Review Summary: Toothless is the word. But, as cruel as it sounds, it doesn't betray the solo career of Eric.
The beginning of a new era for good ol’ Eric, this one. After revolutionizing electric guitar playing with Cream and the Yardbirds, he begun his solo career as an established and wildly popular guitarist with this record, which was released some months before his masterwork with Derek And The Dominos,
Layla (And Other Assorted Love Songs) hit the stores.
In retrospect, this album seems like the start of Clapton’s decline as a musical force to be reckoned with. Sure, Eric is not craving to blindly mimic his idols yet, as this is not a hardcore blues release (there is pop, R&B, country and some gospel along the usual blues stuff). But it is the first in an endless series of pleasant, but ultimately derivative albums (in every aspect) in the man’s discography.
The songwriting is, thankfully, only a minor problem here. Clapton was never a prolific songwriter, relying on other musicians to help him out and this time around, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett are the co-writers for the majority of this material, with occasional help from Leon Russell and Steve Cropper. The results are decently interesting, with the only highlights being the laid-back J.J.Cale cover
After Midnight, the Beatlesque
Easy Now and the wonderfully anthemic
Let It Rain, all of which are excellently written.
The rest, however, pale in comparison. The blues numbers
Bad Boy,
Blues Power and
Bottle Of Red Wine feature, predictably, derivative vocal hooks and guitar riffs, while the opening
Slunky is just an uninspired instrumental piece of boogie with “safe” soloing by Clapton and no distinct overarching musical theme to tie the jamming together. However, the record is somewhat saved in the songwriting department thanks to the remaining four country/gospel affairs, all of which feature solid vocal melodies, despite the pedestrian writing of the instrumental parts.
Unfortunately, there are bigger issues to be found here. First and foremost, what the hell has happened to Eric? His guitar flourishes throughout seem incredibly uninspired and by-the-numbers, while his tone feels like a less-polished alternative to its
Layla counterpart. Even among the three aforementioned highlights, only
Let It Rain boasts truly captivating guitar playing, with clever fills and soloing on top of the expertly written riff.
Furthermore, the arrangements, production and playing of the session musicians are all totally uncreative. There is obviously a lack of identity throughout the album, and a big reason is that Clapton is sadly reduced to a sideman on the vast majority of tunes here and, sadly, sounds "buried" under the sea of additional instruments.
Another reason is that these songs feel neither authentic to their respective genres nor particularly innovative or even fresh. I’d call them routine. The blues numbers lack spontaneity and refuse to offer any studio trick that could distinguish them from, well, all the other blues numbers penned in the world, while the country/gospel tunes are marred by generic background vocals. And the “funky” brass section of
Lonesome And A Long Way From Home? Gimme a break!
To wrap up, while the songwriting itself is on the whole quite solid, the actual execution seriously mars the album. It’s a
conservative listening experience and Clapton up until then wasn’t a conservative artist. I’ll tell you this; if you love Clapton’s rendition of
I Shot The Sheriff and think that it’s just as exciting and exuberant as the original, feel free to love the record. For me, Eric’s debut is a standard case of where the ingredients are, formally, more or less there, but the heart and commitment is nowhere to be found.
I enjoy the stuff he did with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.
