Eric Clapton drops previously unreleased cover of Albert King's Born Under a Bad Sign

Eric Clapton has dropped a previously unreleased cover of Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign ahead of the release of his forthcoming remaster vinyl box set.

Clapton’s rendition is faithful to King’s original – which was originally released in 1967 on an album of the same name – with a cool arrangement of swampy blues electric guitar, rousing horns and effortlessly soulful vocals. Check it out below.

Born Under a Bad Sign has been widely acknowledged as a blues/rock and roll classic. The album was once inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, while its title track was listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.

The Complete Reprise Studio Albums Vol. 1 box set – which contains 12 discs in total – is set to feature remastered versions of several of Clapton’s albums from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including Money and Cigarettes (1983), Behind the Sun (1985), August (1986), Journeyman (1989), From the Cradle (1994) and Pilgrim (1998).

One of its discs includes rare cuts from the same period, including the newly released cover of Born Under a Bad Sign. Other recordings on this disc include live versions of White Room and Crossroads, and a B-side entitled Theme From a Movie That Never Happened.

Curated by longtime Clapton co-producer Simon Climie, The Complete Reprise Studio Albums Vol. 1 was remastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Studios in Maine, and vinyl mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering in LA.

The Complete Reprise Studio Albums Vol. 1 arrives September 30. You can preorder it now for $249.98. 

A second box set – The Complete Reprise Studio Albums Vol. 2 – will arrive in early 2023, and will include Clapton’s albums spanning 2001 to 2010, in addition to more unheard rarities.

Eric Clapton is scheduled to play a series of US dates with Jimmie Vaughan starting next month. The trek will run from September 8 in Columbus, Ohio until September 19 in New York City.