At Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, legends Clapton and Jimmie Vaughan passed the torch to the next gen Gary Clark Jr! The trio cut a smoking jam on blues classic “Sweet Home Chicago,” with fretboard fireworks all over the joint. Clapton opened proceedings by taking the lead vocal on the trad song. He was sounding great, but when the boys play “Sweet Home Chicago,” the vocals sure ain’t the main event. Vaughan soon got down to business by laying down a hella classy solo with a tonne of groove.
Clapton then upped the ante by scorching the fretboard with a shred on his Strat. Next up, it was the young gun Clark’s turn, and he distinguished himself with a fresh and funky jam. Clapton gave the younger guitarist an approving grin at this point, and later on, the upbeat mood continued with Slowhand and Vaughan smiling at each other while they closed out the song together. The Music Man can see why this was a hit on YouTube, as there were not only plenty of tasty licks, but the vibes were just so good!
A fan upload of the 2023 Crossroads fest performance drew two million views on YouTube. Viewers were keen on the spicy jams and added comments such as “Three great guitar men. You can tell who is playing by the time and style, even if you cannot see them, and good to see the young man Gary keeping the blues tradition going” and “Gary Clark Jr’s solo was just so alive and vibrant, not like something we’ve heard a million times over. Of course all the players were amazing, what a mix of talent old and new.”
Clapton makes a point of teaming up with guitar legends young and old during his long-running Crossroads Guitar Festival. One of The Music Man’s favorite moments came when John Mayer sat in with Clapton’s band for a performance of Slowhand’s hit “Layla.” Mayer really got to shine at 2:25 by taking the first solo, and hearing his unique feel on the classic hit created a really interesting fusion of styles.
“Sweet Home Chicago” was first recorded in 1936 by Robert Johnson, although its melody can be traced back to earlier traditional songs. The song has been a longtime live favorite of Clapton. The English guitarist also recorded a studio version of “Sweet Home Chicago” in 2004 as part of his cover album Me and Mr. Johnson.