm So Glad"
● Clapton grooving with Samantha Fish on "Black Wind Howlin'"
Other collaborations included:
● Stephen Stills with Clapton for the Stills song "Love the One You're With"
● Stevie Wonder with Clapton on "Crossroads"
● John McLaughlin with Santana on "A Love Supreme"
● Jimmie Vaughan with Los Lobos on "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" and "La Bamba"
● John Mayer with Sheryl Crow on "My Favorite Mistake"
● Peter Asher with Albert Lee for Peter & Gordon's "A World Without Love" and Ray Charles's "Leave My Woman Alone"
The Crossroads Guitar Festival, which started in 1999, is a biennial event that showcases some of the world's best guitarists and supports Clapton's Crossroads Centre, which he founded in 1998 to help people recover from drug and alcohol addiction. Clapton, who has been sober for 35 years, says in an audio clip that the center is run on old school methods and that joining the 12-Step Program community was his chief responsibility.
"It's still run on old school methods. It's not a spa. It's not a health club. It's a 12-Step Program treatment center, old school and there are very few of them left. And that's the system that's kept me sober for 35 years. When I became a member of that community and realized that was my chief responsibility everything else seemed to click into place and my life became more manageable, you know," Clapton says.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]