Watch Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler Play "Cocaine" and "Sultans of Swing" in 1988
Two Strat all-timers lend licks to each other's tunes.
Feel free to watch the entire clip. However, if you skip directly to 3:48 in the top video, you'll witness an inspired 1988 performance of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton - with an assortment of special guests, including Elton John and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler - at Japan's Tokyo Dome.
This was during the period when Clapton had turned "Cocaine" into a production, with a long band intro, background singers, a funky bass line, a lengthy keyboard solo, various stops and starts and the addition of the lyric, "ooh, that dirty cocaine."
Luckily, guitar is still at the forefront of the performance. Clapton's solo starts at 5:12.
Unfortunately, Knopfler doesn't solo in this particular version of "Cocaine" - which is only fitting because Clapton doesn't solo in the bottom video, a 1988 performance of "Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits and Clapton. Knopfler starts his mesmerizing "Sultans of Swing" solo at 4:58.
But watch out for that smooth jazz breakdown at 6:20! Ah, the Eighties, when everyone felt they had to make a production out of everything. Simple and stripped down went out the window. Just compare the production on Clapton's No Reason to Cry (1976) to Behind the Sun (1985). But I digress...
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
"I brought all my guitars. The band was annoyed at me…" Session ace Tim Pierce on working with Bon Jovi, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls — and why he'd take 50 guitars to a gig
“I wrote two songs that should have gone into the dustbin. They turned out to be my biggest hits.” The guitarist behind a pair of classic-rock gems says he’s just a strummer who thinks of himself as a jingle writer