Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Clapton, Eric
Label: Universal Music Group
Release: 2013
Running time: 53:41
Rating: 3.8/5
Eric Clapton, the British guitar giant, has dropped his twentieth studio album, Old Sock, after a good two and a half years. Unlike its predecessor, Clapton, which was stacked with blues covers, the new one tackles a whole bunch of tunes from different styles that shaped his taste and ear while he was growing up and making his way to fame. Clapton sounds relaxed and right at home here, and he’ll bring this musical treasure chest closer to plenty of listeners quietly and gently. Old Sock also has two new originals (Gotta Get Over and Every Little Thing), and a long list of famous guests adds extra class to the album. His musical journey spans almost five decades. A child of the blues and an obedient student of John Mayall, he soaked up the power of the genre and stamped its simplicity with his own distinctive touches. His guitar playing in particular has always been fascinating, because despite the slow, easygoing style (Slowhand), he has always served up inventive melodies.
This time Eric Clapton cast his net a bit wider and put songs from other styles on Old Sock too. As always, he brings the tracks to life with acoustic and electric guitar. When he takes on a cover, he always drops it into a completely different musical setting to make it interestingly different. Eric Clapton is a master of refined, heartfelt, tender guitar feeling. Old friend Paul McCartney guests on the classic All Of Me, and blues master Taj Mahal is represented on Old Sock with Further on Down The Road, which Clapton has dressed up in reggae clothes. Reggae, with its repetitive groove, has always been a comfortable place for Clapton. Remember Marley’s I Shot The Sherriff, which kick-started Clapton’s career in the seventies after a long stretch of addiction-fueled wandering, when he narrowly escaped ruin.
Despite the years, good old Eric still proves he can create a truly intimate atmosphere with the support of acoustic instruments. A devotion to the blues from a young age has left its mark on his entire musical career. Since the sixties he has built up a huge army of fans who devour everything he records. It’s also plain to see that in his old age he’s taken a nostalgic look back at his youth and those slower, more innocent times. The wealth of different musical worlds on Old Sock will delight fans of this great artist. The tribute to the great Gary Moore does Clapton proud, as Still Got The Blues is so elegantly mellow that Moore himself would surely have been happy with it.
Of course, there’s no room for half-measures or third-measures in the performances on Old Sock. The covers are deeply felt, sensitive, stylistically surprising and unobtrusive. Considering we’re talking about a gentleman who could have been enjoying his pension long ago, it’s commendable that he still gives us anything at all, or rather records anything. As long as B.B. King is still performing at 85, it’s only right that the slightly younger ones keep going too, if their health allows. Clapton is certainly very hard on himself, which is exactly why he doesn’t put his own songs on records. Even on the new material he gets help from masters of the trade, and he’d rather dive into reinterpreting and internalizing other people’s ideas. I don’t know when or if he’ll release new original material, and with as many works behind him as he has, there’s probably no need to push. It is true, though, that his solo work in the new millennium has been rather pale, if we leave out the collaborations with J.J Cale and B.B. King.. So Old Sock is the perfect record for an armchair by the fireplace, or for the shade on the terrace in summer. A pleasant, undemanding, but not below-average album.
Lineup
Eric Clapton – vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin
Doyle Bramhall II – electric and acoustic guitar, dobro, slide guitar, mandolin
Paul McCartney – vocals, double bass
Taj Mahal – harmonica, banjo
Steve Winwood, Tim Harmon – Hammond B3 organ
J.J. Cale – guitar, vocals
Justin Stanley – clavinet, mellotron, drums
Matt Rollings – keyboards
Simon Climie – percussion, piano
Willie Weeks – bass guitar, double bass
Steve Gadd, Jim Keltner, Abe Laboriel Jr., Henry Spinetti, Matt Chamberlain – drums
Chris Stainton – clavinet, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3 organ
Stephen “Doc” Kupka – baritone saxophone
Joseph Sublett – tenor saxophone
Nicholas Lane – trombone
Sal Cracchiolo – trumpet
Chaka Khan, Nikka Costa, Wendy Moten, Julie Clapton, Ella Clapton, Sophie Clapton, Lisa Vaughan, Michelle John, Sharon White – backing vocals
Production
Eric Clapton & Simon Climie
Tracklist
1. Further On Down The Road
2. Angel
3. The Folks Who Live On The Hill
4. Gotta Get Over
5. Till Your Well Runs Dry
6. All Of Me
7. Born To Lose
8. Still Got The Blues
9. Goodnight Irene
10. Your One And Only Man
11. Every Little Thing
12. Our Love Is Here To Stay
