Unplugged is a 1992 live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at Bray Studios, England in front of an audience for the MTV Unplugged television series. It includes a version of the successful 1992 single “Tears in Heaven” and an acoustic version of “Layla”. The album itself won three Grammy Awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and became the bestselling live album of all time, and Clapton’s bestselling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.<\/p>\n
Recording
\nClapton performed the show in front of a small audience on 16 January 1992 at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England. In addition to the final album tracks, the performance included early versions of “My Father’s Eyes” and “Circus Left Town” along with “Worried Life Blues” and a version of “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”.<\/p>\n
Shortly after telling the studio audience “that’s it,” Clapton said they needed to do “two \u2013 no, three – no, five” songs over again, adding “if you don’t mind, I don’t mind.” After the second take of “My Father’s Eyes” there was a brief break and cameras were off. He broke into an impromptu “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”, which he had last performed with Cream. The seasoned musicians quickly picked up on it and the crowd clapped along. The director signaled the crew to record, which is why there is such an abrupt start to the song mid-verse. Clapton was so pleased with it that when the song ended, he asked the director, “did you get that?”<\/p>\n
For much of the performance, Clapton played Martin 000-42 acoustic guitars. In 2004, one of the guitars sold for $791,500 (\u00a3434,400) at auction.<\/p>\n