Eric Clapton "Forever Man" 1983-2014(rec) 2015(comp)****

It is a clear sign of the depreciation of the CD as a medium, that a well-curated compilation of a major artist was given away free with a Greek weekly newspaper immediately after its release. On the one hand this doesn't bode well for the value of my own collection (mostly CD's, following the great vinyl purge) on the other hand it was a cheap way to delve into the post-classic Clapton period, which is under-represented in my collection. The first "Studio" disc here does a good job of cherry-picking tracks from 16 (if I'm counting correctly) albums spanning a period of 31 years. Even so, there's little that's essential. Sure he had hits in the 80's, but they were mostly commercial pop with R&B leanings, comparable to what Robert Palmer or Joe Cocker did in the same period. "Forever Man" is probably the best of them while "I've Got a Rock N Roll Heart", "Pretending" and "Bad Love" are also typical of this style. "It's In The Way That You Use It" is more of the same, but I set it apart because of its use on The Color Of Money movie (that Martin Scorsese has a great taste in music). His 90's recordings are more interesting, as that decade found him clean and sober for the first time after a long while, even after fate dealt him a cruel hand: losing his 4-year-old only son in an accident, a tragedy that inspired his best-selling ballad "Tears In Heaven". Another -bittersweet- ballad, about their last father-and-son exit, was "Circus" while more slow songs from the same period include "Change The World" and "My Father's Eyes" - the latter not from personal experience: Clapton never knew his father who disappeared after leaving his teenage mother pregnant. He was subsequently raised by his grandparents, and was initially told that his mother was an older sister. With such a back-story, is it surprising he ended up playing the blues for a living? And it's on the blues covers that Clapton shines: songs like "Motherless Child" from the 1994 collection From The Cradle and "Little Queen Of Spades" from the 2004 Robert Johnson tribute Me And Mister Johnson, or the B.B.King duet "Riding With The King". More 00's recordings include the bluesy "Got You On My Mind" and "Travelin' Alone", his cover of J.J.Cale's "Call Me The Breeze", and "Anyway The Wind Blows" from their collaborative album Road To Escondido (2006). Rounding up the more recent recordings are the reggae-ish "Revolution" (2005) and soul rocker "Gotta Get Over" (2014) featuring Chaka Khan. Rich as Disc One is, though, it still doesn't justify the subtitle "Best Of Eric Clapton". That's where Disc Two comes into play: while the recordings come from the same period, they include live versions of his best 60's and 70's hits: "Badge", "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "White Room" from the Cream period (from 1991's 24 Nights), an acoustic version of Derek & The Domino's "Layla" which went on to become a huge hit, just like its parent album Unplugged (1992), "Presence Of The Lord" of his Blind Faith days, taken from Live from Madison Square Garden with Steve Winwood (2009), and great performances of solo hits "Cocaine" and "Wonderful Tonight". Unexpected treats include the funky Buddy Miles cover "Them Changes" from the aforemetioned collaboration with Steve Winwood, and an earnest cover of "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizzard Of Oz. The rest of the disc is comprised of blues covers ranging from exciting to nothing less than workmanlike. Say what you will about the man, he can really lay it down live..

STUDIO DISC
**** for Anyway The Wind Blows, Motherless Child, Little Queen Of Spades, Tears In Heaven, Call Me The Breeze, Forever Man, Riding With The King, It's In The Way That You Use It, Got You On My Mind

*** for Gotta Get Over, I've Got A Rock'n Roll Heart, My Father's Eyes, Pretending, Change The World, Circus, Travelin' Alone, Revolution

** for Bad Love, Behind The Mask

LIVE DISC
***** for Wonderful Tonight, Cocaine, Layla (Unplugged)

**** for Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room, Worried Life Blues, Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (Unplugged), Them Changes, Goin' Down Slow

*** for Badge, Walkin' Blues (Unplugged), Presence Of The Lord, Hoochie Coochie Man, Over The Rainbow