JohnMayerDoc EXTRAS | Simmering

(Video) Segment during the Continuum chapter from the documentary John Mayer: Someday I’ll Fly

John Mayer has always enjoyed sharing his work in progress at live shows.

At a couple of concerts in March of 2004, fans got a chance to hear the workings of Simmering. The track that would later become Belief on the Continuum record in 2006.

The performances of Simmering ranged from show to show with various improvised lyrics each time. Mayer pretty much had the template of the song down in terms of melody and instrumentation, but the earliest bootleg recordings suggest he hadn’t yet found the suitable theme to fit the music he was aiming for. 

Perhaps the best recording of Simmering (in my opinion) see’s Mayer cut seamlessly into a cover of Eric Clapton’s ’Old Love’ then teasing Wheel before ripping into a lively solo.

• LISTEN/DOWNLOAD Simmering > Old Love (Eric Clapton Cover) Live at Gosman Center, Waltham, MA, March 14, 2004

You can listen to another live rendition of Simmering below…

• LISTEN/DOWNLOAD Simmering - Live at Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, MI, March 23rd, 2004

Take a listen to the entire 2004 Waltham, MA concert featuring performances of In Your Atmosphere and a Bluesy instrumental cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s So Excited

LISTEN/DOWNLOAD John Mayer Live at Gosman Center, Waltham, MA, March 14 2004

1. Intro
2. Bigger Than My Body
3. No Such Thing
4. Something’s Missing
5. Intro > Clarity
6. Clarity
7. Not Myself
8. Back To You
9. Daughters
10. My Stupid Mouth
11. So Excited (Stevie Ray Vaughan Cover)
12. Come Back To Bed
13. Your Body Is A Wonderland
14. Only Heart
15. Why Georgia
16. In Your Atmosphere
17. Simmering > Old Love (Eric Clapton Cover)
18. 83