But the 46-year-old guitarist was also ready for a change – specifically, a stroll into middle age performed with grace and on his own terms. The mournful tone that runs through many of Unplugged's songs were no doubt spurred by the tragic event that shaped Clapton's life at the time. Listen to Eric Clapton Perform 'Before You Accuse Me' Much of this could be attributed to the death of his 4-year-old son Conor, who had fallen from a 53rd-floor window less than a year before. Working with a band of similarly stripped-down musicians – including bassist Nathan East, drummer Steve Ferrone, pianist Chuck Leavell and guitarist Andy Fairweather Low – Clapton sounded peaceful and relaxed throughout the show, replacing the plugged-in intensity of his earlier days with laid-back effortlessness. The set list consisted of a handful of new original songs (like 'Tears in Heaven,' an elegy to his late son that had just been released on the soundtrack to the little-seen movie Rush), reworked versions of past classics (Derek and the Dominos' 'Layla' was drastically altered) and lots and lots of blues covers (Son House, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters were all represented). It sorta got Clapton back on track, but the bigger boost came three years later when he sat down with an acoustic guitar in front of a small audience at Bray Film Studios and performed the concert that made up Unplugged. So in 1989, a year after the Crossroads box set summed up and renewed interest in his career, Clapton made Journeyman, a semi-return to the straightforward rock 'n' roll that had powered some of his best records, dating back to the Yardbirds, Cream and Derek and the Dominos. But none of the albums reached the Top 10, and the latter two failed to crack the Top 30. August, another super-polished collaboration with Collins, arrived in 1986. Money and Cigarettes, from 1983, was made after he got sober for the first time its follow-up two years later, Behind the Sun, was made with Phil Collins, who was at a commercial peak at the time.

The years leading up to his Unplugged session that January at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England, were pretty typical for Clapton: some ups, some downs, loads of respect carried over from his legendary work in the '60s and '70s.

Eric clapton unplugged