"After Midnights" - Clapton vs. Cale

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I like Cale's version better. To me it sounds like "After Midnight, some serious shit is going to go down". Clapton's sounds more like "After Midnight, we are going to appear on American Bandstand and perform insouciant but non-threatening dance maneuvers". To my ear he missed the latent sense of foreboding in the song. I do think EC nailed "Cocaine", though.

― drfunk (DrFunktronic), Thursday, 10 February 2005 07:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Definitely Cale. I'll also take Jerry Garcia's version off the recent live album (recently released, anyway) over Clapton's. I'm not a Clapton hater, the man did some fine work, but his "After Midnight" is joyless. He makes it all sound like a homework assignment: cause talk and suspicion, make an exhibition, find out what it is all about, oh mom do I have to?

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 10 February 2005 07:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Cale's, of course. That said, there are two very different mixes of the first Clapton LP, the first (and rarest) of which features a MUCH more rompin' stompin' mix of "After Midnight". I think this one is referred to as the Delaney Bramlett mix, with more up-front lead guitar and rhythm section, less horns, keys & chicks. That's the one to hear.

― briania (briania), Thursday, 10 February 2005 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)

(This -- cause talk and suspicion, make an exhibition, find out what it is all about, oh mom do I have to? -- wasn't s'posed to sound so dirty. It would make the song more interesting, tho.)

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 10 February 2005 08:35 (twenty-one years ago)

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