Pity poor Eric Clapton. In the span of two years, he saw one
supergroup he was involved in (Cream) collapse under its own weight
and another supergroup he played in (Blind Faith) crumble under its
own pretentiousness. One had to wonder if the third time would be
the charm for the British guitar god.
With the help of some members of Delaney and Bonnie’s backing
band, Clapton finally went the solo route with this 1970
self-titled release. And while it helped cement his position as a
name to watch in rock music, it didn’t quite show off Clapton’s
true glory. It is, in fact, shaky, but listenable.
Part of the problem turns out to be the backing band. When the
sound takes on a New Orleans flavor with the horn sections, the
songs tend to hit the wall pretty quickly. A solid instrumental
base on “Slunky” is destroyed with this rhythm section. The focus
should have been on Clapton’s guitar playing, which seems to take a
back seat to the rest of the music. In this case, this is a fatal
mistake. (Even the help of musicians like Leon Russell hurt the
overall case.)
The three songs that
Eric Clapton is known for still have some moments of glory.
“After Midnight” hasn’t aged as well as we’d like to think it has,
though this version still blows away the re-recording Clapton did
in the ’80s. “Blues Power” shows off a Clapton vocal that would
later become his trademark, while “Let It Rain” is the true
standout of this album, featuring a sound that Clapton would take
one step further in Derek And The Dominoes.
What also stands out on this album is Clapton’s acoustic guitar
work on “Easy Now,” a song which also demonstrates the beauty of
his voice. (The subject matter of the song… well, let’s just say
you should listen very carefully, ’cause this ain’t no cinammon and
sugar love song. It’s, aaah, a little stickier.) After hearing this
song, I had to wonder why Clapton decided not to use more acoustic
work on the album.
Other performances on
Eric Clapton are hit-or-miss. Songs like “Lonesome And A
Long Way From Home” and “Told You For The Last Time” show some of
the brilliance Clapton had, while other cuts like “Bottle Of Red
Wine” and “Bad Boy” tend to waste it. Even Clapton’s attempts to
dive into the blues don’t soar like he would have liked them to.
(Clapton would get the blues right much later on
From The Cradle.)
Eric Clapton isn’t a bad album by any definition, but it is
admittedly spotty. Still, it’s a better overall listen than some
“classic” albums.
