"Forever Man"
Single by Eric Clapton
from the album Behind the Sun
B-side"Too Bad"
ReleasedMarch 1985 [1]
Recorded1984
GenreRock
Length3:10
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Jerry Lynn Williams
Producer(s)Lenny Waronker & Ted Templeman
Eric Clapton singles chronology
"I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart"
(1983)		 "Forever Man"
(1985)		 "See What Love Can Do"
(1985)

"Forever Man" is a song from Eric Clapton's 1985 album Behind the Sun, released as the first single of the album. It reached number one on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, becoming his second single to do so.[2] In total, the single release sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.

Composition

Clapton had just signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records when he started recording Behind the Sun. When the album was completed, the record company rejected it because they felt it did not have enough singles. They commissioned three songs by composer Jerry Lynn Williams, one of which was "Forever Man". The song begins with a riff in which a bass, guitar and synth play. The song has an intro, verse, chorus, verse solo and final chorus structure and is in the key of D Minor.[3]

Music video and appearance

The song produced Clapton's first music video, showing Clapton performing the song with his tour band Donald "Duck" Dunn (although Nathan East played on the album), Jamie Oldaker (although Jeff Porcaro played on the album), Michael Omartian, Tim Renwick (although Steve Lukather played on the album), Shaun Murphy and Marcella Detroit on a circular stage that in the center had a step where Clapton performs, the other members of the band being a step below. At about 2:45 into the video, a camera rig falls over, which was not intentional, but was left in the video. [4] This video was directed by Godley and Creme.[5]

"Forever Man" was featured on the Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood double CD and DVD Live From Madison Square Garden and many other compilation albums including The Cream of Eric Clapton (1987), Complete Clapton (2007) and Forever Man (2015).[6] The original music video was released, as the sound recording, on the VHS, CD, download and DVD compilation Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton in 1999.[5]

Reception

Cash Box described it as a "gutsy soul inspired work-out" with "one of Clapton’s most piercing leads in memory" and said it was "definitely Clapton’s strongest work in years."[7] Billboard described it as a "a reprise of his venerable blues-boogie style"[8]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, the single release entered the official music charts, compiled by the Official Charts Company at number 77 and peaked at position 51 the next week. In total, the "Forever Man" spent six weeks on the British single charts.[9] While on chart in the United Kingdom, the single sold a total of 19,934 copies in six weeks.[10] In the United States, "Forever Man" ranked at number 26 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles chart and spent a total of twelve weeks on chart.[11] In North America, it also became second number hit on the Mainstream Rock airplay chart.[2] While charting on the single sales compilation, the single release sold a total of 193,932 records in the United States alone. In Canada, the single did not reach the RPM sales chart, but sold 3,382 copies in the country.[10] In Australia, the single peaked at number 92, as the Kent Music Report published in 1993.[12] "Forever Man" did also reached various national single charts in Belgium and the Netherlands. In Denmark and Japan, the single was certified with a gold disc to commemorate outstanding sales figures of the 1985 release. In total, the single sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.[10]

Charts and certifications

Beatchuggers version

"Forever Man (How Many Times)"
Single by Beatchuggers
ReleasedOctober 23, 2000 (2000-10-23)
RecordedOctober 2000 (2000-10)
GenreElectronic · House
Length3:48
LabelFlex
Songwriter(s)Jerry Lynn Williams
Producer(s)Michael Linde

In 2000, the then 23-year-old Danish House producer Michael Linde – also known as Beatchuggers – "fooled around" with a sample of Clapton's original "Forever Man" recording, and decided to do a demo recording of the song in his style.[22] The track, originally titled "How Many Times", was produced as a white label release by the indie Bim Bam Recordings. The disc was sent to London, where Clapton listened to the Beatchuggers version and became interested in the project. Back in Denmark, EMI–Medley's dance subsidiary, Flex, signed Michael Linde and was then set to release the recording as "Forever Man (How Many Times)" under the act name "Beatchuggers Featuring Eric Clapton". EMI–Medley director of international exploitation Ole Mortensen said that the record will be released in late October 2000 and that Clapton will be featured in the promotional music video.[23]

The more dance-oriented version was released on October 23, 2000 as a digital download,[24] as a CD maxi single[25] and on 12 inch gramophone record with different B-sides of the same songs consisting of other mixes and lengths.[26] The single is accompanied by a music video.[27] Besides of Jacob Horney who played additional keyboards along with Nils Munk who played bass guitar on top of the original recording are no other musicians involved with the recording. Alan Mawdfley engineered the recording while the artists Fletch, Jan Eliasson and Lene Reidel remixed the B-sides for the single release. The cover artwork was created by Peter Stenbæk.[28]

Reviews from the Schweizer Hitparade had been positive,[29] where as AllMusic did not rate the single.[30]

Weekly charts

Chart (2000–01) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Club Chart)[31] 10
Belgium (Ultratip 20 Flanders)[32] 14
Denmark (Tracklisten)[33] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[34] 26

References

  1. ↑ "Eric Clapton singles".
  2. 1 2 "Eric Clapton – Chart history | Billboard (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard Magazine. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Forever Man Chords by Eric Clapton @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com". ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Eric Clapton – Forever Man (Video)". Warner Bros. Records. youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Clapton, Eric (1999). Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton (DVD Cover). United States: Warner Bros. Records. p. 2.
  6. ↑ "Forever Man – Eric Clapton | Listen, Appearances, Song Review | AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. March 9, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  8. ↑ "Pop Picks" (PDF). Billboard. March 9, 1985. p. 79. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  9. ↑ "Forever Man | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Keil, Astrid. "Dossier – The Music of Eric Clapton". Directuploard (in German). O'Real Associated Ltd. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Eric Clapton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: This reference gives Australian albums and singles information. It is used for chart peak positions as early materials were released before ARIA regulated the Australian charts itself (1989).
  13. ↑ "Eric Clapton – Forever Man" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Radio2 Top 30 Artiest: Eric Clapton". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  15. ↑ Tatsaku, Ren (December 2011). The Oricon Sales Report (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Oricon Style – Recording Industry Association of Japan.
  16. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Eric Clapton" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Eric Clapton – Forever Man" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Eric Clapton Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1985". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Japanese Sales Still Shooting Up". Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 97 (19). May 11, 1985. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Beatchuggers : tous les albums et les singles". Charts in France (in French). PureCharts. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Global Music Pulse" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 16, 2000. p. 49. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Beatchuggers, Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times?) (Richard F's Chuggin The Nut Mix) [Chuggy Traxx] :: Beatport". Beatport. Beatport, LLC. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Beat Chuggers Featuring Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times?) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Discogs.com. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Beatchuggers Featuring Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times?) (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs. Discogs.com. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Beatchuggers Feat. Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times) [HQ] – YouTube". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Beatchuggers Featuring Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times?) (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Discogs.com. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Beatchuggers feat. Eric Clapton – Forever Man (How Many Times...?) – hitparade.ch". Swiss Music Charts (in German). Steffen Hung – Hung Medien. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Forever Man (How Many Times?) [US] – Beatchuggers | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  31. ↑ "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Australian Web Archives (566): 17. January 1, 2001. Archived from the original on February 20, 2002. Retrieved January 3, 2016.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  32. ↑ "Ultratip Bubbling Under 02/12/2000". Ultratop Belgian Charts (in Dutch). Steffen Hung – Hung Medien. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Forever Man (How Many Times) – Beatchuggers feat. Eric Clapton". IFPI Denmark (in Danish). Danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
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