Eric Clapton brings "Cocaine" back to concert list

For the first time since Eric Clapton became sober nearly two decades ago, he has begun including his 1977 hit "Cocaine" in his current setlists. Clapton told The Associated Press that for years he thought that performing the song was contradictory to his recovery, explaining that, "I thought that it might be giving the wrong message to people who were in the same boat as me, but further investigation proved the song, if anything... it's an anti-drug song. And so I thought that might be a better way to do it, to approach it from a more positive point of view. And carry on performing it as not a pro-drug song, but just as a reality check about what it does."

Clapton went on to talk about the J.J. Cale song that opened Clapton's 1977 Slowhand album, saying that, "It's one of those songs that you can take it any way you like. But it very clearly says in the opening verse, 'If you wanna get down, down on the ground,' That's what the song's about...there's a price."

He also said that he missed playing the tune throughout the years, "just purely from a musical point of view." Clapton's band yell out the phrase "dirty cocaine" throughout the recent performances.

The legendary guitarist, a recovering alcoholic and heroin addict, founded the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery center on the Caribbean island of Antigua. In 1999 he auctioned many of his classic vintage guitars to raise money for the center, including his legendary 1956 sunburst Fender Stratocaster -- nicknamed "Brownie" -- on which he recorded most of 1970's legendary Derek And The Dominoes album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.

Eric Clapton performed on Wednesday, October 4th, in Boston, Massachusetts at the TD Banknorth Garden Fleet Center.