Eric Clapton "Just One Night" 1980****

A few days ago, I had the chance to see Clapton live at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome. The whole concert is up on youtube, you can check it out here. It was a great night, but it almost didn't happen: I bought the tickets three years ago. Originally, the concert was to take place in June 2020. Then the pandemic hit, so the show was postponed for June 2021. But that year the pandemic was still in full swing so the concert was postponed for yet another year. In the meanwhile, Eric had a severe reaction to the anti-COVID vaccine, which made him panic about permanently losing motor function of his hands and being unable to play guitar. And then, only a few months after the lockdown was lifted and he was able to play in front of an audience again, he contracted COVID - less than 3 weeks before the Amsterdam show. Understandably, I was a bit apprehensive as to whether his famous guitar mastery would still be intact, or impacted by his age (77 as of now), sickness, or 2-year-long absence from live concerts. It turns out that his ability has been only slightly diminished by time: after a perfunctory start, things warmed up with a great solo during "I Shot The Sheriff". Then it was time for the acoustic segment, which I enjoyed more than I anticipated: I'm not a big fan of his Unplugged CD, but he gave a very warm and skillful performance for a session including traditional blues as well as his own "Layla" and "Tears in Heaven". The second electric set found Clapton in even better mood. The audience was happiest to hear his classics ("Badge", "Wonderful Tonight", "Cocaine") but his guitar playing was best during the two blues covers. The encore consisted of one song, "High Time We Went". The whole band sounded elevated on it, but none more than pianist Chris Stainton who initially wrote this song with Joe Cocker, 50 years ago! Another veteran in the band that left very good impressions was Paul Carrack on organ and occasional vocals. 2nd Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II was a great supporting player who also took the spotlight on many occasions, while the band also included bassist Nathan East, drummer Sonny Emory, and backup singers Sharon White and Katie Kissoon.

Just One Night was the album I chose to play in the car on the way to the concert and back. It wasn't recorded in one night, as the title would suggest - rather, the performances were culled from a two-night residency in Tokyo's Budokan Theatre. Some of Clapton's biggest solo hits up to that point are here: his most popular ballad "Wonderful Tonight", J.J. Cale covers "Cocaine" and "After Midnight", as well as his own (successful) attempt at writing a J.J. Cale-like country blues "Lay Down Sally". "Cocaine" is notable for a long solo that completely distinguishes it from the studio version, as well as the enthusiastic audience participation. "After Midnight" for its tempo, which is much faster than the original. Other covers by contemporary artists include Bob Dylan's "If I Don't Be There by Morning" (never recorded by the writer himself), and "Setting Me Up" from Dire Straits' then-recent debut. Both relatively unknown songs, but with a laid-back Southern rock vibe that suited Clapton's style well. Other country-tinged songs include the Rick Danko co-write "Our Past Times" and upbeat Danny Flowers cover "Tulsa Time". There are a number of slow blues ("Early in the Morning", "Worried Life Blues", the "Rambling On My Mind"/"Have You Ever Loved A Woman" medley, Otis Rush's "Double Trouble") that showcase Clapton's emotive guitar playing. It was, after all, his uncanny ability to play the blues that gave Clapton the nickname "God" when he was only 20, and that is the kind of material he really excels in. Funnily enough, his own composition "Blues Power" isn't really blues, but a bouncy rock'n'roll number with lots of boogie-woogie piano by the very same Chris Stainton whom we enjoyed earlier this week in Amsterdam. Albert Lee perfectly compliments Clapton on guitar, and sings lead on "Setting Me Up". It's nice to see how Clapton enjoys playing together with other guitar virtuosos rather than antagonize them: his bands have on occasion included Duane Allman and Mark Knopfler, and of course he curates the Crossroads Guitar Festival which gives him the chance to play with the best. Dave Markee (bass) and Henry Spinetti (drums) complete this tight ensemble. The album closes with a spirited  performance of "Further On Up the Road", a Bobby Bland R&B number that Clapton has appropriated and recorded numerous times. Just One Night is considered to be among the best of many Clapton live albums, and I wouldn't disagree: I'd be hard pressed to find a better showcase for his guitar playing, which at the time was at its apex. Singing was never his strong suit, but it's also on the money here. The live sound is phenomenal for its time. I guess kudos should go to the Japanese sound engineers - it's no coincidence that so many live albums have been recorded in that same venue. If I have to find a flaw, it'd be the absence of Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek And The Dominos material. No "Sunshine Of Your Love" or "Layla", no hard rock, folk, or psychedelia. We only get electric blues and country, with a side dish of pop in "Wonderful Tonight". Also, compared to other E.C. live albums, the band is rather basic: no horns or strings, no backing vocalists or fancy guests. All those can be found elsewhere (24 Nights comes to mind). But maybe it's this sparse setup that allows for Clapton to shine ever more brightly. If you like the electric guitar, you're bound to love this album! 

**** for Tulsa Time, Early in the Morning, Lay Down Sally, Wonderful Tonight, Worried Life Blues, After Midnight, Double Trouble, Blues Power, Rambling On My Mind/Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Cocaine, Further on Up the Road

*** for If I Don't Be There by Morning, All Our Past Times, Setting Me Up

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

The Rolling Stones "Blue & Lonesome" 2016****

The day before I started writing this entry I went to see The Rolling Stones play for the second time in their lives (well, mine too of course). 20 years ago they had impressed me with their energy and ability to create excitement live. This time I was rather apprehensive: could they still put on a great show now they're in their seventies? Well, let's put it this way: they're not doing their legacy any disservice. Yesterday they didn't seem to have aged a single day. Keith's face may now look like a Halloween rubber mask but he's still got that mischievous look in his eye and he can still shake a stadium with a simple riff of his guitar. As for Jagger, he's in ridiculously good shape. If he ever dies he should donate his body to science - if he still has some body left, he seems to be shrinking in size as he's getting older. But of course we didn't pay a pretty penny to see if they're holding up well, it's all about the music, and one can't complain in this department. The band were playing well and the setlist was nearly perfect - even Keith's "Slipping Away" came at the right time to use the restroom or get beers from the bar. Other than that, the only songs that weren't stone-cold classics were the two blues covers from their latest album, and these were played with obvious gusto and skill. 
"Blue & Lonesome" was an unpredictable move from one of rock's most predictable dinosaurs: For decades now The Stones had been following the routine new album/huge tour/commemorative live cd. Big groups need new releases to promote on tour, to keep them from looking like a nostalgia act. Building tours around archive compilations like 40 Licks and GRRR was getting old, so they had to enter the studio again and come up with new material. After their 80's slump, their albums had been craftmanlike, neither exciting nor embarassing so one would normally expect more of the same. But instead of spending months honing in new songs as planned, they had an outburst of spontaneity, returning to their roots and the common love which brought them together: the Blues. Beginning the recording sessions with a blues cover just to warm things up, they found out they were enjoying themselves too much to stop playing blues and go back to trying to emulate their former glories. Three short days later, the band that took its name from a Muddy Waters tune and cut their teeth as Alexis Korner's sidemen had recorded its very first pure blues record as well as their first all covers album. They made a point of covering many relatively unknown classics, including no less than four songs by Muddy Waters' harmonica player and Chess Records solo artist, Little Walter. These include downhome blues "Just Your Fool" and "Blue And Lonesome" as well as the more jump blues-like "I Gotta Go" and "Hate to See You Go". The renditions are traditional in style, recreating without imitating the smoky atmosphere of 50's Chicago joints where this music was born. They're the most direct music they have done in decades, the band being super tight and recorded for the most part live straight to tape. The guitarists exchange licks without drowning the songs in solos as is too often the case in modern blues. Keith of course is not your typical lead guitarist (Woods played most of the solos in yesterday's concert), this kind of material would be perfectly suited to Mick Taylor, his counterpart in The Stones circa 1969–74. One can imagine how this album would have sounded with Taylor by listening to "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing" which contains some melting slide courtesy of guest Eric Clapton who plays in a similar style to Taylor. Clapton also plays lead on the closing "I Can't Quit You Baby". A bold move by The Stones, taking on a song made famous by Led Zeppelin. The Stones' version is emotive and powerful - maybe not as powerful as Zeppelin in their youth, but then again what is? The two Clapton songs count among the album's best, together with the Little Walter tracks, Jimmy Reed ballad "Little Rain", blues rocker "Ride 'Em On Down" and Howlin' Wolf's "Commit A Crime". Looking at him one can't imagine Jagger sounding as menacing as Wolf, a man twice his size with a voice to match. But Jagger is the most pleasant surprise here. I would expect Woods and Richards or seasoned sidemen like Chuck Leavel to be in their element playing traditional blues, but Jagger is the one that sounds the most rejuvenated by this project. His vocals are emotive and powerful, he has swagger when appropriate and oozes pain in the bluesier pieces. Above all, his harmonica playing throughout is one of the record's highlights. Being a "mere" covers album I doubt this will go down in history as one of the great Stones' records. Despite that, there's no denying it contains their most spirited playing in decades - not to mention it's the best British Blues album since the genre's heyday with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

**** for Just Your Fool, Commit a Crime, Blue and Lonesome, I Gotta Go, Everybody Knows About My Good Thing, Ride 'Em on Down, Hate to See You Go, Little Rain, I Can't Quit You Baby

*** for All of Your Love, Hoo Doo Blues, Just Like I Treat You

Roger Waters "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking" 1984***

It was about 40 years ago that Roger Waters went to a Pink Floyd band meeting to discuss ideas for the band's next album. He had two ideas for a concept album already partly worked out in his mind, which he presented to the band complete with demos of some of the songs. The first one was about alienation and revolved around a rock star with childhood traumas, while the second was somewhat more abstract, having to do with the mid-life crisis and fantasies of an everyday bloke. The band discussed the merits of both, and predictably chose the one with the more well-defined narrative, which turned out to be their biggest hit ever, spawning a mammoth live show and successful film adaptation - I'm talking, of course, about The Wall.  The second idea was destined to become Waters' first solo album proper "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking", released when the band was technically in hiatus but had essentially practically already broken up. Even more than other Waters-penned concept works "Pros..." only makes sense as a whole - and even then hardly makes sense at all. Which doesn't mean that the writing is bad, quite the contrary. The album recounts the protagonist's dream, and evolves in real time. Every piece has a time-stamp denoting the time the dream takes place, while the story progresses with leaps as it usually happens in dreams - the subconscious throws unexpected pictures into the mix which the dreamer incorporates in the narrative. In the beginning he dreams he is on a holiday in Germany with his wife, when they pick up a couple of hitch-hikers. He feels lust for the female hitch hiker and has passionate sex with her. It is the only time sex holds a central position in a Floyd/Waters album, which brings me to the subject of the controversial cover art: racy covers were not rare in the late 70's - early 80's, but mostly by metal or funk bands, not something you'd expect by a former Floyd. So the picture of a shapely naked backside on the cover attracted criticism by many sides: Old Floyd fans found it crassly commercial, prudes too provocative (they managed to get the girl's bum covered with a black sticker in the U.S.) and feminists accused it as sexist and inducing to rape(?) - which was missing the point completely. The hitch-hiker represents the protagonists' repressed sexual desires, so he equipped her with a killer body, fetish red heels, and (something no-one else seems to have noticed) no face. 

My own gatefold. I had this on CD already, but I re-bought it on vinyl have a thing for collecting these with original uncensored covers.

By the way, the model is quasi-famous in her own right: Linzie Drew is a former groupie, glamour model and pornstar, as well as writer of a spicy autobiography. Musically the album sounds like the continuation of The Wall and The Final Cut. Eric Clapton on guitar makes for a great substitute for Gilmour, his bluesy style fits well with the music and provides some of the record's highlights, as in the uncharacteristically blues-rock "4.41 Am (Sexual Revolution)". I would have liked to hear more of him in the record, but he mostly provides tasteful fills rather than solos. Another great instrumentalist in this album is saxophonist David Sanborn whose solo literally lifts off "4.50 Am (Go Fishing)". Renowned composer Michael Kamen played piano and arranged the orchestral score. There's a lot always going back in the background, including special effects and dialogues by actors like Jack Palance and scenester Cherry Vanilla, which will be of interest for those who want to follow the story but are otherwise just distracting. The female backing singers add a bit of sugar to the mix, while strangely the weakest link is Waters himself on lead vocal: Always theatrical, he whispers and shouts but hardly sings. I'll admit he did exactly the same in The Wall without bothering me, but that was probably because I got caught up in the story. Furthermore The Wall left more space for the instruments while "Pros..." focuses more on the words. Here you'll also find the same quite/loud dynamic with sudden bursts as in The Wall e.g. in the start of "Running Shoes" which is similar to "In The Flesh". "4.39 Am (For the First Time Today, Part. 2)" reminds me of "Mother" and 4:47 AM (The Remains Of Our Love)" of "Don't Leave Me Now" from the same album. Meanwhile, the first 5 songs dealing with the protagonist's infidelity end with him waking up "...in a fever/The bedclothes were all soaked in sweat/She said `You've been having a nightmare/And it's not over yet'". The couple moves to the country and tries to start anew, but this fails and leads to the central character becoming a drifter/hitch hiker. He tastes the freedom of that life ["5.01 Am (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking part 10)", the album's lead single and only straight-ahead rocker] as well as the loneliness ["5.06 Am (Every Strangers Eyes)", a poignant ballad]. In the end, he wakes up realising that his life isn't all that bad and finding solace in the arms of his wife ["5.11 Am (The Moment of Clarity)"] - which sounds about as appeasing as a hastily concocted happy end in a Hollywood movie. Listening to the whole album again, I find it's better than it's usually given credit for. Understandably, its similarity to The Wall leads to unfavourable comparisons, lacking as it does a really great standalone song like "Comfortably Numb" or "Another Brick In The Wall". Taken as a whole, though, it is a complex and at times rewarding listening experience. Pink Floyd (or just Prog Rock) fans should give it their full attention. They may end up loving it.

**** for 4.39 Am (For the First Time Today, Part. 2), 4.41 Am (Sexual Revolution),  4.50 Am (Go Fishing), 5.01 Am (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking part 10), 5.06 Am (Every Strangers Eyes)

*** for 4.30 Am (Apparently They Were Travelling abroad), 4.33 Am (Running Shoes), 4.37 Am (Arabs With Knives and West German Skies) (2:21), 4.47 Am (The Remains of Our Love), 4.56 Am (For the First Time Today, Part. 1), 4.58 Am (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin), 5.11 Am (The Moment of Clarity)

Rolling Stones "Flashpoint" 1991***

The latest Rolling Stones albums given away with Sunday's Real News is a live album from 1991. I would probably not have bought it otherwise, since I already have a bunch of those ("Get Your Ya Ya's Out" from 1969, "Live Licks" 2004. the acoustic "Stripped" from 1995, plus DVD's "Some Girls Live '78" and "Shine A Light" from 2007). As great as "Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar" are, how many versions does one need? At the time, the album worked well as a souvenir of the record breaking Steel Wheels Tour. Thanks to the hit-laden tracklist, it can also function as a live Best-Of album. More than that, it is an irrefutable document of a great (maybe the greatest?) rock'n'roll band in its natural habitat: the stage. From the opening notes of "Start Me Up", it's evident that the band's 80's slump is behind them and that they've rediscovered their chemistry: Jagger sings with passion rather than just prancing up and down the stage as he sometimes did, Watts hits the drums harder than any time in memory and Wymann propels the band forward flawlessly (albeit for the last time) with his bass. Best of all, Richards' and Wood's intertwined guitars weave an amazing guitar tapestry - even on the disco "Miss You", which Richards claims to hate. It is, of course, Mick's tune and he really rips through it, improvising on spot and interacting with the audience as he goes. More good news: The Steel Wheels tracks "Sad Sad Sad", "Rock and a Hard Place" and "Can't Be Seen" really come alive in a live setting, surpassing their studio counterparts. Then they up the ante by skipping two decades and facing off against their younger selves: Can they match their Sixties heyday? Well, not quite. But, let's be fair: who the fuck can? The inclusion of "Ruby Tuesday" and "Factory Girl" are a nice surprise, as they're not often performed live. But the former's 60's whimsy and latter's sympathy-to-the working-class sentiment seem far removed from today's Stones. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" sounds a bit anaemic but gives Jagger the chance to sing along with the audience and adds to the overall live feel. Which leads us to an amazing sequence of 60's classics, beginning with "Little Red Rooster", a song they originally cut at the fabled Chicago Chess studios in 1965. It's played as it's meant to be played, in a real downhome blues style. Midway through the song, God (Remember the graffitis in London walls back in 1965?) just appears and puts in an amazing blues solo. And yet, the next song beats even that! A Spanish guitar intro gives way to galloping drums and all-time favourite "Paint It Black". After that, who should make an appearance but Lucifer himself? "Please allow me to introduce myself..." Jagger sings and he takes us back to 1968 with "Sympathy for the Devil" - It's as if not a single day has passed! "Brown Sugar" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" also rock as hard as they ever did and "Satisfaction" is transformed into a soul dynamite with the horns playing the main riff instead of the guitar. Otis Redding's version springs to mind. Adding a couple of new studio recordings after a song sequence as strong as this was a bad idea, but someone must have thought he can hook in fans by including new, previously unreleased songs. Not that they're bad, per se: "High Wire" is The Stones' first political song since the 60's, a competent rocker against the (first) Gulf War, a sentiment I wholeheartedly applaud. If only it was recorded live and placed somewhere in the middle of the album... As it stands now, it sounds like an afterthought and completely out of place. "Sex Drive" is a funky dance number that would sound right at home in "Dirty Work". Hell, it'd be one of the album's highlights. But "Flashpoint" is a pure rock'n'roll record, so if you make a playlist of it, I'd urge you to leave "Sex Drive" out. Generally, this CD left me satisfied beyond my expectations. Still...Am I going to play it often? Don't think so. As good as these versions are, anytime I feel like listening to "Paint It Black" or "Jumping Jack Flash", I'll choose the studio version instead...

**** for Start Me Up, Miss You, Rock and a Hard Place, Little Red Rooster, Paint It Black  Sympathy for the Devil, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash, Satisfaction

*** for Sad Sad Sad, Ruby Tuesday, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Factory Girl, Can't Be Seen, Highwire, Sex Drive

** for (Intro) Continental Drift (0:27)

Stephen Stills "Stephen Stills" 1970****

Stephen Stills' eponymous album was his solo debut after stints in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash (& Young). Judging from the cover, it seems to be a naked affair - an intimate record featuring just Stills and his acoustic guitar. Well, guess again: This is one of the most star-studded albums of rock. Guests include all of CS&N (not just Crosby and Nash, the support players as well), Ringo Starr on drums, John Sebastian, "Mama" Cass Elliot and Rita Coolidge on backing vocals, Booker T Jones on organ, and no less than Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Opener "Love the One You're With" mixes excellent vocal harmonies with Latin percussion and it remains his biggest hit. "Do For The Others" is a delicate folk ballad and "Church (Part of Someone)" a richly orchestrated gospel/soul number. "Old Times Good Times" brings him together with Jimi Hendrix. Stills moves to the organ and lets Hendrix handle the guitar parts alone. Need I remark he totally shreds it? Tragically, he was already dead by the time the album hit the stores, which is why it circulated with a dedication "to James Marshall Hendrix". The bluesy "Go Back Home" finds Stills exchanging licks with another guitar legend, Eric Clapton. Check the live video below, where he plays all the guitar parts alone - you'll see that Stills himself was no slouch when it came to electric guitar (He was ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time")."Sit Yourself Down" was the second single of the album and notable for its great backing vocals. "To A Flame" is a psychedelic folk ballad with an elegant string section. "Black Queen" is the simplest production on the album, a blues-folk number with masterful acoustic guitar accompaniment and "Cherokee" is a soul rocker with jazzy flute and sax passages, while "We Are Not Helpless" is an optimistic and uplifting answer to former bandmate Neil Young's desperate "Helpless". The album was very successful (reached #3 of the charts and is included in many an all-time-best-albums list) but Stills wasn't destined for a great solo career and will mostly be remembered as a member of Crosby Stills and Nash (& Young) and for his various collaborative efforts (Manassas, the Stills/Bloomfield/Kooper "super session" etc).

**** for Love the One You're With, Do for the Others,Old Times Good Times, Go Back Home, To a Flame

*** for Church (Part of Someone), Sit Yourself Down, Black Queen, Cherokee, We Are Not Helpless

Jack Bruce "The Collector's Edition" 1986-1995(orig) 1996(comp)****

It's been six months to the day since Jack Bruce passed away. I started blogging a few weeks afterwards and didn't commemorate him at the time, but this anniversary is as good an opportunity as any. Despite a long career spanning rock, blues, jazz, progressive and metal, he was only ever mentioned in relation with Cream, the 60's supergroup he created with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. I'll try to rectify that by presenting a latter-day compilation focused on his output for the German CMP label (1986-1995). It opens with two superb tracks from "Somethin Els", in which he's reunited with Cream alumni Pete Brown (lyrics) and Eric Clapton (trombone - just kidding! Guitar, of course). "Waiting on a Word" is a breezy number with trademark blues guitar while "Ships in the Night" a nice, romantic piano-led duet with Maggie Reilly until halfway through...when Clapton unleashes a Pink Floyd-ish solo and the song really takes off. "Childsong", the 3rd track from "Somethin Els" doesn't feature any guitar at all - it's all about acoustic bass and saxophone and reminds me of Robert Wyatt's jazz-prog fusion or the mellower moments of Van Der Graaf Generator. The songs from the "Monkjack" album ("Folksong", "Time Repairs" and blues classic "Third Degree") tread similar territory, jazzy ballads with piano at the forefront. Bruce's singing throughout is excellent but rather understated. New experimental versions of Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary" and Bruce's "Politician" and "Rope Ladder to the Moon" come from a collaborative effort with Mark Nauseef - a jazz drummer with a rock past (Elf/Ian Gillan Band/Thin Lizzy) - and Serb guitarist Miroslav Tadić. Which brings us to the live recordings from the "Cities of the Heart" album. They're all quite powerful readings of solo and Cream material and feature stellar musicians: Humble Pie guitarist Clem Clempson on proggy "Theme for an Imaginary Western" and blues "Sitting On Top of the World", Ginger Baker drumming on "Top of the World" and "NSU" and Gary Moore dispensing heavy metal solos on  "Life On Earth"and "NSU". Taken as a whole, this CD is a testament to Bruce's skill (on vocals, bass and piano) and versatility. A dive into his back catalogue will reward you with a number of rare gems scattered throughout his discography - not to mention the Cream albums, which are of course essential listening. 

**** for Waiting on a Word, Ships in the Night, Theme for an Imaginary Western, Life On Earth, Childsong 

*** for Sitting On Top of the World, NSU, Folksong, The Wind Cries Mary, Rope Ladder to the Moon, Time Repairs, Third Degree 

** for Politician, Colotomix II

Eric Clapton and Friends "The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale" 2014****

Eric Clapton must surely be JJ Cale's biggest fan. For his very first solo album he recorded a cover of then completely unknown Cale's "After Midnight". He then had a big hit with another Cale song, "Cocaine", while he recently recorded a whole album with him ("The Road to Escondido"). This fascination isn't all that apparent if you compare their playing styles: Cale's is fluid and relaxed, while Clapton's can be loud and fiery. Anyway, Cale's unfortunate passing last year led Clapton to curate a tribute album to him, with himself playing guitar and singing on some songs while various "friends" provide vocals & second guitar. These include Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Don White and country legend Willie Nelson. Other guest guitarists include Albert Lee, David Lindley, and Derek Trucks while Cale's widow Christine Lakeland helps with backing vocals. All artists approach their source material with respect (perhaps too much respect), resulting in beautiful and understated performances and an album that is quite homogenic and manages to exude the same feeling as Cale's own. "Same Old Blues" is probably the only song where Clapton's style is readily identifiable, as he mostly prefers to play close to the original rather than rock it out like he did with "Cocaine". Knopfler on the other hand makes "someday" sound like Dire Straits without straying too far since his style was always closer to that of Cale's. Opener "Call Me the Breeze" is indicative of the album, rolling along nicely with fantastic guitar work, although it still isn't as good as Lynyrd Skynyrd's version. "Rock and Roll Records" featuring Tom Petty is another winner. Not being familiar with the original versions of this or "Someday", I was much more pleased with these than e.g. "Lies", a great performance of this hit that is nevertheless so close to the original it's like listening to karaoke. John Mayer was known to me by name only but his singing here and on "Magnolia" convinced me to search for more. "Sensitive Kind" features fellow Okie Don White on vocals and is a delicate ballad that reminds me of Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight". Once more, although flawless, not my favorite cover of this song-that would be John Mayall's. "Cajun Moon" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" are two bluesy numbers by Clapton while "Songbird" and "Starbound" feature country legend Willie Nelson on vocals. He makes no effort to imitate JJ's singing and he songs are the better for it. "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" is a fast country number while "The Old Man and Me" sports a hypnotic bossa/blues rhythm. "Don't Wait" and “Train to Nowhere” are a couple of very successful collaborations between Clapton and, respectively, Mayer and Knopfler. Overall, the album manages to convey Cale's spirit and provide an enjoyable listening experience with some virtuosic but restrained guitar playing. Nevertheless I, for one, would like to hear such good musicians give their own version of the songs and preferably expand them beyond the 3-minute mark. Faithful as it is though, it makes for a good introduction to JJ Cale's music and should convince newcomers to dig deeper. If you're one, I'd suggest to get any of his first 5 albums, although you can't go wrong with anything bearing his name (As his critics like to point out, they all sound more or less the same).

**** for Call Me the Breeze, Rock and Roll Records, Someday, Cajun Moon, Don't Wait

*** for Lies, Sensitive Kind, Magnolia, I Got the Same Old Blues, Songbird, The Old Man and Me, Train to Nowhere, Starbound

** for Since You Said Goodbye, I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me), Crying Eyes