Artist: Cale, J.J. & Clapton, Eric
Label: Reprise Records
Release: 2006
Eric Clapton, nicknamed Slowhand, and some people just call him God. Eric Clapton, who left his mark on legendary bands like The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith, and has also been a successful solo artist for several decades, with a musical path soaked in countless addictions, rehabs and personal tragedies. Without him, we’d probably have heard of Bob Marley much later, but Eric Clapton’s solo career would have maybe even gone unnoticed without JJ Cale. JJ Cale was not a particularly successful musician, but he wrote ‘After Midnight’, Eric Clapton’s first solo hit. He also wrote ‘Cocaine’, the song that sealed Clapton’s successful solo status. By the way, he also wrote ‘Call Me The Breeze’, which Lynyrd Skynyrd successfully covered.
Now, Clapton, whose career has been swinging between bad and mediocre for the last few years – and in fairness, what keeps him at “mediocre” are excellent projects like ‘Unplugged’, the blues-flavored ‘From The Cradle’, ‘Riding With The King’ made with the legendary B.B. King, or ‘Me and Mr. Johnson’, dedicated to Robert Johnson. And of course we can’t overlook the revival of the badly feuding Cream, who proved with a string of shows why the label “supergroup” stuck to them among the first. But back to the point – for his new solo record, Eric Clapton wanted JJ Cale as producer, and the whole thing turned into a joint album, which is… well, a JJ Cale record (he wrote a whole 11 of the 14 songs) for Eric Clapton.
Cale and Clapton are so in sync, so interwoven and fused that it’s sometimes hard to tell who’s singing or playing. Two superb guitarists and seasoned vocalists riding the rhythms of rock, blues, pop and at moments even jazz. The gorgeous sound of their interlocking guitars is sometimes, sadly, run over by the piano, and only rarely enriched by organ… at times we hear minimalist, delicately played blues patterns, and at others it sounds downright kitschy-pop. Clapton brought along his producer, who did his job flawlessly – radio stations can basically turn every song into a hit, and even the less demanding listeners will suddenly become the biggest fans and the keenest listeners. Personally, though, I miss a bit more dirt, rawness, grit, unpredictability. Rock, blues, rhythm & blues are just like that, and they shouldn’t be this polished, polite and nice. Like it or not!
And two seasoned music cats who have, frankly, already proven themselves shouldn’t have fallen for the traps of commercialism, but should have made a record that will still sound fresh and interesting thirty years from now. Instead, we get a quality musical product that’s too predictable and “play-it-safe” to be listened to with the same joy over time as we still listen to ‘After Midnight’ today.
It could, or rather should, have been better! The best it could be, but as it stands it sits somewhere in the golden middle, which clearly suits Clapton more than fine these days. Sadly…
Line-up
Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
J.J.Cale – guitar, vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Dennis Caplinger
Derek Trucks
Doyle Bramhall II
James Cruce
Abe Laboriel Jr.
Jimmy Karstein
John Mayer
Albert Lee
Marty Grebb
Pino Palladino
Simon Climie
Steve Madaio
Walt Richmond
Billy Preston
Gary Gilmore
David Teegarden
Jerry Peterson
Bruce Fowler
Production
J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton
Tracklist
1. Danger
2. Heads In Georgia
3. Missing Person
4. When The War Is Over
5. Sporting Life Blues
6. Dead End Road
7. It’s Easy
8. Hard To Thrill
9. Anyway The Wind Blows
10. Three Little Girls
11. Don’t Cry Sister Cry
12. Last Will And Testament
13. Who Am I Telling You
14. Ride The River
