Eric Clapton-Backtrackin' (22 Tracks Spanning The Career of A Rock Legend) (1984)
Artist: Eric Clapton
Title: Backtrackin': 22 tracks Spanning the Career of a Rock Legend
Year of Release: 1984
Country and Year of Edition: UK 1984
Sell Price: $7.72
Sell Date: 3/19/26
Condition: VG+/VG+
Discogs Last Sold: 1/26/26 VG+/VG+ $10.27
Low: $5.60
Median: $11.63
Average: $12.35
High: $18.99
Current low price: $9.29
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 14
Have/Want: 202/23
Where Sold: Charleston, SC
Time It Took To Sell: 11 years
Where and When Bought: Strawberries Worcester new mid 80's $14.99 range
Gwiz-gau Grade: A-
Sad To See It Go: No
I got this Eric Clapton compilation in completist mode in the mid-80's after seeing his Behind The Sun tour in Worcester 1985. At the time, I had a record rule that if I saw somebody live, I would compete their discography as best I could. I pretty much stuck with that rule until the CD era. I didn't get a CD player until the end of '86, so until that point, I was buying everying on record. In my paper route era, the limited shows I was able to see at my local arena kept this rule doable.
Backtrackin' seems packaged like a K-Tel compilation. My copy is a UK import and I thought it was import only. Apparently it came out here on Cassette, but I got my import double LP copy at the Strawberries chain. The US market had a recent compilation, Strange Brew from Cream in 1983 and two volumes of Time Pieces in 1982 & 1983, so I guess RSO thought this one was overkill for the market. Overkill or not, I had to have it to complete my collection. This was issued as a double CD "digitally mastered for sound perfection" as it says in script on the bottom of the cover in Europe in 1984, but again never issued in the US. As late as 2020 the Japanese issued it remastered. Weirdos!
The album itself is well compiled in 4 parts, which I guess was what made it desirable. The 4-CD Box Crossroads that kick-started Claptons revival made this seem a bit redundant. That said History of Eric Clapton came out before his big 70's pop hits and the early 80's compilations focus on either Cream, solo and live works so this is the one in between that covers it all over two records from Cream to the early 80's Polydor/RSO years before he moved on to Warner Bros. RSO issued the record in some markets but Starblend got this for their "Masterpieces" series which had Backtrackin' releases from The Kinks and Neil Sedaka presumably for the budget or midline market.
If you can get over the aspect of music as product, this is a fine compilation. It might have been the most representative collection to date in 1984. Singles, History, Classics and Live are the sides. Of course, what constitutes a "single" and what consitutes a "classic" have been buried in the streaming era where every track is a potential single. For the person that may very well only want one Clapton album in their collection, this might be it.
That person might complain "Tears In Heaven" and the acoustic "Layla" isn't on it.
FOR FURTHER REVIEW:
Eric Clapton-461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)
Eric Clapton-There's On In Every Crowd (1975)
The Yardbirds-For Your Love (1965)
Derek and the Dominos-Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
Various Artists-The Concert For Bangladesh (1971)
Jackie Lomax-Is This What You Want (1969)
Eric Clapton @ Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 9/19/25
Comments
Post a Comment