Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Boom Boom - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds
2. Honey in Your Hips - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds
3. Baby What's Wrong - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds
4. I Wish You Would - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
5. Certain Girl - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
6. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
7. I Ain't Got You - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
8. For Your Love - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
9. Got to Hurry - Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, The Yardbirds
10. Lonely Years - Eric Clapton, John Mayall
11. Bernard Jenkins - Eric Clapton, John Mayall
12. Hideaway - Eric Clapton, , John Mayall
13. All Your Love - Eric Clapton, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers,
14. Rambling on My Mind - Eric Clapton, , John Mayall
15. Have You Ever Loved a Woman [Live] - Eric Clapton, , John Mayall
16. Wrapping Paper - Eric Clapton, Cream
17. I Feel Free - Eric Clapton, Cream
18. Spoonful - Eric Clapton, Cream
19. Lawdy Mama [#] - Eric Clapton, Cream
20. Strange Brew - Eric Clapton, Cream
21. Sunshine of Your Love - Eric Clapton, Cream
22. Tales of Brave Ulysses - Eric Clapton, Cream
23. Steppin' Out [#] - Eric Clapton, Cream

Disc 2:

1. Anyone for Tennis - Eric Clapton, Cream
2. White Room - Eric Clapton, Cream
3. Crossroads [Live] - Eric Clapton, Cream
4. Badge - Eric Clapton, Cream
5. Presence of the Lord - Blind Faith, Eric Clapton
6. Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith, Eric Clapton
7. Sleeping in the Ground [#] - Blind Faith, Eric Clapton
8. Comin' Home - Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie,
9. Blues Power - Eric Clapton
10. After Midnight [Alternate Mix][#] - Eric Clapton
11. Let It Rain - Eric Clapton
12. Tell the Truth - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
13. Roll It Over - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
14. Layla - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
15. Mean Old World - Duane Allman, Eric Clapton
16. Key to the Highway [Live][#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
17. Crossroads [Live][#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos

Disc 3:

1. Got to Get Better in a Little While [#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
2. Evil [#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
3. One More Chance [#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
4. Mean Old Frisco [#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
5. Snake Lake Blues [#] - Eric Clapton, Derek & the Dominos
6. Let It Grow - Eric Clapton
7. Ain't That Lovin' You [#] - Eric Clapton
8. Motherless Children - Eric Clapton
9. I Shot the Sheriff [Live][#] - Eric Clapton
10. Better Make It Through Today - Eric Clapton
11. Sky Is Crying - Eric Clapton
12. I Found a Love [#] - Eric Clapton
13. (When Things Go Wrong) It Hurts Me Too [#] - Eric Clapton
14. What'cha Gonna Do? [#] - Eric Clapton
15. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Eric Clapton
16. Someone Like You - Eric Clapton

Disc 4:

1. Hello Old Friend - Eric Clapton
2. Sign Language - Eric Clapton
3. Further on up the Road [Live][#] - Eric Clapton
4. Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
5. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
6. Cocaine - Eric Clapton
7. Promises - Eric Clapton
8. If I Don't Be There by Morning - Eric Clapton
9. Double Trouble [Live] - Eric Clapton
10. I Can't Stand It - Eric Clapton
11. Shape You're In - Eric Clapton
12. Heaven Is One Step Away - Eric Clapton
13. She's Waiting - Eric Clapton
14. Too Bad - Eric Clapton
15. Miss You - Eric Clapton
16. Wanna Make Love to You - Eric Clapton
17. After Midnight [Version] - Eric Clapton

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28009 in Music
• Published on: 1988
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com essential recording
Including both his band work (with the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Blues Breakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie, and Derek and the Dominos) and his long, varied solo career, this four-CD set does a spectacular job in gathering several decades' worth of Clapton's best. There are the requisite classics--"Layla," "Blues Power," "After Midnight," "Further On Up the Road," "Crossroads," and "I Shot the Sheriff," among many others--some of them in previously unreleased live or alternate studio recordings. Released in 1988, when only superstars were granted the box set, Crossroads became the blueprint for what such a retrospective should be. For its scope, this box skims the cream of Clapton's large output. --Daniel Durchholz

Customer Reviews

Poor Sound Quality
TYPICAL 1980'S CD BOXSET.

This was your typical 1980's boxset, when CD technology was first emerging. It contains about 60% previously released material, and 40% unreleased material (many of which should have never been released). Personally, I was not a fan of these releases, but I bought them anyway because the CD selections at the time were very limited.

Since this is an 1980's boxset, the sound quality is poor. Well, it isn't horrible, but it isn't very good. The sound is a little flat and muffled. It certainly, is not very good by today's CD standards.

The sound quality on most CD's 1980's CD's was not very good. Sure they sounded better than cassette tapes (which were the most popular media of the time), but they did not come close to the sound of a good quality LP. It is why there were so many vinyl snobs at the time. But then, the CD's didn't have the pops and noise that even brand new LP's could have.

It should be noted that many of the CD's from the 1980's, into the early 1990's are now being remastered for better sound. This boxset could really use it, but I doubt it will happen. Again, the sound quality is not horrible. If you were going to just load this into iTunes and play it on your iPod, it is probably acceptable. However, it you want a true retrospect of an artist's career, it deserves better sound quality.

Since this CD was released in the 1980's the time of each disc is close to 74 minutes, without going over 74 minutes. (At this time, the maximum length of a CD was 74 minutes...I'll explain below).

As you can see from reading the song titles, this set contains a sampling of Claptons work from the 1960's to the mid 1980's when the boxset was released. Most things are covered here, except Clapton's adventures as a guest musician on many other people's albums.

Of note is about 3/4 of an album that would have been the second Derek and the Dominoes studio album. And that probably almost makes buying this boxset worthwhile.

In the 1980's this boxset was an interesting buy. But, now, you can get the whole Clapton catalog on remastered CD's with much better sound. You can buy the things you like and forgo the other stuff. If you want a Clapton boxset, I would suggest getting Crossroads 2 instead.

Why were CD's only 74 minutes and they are now 80 minutes long? The real time of a CD is 74 minutes. But, there is a manufacturing tolerance to the bit size and sampling speed. So, to get 80 minutes out of a CD, manufacturers just use the upper end of the spec limit.

Great summary of Clapton's Career
From his days with The Yardbirds until his somewhat recent (1988) solo projects, these four CDs will show you what a great artist Eric Clapton is. This box-set has all of his greatest hits, lots of rare recordings, and first-rate previously unreleased material. Also here you will find the songs that were to be a part of Derek And The Dominos aborted second album, and they show that they were a band who could have gone a long way. You will also hear different versions of some of his hits, like a live version of I Shot The Sheriff, and two versions of After Midnight, one like the original but with horns, and one with a slower rhythm. Pay special attention to the song Crossroads, one of Eric's favorites, with two live versions of here: Cream's mind-blowing rock performance, with perhaps Eric's best guitar solo, and Derek And The Dominos awesome blues version. An essential item, not just for his fans, with lots of good rock and blues.

Brilliant Retrospective
Eric Clapton's Crossroads followed in the wake of the success of Bob Dylan's Biograph as one the first box sets to chronicle the career of an artist. Utilizing the new compact disk format, the set starts off on disk one with "Boom Boom" from his Yardbird days all the way up to the end of disk four with his much maligned remake of "After Midnight". In between you get every song that made Mr. Clapton the revered figure he is. There are so many songs that one can't list them all but "Layla", "White Room", "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Cocaine", "I Shot The Sheriff", "Lay Down Sally" and all his hits are here. Also mixed in are some unreleased tracks and lesser known gems like Cream's "Anyone For Tennis". The set also includes a tremendous booklet full of insight and great pictures. Crossroads unfortunately helped set off a boom of box sets where everyone had a box set released, even marginal bands like ELO and Kansas. In spite of that, Crossroads is everything a box set should be and is a worthy retrospective of a legend's career.