AFTER MIDNIGHT MARK 2 BROUGHT OUT SOME LONG LOST PANACHE IN 80`S CLAPTON

https://youtu.be/7GOnYK1JS9E?si=9xQGG9RqQ7Hvs7fF

The star of the show tonight anyway is Eric Clapton, and in the late 80`s, not exactly sure when actually, he re-recorded an old
song of his from the 70`s called AFTER MIDNIGHT as a promotional song for the Michelob Beer company. 

I never really thought much of the original version, like most of his solo stuff post Cream and his Derek and the Dominos output, it just hasn`t got enough panache about it. 

It`s no wonder really that Clapton earned the nickname SLOWHAND, most of his 70`s and 80`s material was basically what you would call nondescript convoluted blues that could have been played with a lot more enthusiasm by any one of hundreds of blues guitarists around the world around that time.

But the revamped version of AFTER MIDNIGHT really kicks along, a brilliant mixture of rock and modern blues with a bit of 80`s keyboard chucked in as well. 

At this stage in his career, Eric Clapton was hanging around a lot with the likes of Phil Collins and Steve Winwood, and a number of his late 80`s songs had real meat to them, a bit of that old Cream exuberance for once.

Another example of that is the radio staple IT`S IN THE WAY THAT YOU USE IT, a song released in 1986. Despite being a bit of an artistic cop-out, at least Clapton was firing for once on all cylinders, AFTER MIDNIGHT Mark 2 took his new found confidence to the next level and also managed to keep the lovers of blues guitar happy as well. 

I know all the rage at the moment is about John Bonnamassa and his interpretation of blues born and bred in England, but to me Clapton, despite being insipid so much of the time in his post-Cream career, would have to be regarded as the second best english blues guitarist ever when he was on his game. The gold medal still belongs to Peter Green.