I Will Be There

Album: I Still Do (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was written by Paul Brady and John O'Kane; it first appeared on Brady's 1995 album Spirits Colliding. Mary Black released a popular version on her 1997 album Shine. The song is about being there for someone in good times and bad.
  • One "Angelo Mysterioso" is credited for acoustic guitar and vocals on this song. George Harrison used a near-identical pseudonym when he played on "Badge," the tune he and Clapton wrote on Cream's 1969 album, Goodbye. As a result, there was speculation that this was a track the former Beatle had left behind.

    Clapton told Guitar World the mystery collaborator wasn't Harrison. "No, it's not George," he said. "Well, the thing is, the person wishes to remain anonymous. So we came to that arrangement, and we both thought it was the best idea, for one reason or another. And I can't even tell you that much. I'm sworn to secrecy, and I hope he is, too. But I quite liked it."
  • Clapton admitted that he enjoyed the speculation. "I heard there were rumors about it being George," he said, "and I thought that was great because it's nice that people know about that story. That's why we used to do it a lot, and I still like to do that now. I've been that 'angel' sometimes. George was, and now there's someone else. So I can't say who it is, but I like the speculation."
  • Later speculation as to the identity of "Angelo Mysterioso" centered on Ed Sheeran after he and Clapton performed the song together in Japan in 2016. The following year, Eric Clapton provided guest guitar under the "Angelo Mysterioso" pseudonym on the Ed Sheeran track "Dive."

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