One More Car, One More Rider (Live)

Editors’ Notes Recorded on August 18th and 19th of 2001 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, One More Car, One More Rider continues Eric Clapton’s tradition of releasing a live album to document each band in his ever-evolving career. This lineup is killer, featuring session wizard Steve Gadd on drums, longtime Clapton trustees Andy Fairweather-Low and Nathan East on guitar and bass, respectively, and on keyboards Michael Jackson affiliate Greg Phillinganes and Beatles soul man Billy Preston. Former E Street Band instrumentalist David Sancious chips in on multiple instruments. The band sounds robust on requisitely thunderous versions of “Layla,” “Sunshine of Your Love," and “She’s Gone,” but the outfit's real skill is displayed in the subtle interplay of “Reptile,” “My Father’s Eyes," and “Change the World.” In terms of reinterpretation, this lineup brings the R&B out of “Badge,” which ends up sounding like a great forgotten Motown song. The crowning surprise, though, is a dreamy rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” arranged in a way Curtis Mayfield might have imagined it