| Amazingly, given his weighty reputation as a blues guitarist, Eric Clapton has previously released only one all-blues collection in a solo career spanning 30 years. That album, 1994's From the Cradle, may have topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, but Clapton certainly betters it with this interpretation of 14 Robert Johnson classics. The reason for this is primarily in the vocals. Clapton's voice has always been too soft, too undamaged to convincingly tell such tales of woe. Now though, veteran of various personal catastrophes, he can give a fair impression of a man who has seen too much. Surrounded by an impressive musical team including Andy Fairweather Low and Billy Preston, with Jerry Portnoy playing a blinder on blues harp, Clapton delivers a deep, pulsing "When You Got a Friend", a searing "Little Queen of Spades", a boogilicious "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and a bucking "They're Red Hot". "Come on in My Kitchen" and "Me and the Devil Blues", meanwhile, are tough acoustic efforts, more in keeping with the legend of Johnson at the crossroads at midnight. Clapton fans will love this--it's his best in ages. --Dominic Wills |
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