Let me be honest: I have so much work to do right now (because I am, in fact, updating this from work), and I don’t care. You know why I don’t care, friends? Because I’m practically having a freakin’ religious experience over here.
After over a year of intending to, I finally got my hands on a copy of Cream’s recording from the four-night reunion show in 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The album is, aptly named, Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005. If you don’t know me or my music tastes, let me give you a teeny tiny summary: there are no musicians in existence that I think more highly of than Eric Clapton. None. I’m not even exaggerating, here: I love him. I love his solo stuff, I love Derek & the Dominoes, I love Cream, I love John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers album, I love the Yardbirds, I love everything. I say that will the full knowledge that I do not own and certainly have not even heard everything in his extensive musical catalog. And yet I’m confident that I do and will love it all. Am I getting my point across, here?
So on the aforementioned Cream reunion live album is quite possibly my favorite version of my favorite Cream song “Badge.” I’ve always loved the original, but this 2005 live version popped up on one of my Pandora stations strictly dedicated to any song featuring a really, really long guitar solo, and I fell in love. Stop what you’re doing right now and have a listen:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The original recorded is much softer and much more mellow, and, since it was recorded and released in 1969, Eric’s voice has obviously evolved in the 36 years between the original and this performance. Holy crap, all the years of gritty blues singing turns this song into something completely different. I’ve had it on repeat for at least the last hour, and I have no plans to stop anytime soon. Are you done listening yet? LISTEN AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND AGAIN!
I haven’t even made my way through this entire album yet, but the first half I’ve heard (when not listening to Badge over and over, obviously) is so wonderful. If you feel even half as strongly about Eric Clapton or Cream or classic rock music or epic guitar solos as I do, I suggest you get it. It comes very, very highly recommended.