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The History
Coming off the success of Cream and later the super group Blind Faith, Eric took to touring with Delaney and Bonnie. This happened in late 1969 and in 1970 Eric issued his first solo album, “Eric Clapton.” This would be the first solo album for Eric despite 5 years in the public eye as one of the greatest guitarists on the planet. The CD did alright and Eric would tour with Delaney and Bonnie but for some reason, the album was never followed up until 1974’s 461 Ocean Boulevard. Eric would release one more record before his “exile” in 1971, but that’s a story for another day.
The Album
The album contained 11 songs and is 37 minutes in length. Eric starts thing off with an instrumental called “Slunky.” I always liked it when he started off an album with an instrumental (like he recently did with Reptile) and it really gets things going. Eric was complete with a full band here including trumpeters and horn players so the song is pretty heavy on that as are most songs on the album. “Slunky” is a nice start to the album, though the ending is sort of weird.
The next song is “Bad Boy,” a song co-written by Eric Clapton and Bonnie Bramlett. Once again, another good groove with two guitar solos playing at the same time to fade out. “Lonesome and A Long Way From Home” continues the streak of good songs and although isn’t too guitar heavy it’s a great song. It’s not like anything he did in Cream or Blind Faith as Eric shows how he could play almost any type of music well. The guitar solo sounds like it’s played through a Leslie and compliments the song well.
The next song is perhaps his most well known song off the record, his excellent rendition of JJ Cale’s, “After Midnight” which is still a staple on classic rock stations. The song still rocks some 30 years later. “Easy Now” is an acoustic number and it is easily my favorite song on the album. It is only two acoustic guitars; with Eric singing and background singers and it is a winner. The song is actually written by Eric himself and he shows he could write a good song if he had too. Excellent song.
Up next is another song that has gained fame over the years, “Blues Power”. It was on the Cream of Clapton I believe and is just an average rock song. It’s not a bad song but I don’t see why it was included on Cream of Clapton when there were so many others that could’ve been added. I bet it sounds like I hate the song but I enjoy it. “Bottle of Red Wine” is up next and uses a blues riff sped up to a rock tempo but it just didn’t do it for me.
“Lovin’ You Lovin’ Me,” is a bluesy/jazzy type number that is actually pretty good and features a Beatle-ish chorus. Very good song, one of the best on the album in my opinion. The next song is “I’ve Told You For The Last Time.” The beginning sounds very close to a George Harrison solo number and that suits me just fine. No guitar solo on this one but the guitar playing in the background is pretty good.
The final two songs to close the disc are “Don’t Know Why” and “Let It Rain.” “Don’t Know Why,” is another song in a long line of good songs on this album and again sounds reminiscent of an early George Harrison solo song. It’s obvious that the Band was a big influence on Clapton on this record as were Delaney and Bonnie, as he didn’t saturate the album with needless guitar solos; (which he could have) he did what fit the song and everything was for the song. “Let it Rain” closes out the record and if you’re a Clapton fan I’m sure you’re familiar with this song. It’s one of my favorites of any Clapton era as it includes a hot opening, the acoustic verses, and the awesome guitar solo to close. Awesome end to the record.
The Liner Notes
It’s only four pages long and there’s not much there. The first page is the cover, the last page is a group photo, the inside front cover is the track listing with the composers and all while the inside back cover is just a drawing of the back picture telling who is who, and that’s it.
Overall Review
In my opinion, Eric really hit a home run with his debut. Of course, I am looking through the eyes of 30 years of history here. At the time, this album was a big departure from the Cream and Blind Faith stuff (which is what he was known for) and didn’t feature and of the extended jams Cream was known for. On the record though, Eric really benefited from the Delaney and Bonnie band backing him up with many horns and background singers. The inclusion of many songs that Cream wouldn’t playing shows that Eric was heading in different directions and that he wouldn’t be held to only one type of playing. The blues songs he was so famous for playing are almost absent here and the record really doesn’t need them. There are no standout guitar solos but the guitar playing throughout the whole album is exceptional and there are no guitar solos that were taken unnecessarily. Everything fit the song. That’s not to say the guitar playing is not there, it is. It’s all done for the betterment of the song and all of it fits well. Of course, there is always at least one song where Eric lets loose and plays like a madman and this album would have “Let it Rain,” for that.
There are no obvious clunkers on this album and I generally enjoyed the record as a whole. It includes three pretty big songs that would be on numerous Clapton compilations over the years, “After Midnight,” “Blues Power,” and “Let It Rain.” You can’t go wrong with those three songs. It also created Eric the songwriter. 8 of the 11 songs were written or co-written by Eric and none of them were necessarily bad. I think any Clapton who doesn’t have this album is crazy. It’s such a wonderful album and even though it doesn’t include the bluesier songs, it’s still a winner in my opinion. Highly recommended for a look back at Eric’s first statement that he wouldn’t be pigeon-holed in one genre of music, and a what a great statement it was. Unfortunately, it was lost amid the Cream years and his next album, which is probably one of the best rock records ever. That record would of course be Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Overall Rating:
9.0
Favorite Song: Easy Now
Favorite Solo: Let It Rain
Least Favorite: Bottle of Red Wine
Hidden Gem: Easy Now
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