Search - Eric Clapton :: The Blues

Mike C. from OLD ORCHD BCH, ME
Reviewed on 8/20/2011...

Excellent

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Good, but muddled and lethargic in spots...

whipitgood | 06/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the newly-minted Eric Clapton fan who wants to hear him play the blues, I would reccommend "From the Cradle" first because it's well-recorded, crisp, sober and 100% authentic. If you want "live in concert" blues, I would pick up the "Just One Night" cd which has a 1/2 dozen live blues classics including "Ramblin' On My Mind", "Further On Up the Road", "Early In the Morning", "Double Trouble" and "Worried Life Blues" along with a few hits from the period.



If you're still hungry for more at this point, try out "Me and Mr. Johnson" for a nice introduction to the work of blues partiarch Robert Johnson (one of Eric's main musical influences). But be advised that Eric's playing is somewhat buried in the mix with no extended riffing (it seems that he wants to draw attention to the strength of the songs rather than himself).



If you want to hear a more blues-rock oriented sound with some really great singing (as opposed to pretty good or competent singing) check out Eric's duet with B.B. King "Riding With the King".



For some truly incendiary electric blues playing (with some 60's psychedelia sprinkled in) try to find a Cream compilation that includes "Lawdy Mama", "Crossroads (Live)", "Spoonful", "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Strange Brew".



There were a few Clapton solo albums from the mid-to-late seventies that were truly uninspired. However, I often considered buying them just to get the few blues tracks that were available. Why?? Because the only time he seemed somewhat centered as an artist, and truly in his element, was when he was riffing on some old blues tunes...When he's playing the blues, especially live, he seems to have his own voice. He's also adept at playing contemporary pop songs written by other artists (Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, J.J. Cale, Babyface, etc.), but if you want HIS voice as an artist, live blues is where you'll most likely hear it.



I think Eric was going through a prolonged personal crisis in the 70's because he went from being an international superstar on the cutting edge of a blues revival to being a somewhat meandering retro act(occasionally descending into self-parody as Elvis did in Las Vegas). He had brief flashes of brilliance (not to mention mainstream success) with his interpretations of "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Cocaine", but he also had long stretches of mediocrity and seemed plagued with self-doubt. His well-documented alcohol problems and difficulty in finding his identity as a person were reflected in his work. The original title of "There's One In Every Crowd" was something like "Guitar Hero-There's One In Every Crowd". Obviously, Polydor was anxious to cash in on Eric's past accomplishments and insisted that he change the original title to something less deflating.



Essentially, you can get all of Eric's 70's hits on the "Time Pieces" cd, and then use the "Eric Clapton-Blues" cd as a supplement because it will give you some deep, blues-oriented album cuts from the same time period. To that end it's a much better compilation than "Time Pieces Volume 2". If you put it all together you have a pretty good summation of what he accomplished from 1970-80.



So, where does "Eric Clapton-Blues" go wrong? Well, the "Unplugged" cd has a much better version of "Alberta". The "Journeyman" cd contains a much better version of "Before You Accuse Me". Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of "The Sky is Crying" is twice as good as what you find here. The Cream version of "Crossroads" is much better than what you find here. Little Milton's version of "Stormy Monday" is probably the best ever recorded, so Clapton's version here sounds a little flaccid by comparison.



What am I really saying? Let's say you were introduced to Clapton from listening to a "Best Of" compilation like "Clapton Chronicles" and then you went back in time and discovered "Time Pieces". Now you're curious to see what else he did during the 70's but you're not ready to break down and spend $50.00 on the "Crossroads 2" boxed set. Eric's "Blues" cd is a nice alternative because it has one live disc and one disc of deep album cuts from the period, along with a couple of previously unreleased tracks for good measure. A nice collection.



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