- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert is a live concert with an all-star line-up that was organized by Pete Townshend of the Who and took place in early 1973.
Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert (Various Artists) (1973): This is a live concert organized by Pete Townshend of the Who that took place in early 1973. Eric Clapton, one of rock’s great guitarists who had previously played with several of England’s biggest rock bands – the Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos – was in the early stages of establishing his outstanding solo career. Pete Townshend brought together an all-star line-up for a 1973 concert intended to bring Eric Clapton out of hiding and to help him kick his addiction to heroin. Known as the Rainbow Concert, musicians on hand include Ric Grech and Stevie Winwood from Blind Faith, Jim Capaldi (who had co-founded Traffic with Winwood), Anthony “Reebop” Kwaku Baah (a percussionist from Ghana who played with Traffic and also the German band Can), Ron Wood (then in Faces, later in the Rolling Stones), and drummer Jimmy Karstein (who was on hand for the final album by Buffalo Springfield).
As documented on the album Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert, the performance does not rank among Eric Clapton’s best. However, the album can certainly be appreciated as the re-emergence of one of the great guitar gods from a demon that had already claimed so many of the best rock musicians.