“Live in San Diego with Special Guest JJ Cale” is a 16-track live album showcasing Eric Clapton and his band’s mastery of blues-rock. The album, recorded March 15, 2007, at iPayOne Arena, was released in part as a tribute to Clapton’s longtime friend and idol, JJ Cale, who passed away in 2013.
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The album is further notable for featuring Doyle Bramhall II providing backing vocals and guitar (played left-handed and, unusually, strung upside-down) and Derek Trucks playing very Duane Allman-esque slide guitar. These two add a special dynamic to the performance, particularly to the selected Derek and the Dominos songs. In addition, Sharon White and Michelle John add gospel-like backing vocals to many of the songs.
A large portion of the set is comprised of songs Clapton either wrote or covered during his tenure with Derek and the Dominos. The remainder are split between blues standards, JJ Cale-penned songs and just one of Clapton’s hits, so the listener expecting an endless series of hit songs will be sorely disappointed.
The show opens with a stomping rendition of the Derek and the Dominos classic, “Tell the Truth.” Trucks’ expressive slide guitar and Bramhall’s vocals in the second verse evoke the original recording, with a slight modern update. Following this is an energetic rendition of the blues standard, “Key To the Highway.” Bramhall again provides his bluesy vocals before the song transitions into a nine-minute jam of the deep cut “Got To Get Better in a Little While.”
Clapton plays a gentle unaccompanied guitar intro that slowly builds into Jimi Hendrix’s ethereal ballad “Little Wing.” He allows his younger companions a chance to show off their talents on the guitar before playing a blistering, emotive solo himself. They close the opening barrage of Derek and the Dominos with another deep cut, “Anyday,” a song detailing Clapton’s then-love for Pattie Boyd. Clapton’s older, worn voice actually improves the sound of the harmonies as compared to the original recording, with the help of his talented backing vocalists.
Clapton playfully introduces his special guest, JJ Cale, by saying “we’ve been gatecrashed.” The two perform a duet on the humorous, slow, country-blues shuffle “Anyway the Wind Blows.” Cale’s deep vocals mesh well with Clapton’s on this song, as well as the relaxed performance of “After Midnight.” The following two songs, the soft rock ballad “Who Am I Telling You?” and blues-rock “Don’t Cry Sister,” feature more examples of emotive singing and playing.
Cale’s brief tenure with this band ends with a performance of “Cocaine.” While this song is played in a lower key and a slower tempo than Clapton’s more famous cover, it only creates a kind of tense energy that better fits the subject matter. The band then proceeds with another blues standard, the slide guitar-driven “Motherless Children.”
Next is what is possibly the weakest addition to this album, a 17-minute cover of Robert Johnson’s “Little Queen of Spades.” Despite impressive soloing from Bramhall, Clapton, Trucks and even keyboardist Chris Stainton, the sheer length makes this track difficult to sit through and is better seen in person than heard. “Further On Up the Road” brings the energy back to the album, with its swinging Texas shuffle and tasteful playing by the guitarists.
One of the few bona fide hit songs featured, “Wonderful Tonight,” sees the band quiet down one last time. This short and sweet performance shows just enough restraint and prepares the listener for what is to come next.
The performance of “Layla” is arguably the best officially released live recording of the song. Clapton’s vocals are supplemented with the Duane Allman soloing featured in the studio version, this time played by Trucks. During the piano coda, Clapton again steps aside to allow his younger counterpart to shine. Derek Trucks’ slide guitar playing takes on a vocal quality evoking the original, mixing in a few notable Allman licks with a number of his own.
The show closes with an electrifying performance of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” featuring another guest, the blues guitarist Robert Cray. Cray and Clapton trade off vocals on the verses, with a duet in the final verse. This final, mass jam is the perfect way to end this live album and leaves the listener wanting more.
