ERIC CLAPTON – AUGUST LP – Nr MINT  CREAM

Eric Clapton – August
(Duck Records  1986  WX71)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1

Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT- condition
– some slight wear to edges

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945), is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and fourth in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time”. He was also named number five in Time magazine’s list of “The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players” in 2009.

In the mid-1960s Clapton left the Yardbirds to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and “arty, blues-based psychedelic pop”. Furthermore, he formed blues rock band Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech. For most of the 1970s Clapton’s output bore the influence of the mellow style of J. J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were “Layla”, recorded with Derek and the Dominos; and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”, recorded with Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton’s grief was expressed in the song “Tears in Heaven”, which was featured on his Unplugged album.

Clapton has been the recipient of 18 Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

August is the tenth studio album by blues rocker Eric Clapton, released in 1986. Primarily produced by Phil Collins, in association with longtime Clapton associate Tom Dowd, it became Clapton’s biggest-selling LP to date.

Among the songs are the Dowd/Clapton-produced signature tune “It’s in the Way That You Use It” (co-written with Robbie Robertson, and featured in the Paul Newman-Tom Cruise film The Color of Money in October 1986, a month before the album’s release, subsequently reaching No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for one week) and three Collins-produced numbers—the up-tempo, horn-laden “Run” and the guitar-laden rockers “Tearing Us Apart” (with Tina Turner), “Holy Mother”, a tribute to Richard Manuel of The Band, and “Miss You”.

The album’s only UK top 20 hit, “Behind the Mask”, was recorded by suggestion of Greg Phillinganes. Legend has it that upon hearing Yellow Magic Orchestra’s original track, around 1980–82, producer Quincy Jones fell in love with the track, and he and Michael Jackson recorded their own version with new lyrics by Jackson during his Thriller sessions. The track never made the Thriller album but Phillinganes, at the time keyboard player for Jackson, later released his own version of the song on his 1984 Pulse album, which resembles the Clapton version that became August’s lead single in the UK.

Clapton’s studio band for the album included drummer/vocalist Collins; bassist Nathan East and keyboard player Greg Phillinganes; saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jon Faddis, and trombone player Dave Bargeron.

Veering between Collins soul/pop and Clapton blues/rock, August cemented Clapton’s comeback. Clapton, drummer/vocalist Collins, bassist East and keyboard player Phillinganes would recreate their studio roles in for Clapton’s acclaimed live appearances over the next two years.

Track listing

1. “It’s in the Way That You Use It” (Eric Clapton/Robbie Robertson) – 4:11
2. “Run” (Lamont Dozier) – 3:39
3. “Tearing Us Apart” (Clapton/Greg Phillinganes) – 4:15
4. “Bad Influence” (Robert Cray/Michael Vannice) – 5:09
5. “Walk Away” (Richard Feldman/Marcella Detroit) – 3:52
6. “Hung Up on Your Love” (Dozier) – 3:53
7. “Take a Chance” (Clapton/Nathan East/Phillinganes) – 4:54
8. “Hold on” (Clapton/Phil Collins) – 4:56
9. “Miss You” (Clapton/Bobby Columby/Phillinganes) – 5:06
10. “Holy Mother” (Stephen Bishop/Clapton) – 4:55
11. “Behind the Mask” (Chris Mosdell/Ryuichi Sakamoto/Michael Jackson) – 4:47

Personnel

• Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals, production on track 1
• Phil Collins – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Tina Turner – vocals on track 3, backing vocals on track 8
• Nathan East – bass guitar
• Henry Spinetti – drums on track 1
• Michael Brecker – saxophone
• Jon Faddis – trumpet
• Gary Brooker – keyboards, vocals on track 1
• Leon Pendarvis – horn arrangements
• Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, vocals
• Richard Feldman – keyboards on track 5
• Laurence Cottle – bass guitar on track 1
• Dave Bargeron – trombone
• Randy Brecker – trumpet
• Richard Cottle – synthesizer on track 1
• Katie Kissoon – backing vocals on tracks 7, 10, 11
• Magic Moreno – backing vocals on track 7, engineering
• Tessa Niles – backing vocals on tracks 7, 10, 11
• Steve Chase – engineering on track 1
• John Jacobs – engineering on track 1
• Paul Gommersall – engineering
• Peter Hefter – engineering
• Terry O’Neill – photography