Listened to: CDLet’s just say on the outset: Eric Clapton is the man. The. Man. The master is always in good form, and his stellar 1977 album Slowhand is no different. I already can say from the outset that I will beg you all to listen to this blues-rock masterpiece, but let’s praise it as a formality, shall we?
The album opens on “Cocaine”, one of Clapton’s most laid-back, yet heaviest tracks. “Cocaine” is originally a J.J. Cale song, but lord knows no one remembers that. All anyone remembers is Clapton’s chill vocals proclaiming “She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie, cocaine.” No one realizes it’s an anti-drug song, and that’s exactly how Clapton wanted it. Of course, just like any Clapton song, it’s not really about the meaning, or the lyrics, or the chorus, or the melody. It’s hearing that guitar tear up your stereo. You can’t help put air-guitar to every note bend during that solo. “Cocaine” remains to this day one of the best jam-songs Clapton ever recorded, and is followed up by one of the most beautiful love songs Eric Clapton has ever composed.
Written for Patti Boyd, the subject of “Layla” and George Harrison’s former wife, “Wonderful Tonight”, is one of the simplest, sweetest, and most tender love songs ever recorded. The lyrics read like a poem, the type that Keats or Shelley would read to a lover, and the guitar only highlights the gentle beauty in the sheer marvel and admiration Clapton feels for this woman. There are four love songs I look at and wish I’d written. This is one of them. Clapton follows up this sweet ballad with one of hi most country tinged tracks, the classic “Lay Down Sally”, that sounds more like a song by Bad Blake than Eric Clapton, but that’s just what makes him so incredible. The man was a member of the psychedelic Cream, the bluesy Derek and the Dominoes, Blind Faith, and yet here he is, writing love songs, hard rock, and southern blues, all in a row. And just listen to that guitar solo. If that isn’t a fine young Englishman returning to his blues roots, I don’t know what is.
The next track is the Clapton-classic (as in, classic only to Clapton fans) “Next Time You See Her”. This is one of those tracks that has such power live, even though it comes off kind of subdued on this album. And that is to the album’s advantage. After rip-roaring albums like Disreali Gears and Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs, Clapton crafted an album of soft tock tunes, gentle blues where you can just sit in your chair with your guitar and play along. Sure, you’re not gonna be dancing in the aisle, but he doesn’t want you to. Just relax, mellow out and slow-jam with the master. (That’s right, get out your guitars. You’re never gonna get better without practice. What am I paying for all those lessons for?)
“We’re All The Way” is a Don Williams composition that Clapton turns into a relaxing camp-fire-esque song, with Eric gently singing us into the night. It’s a brief tribute to all the gnelte songs that came prior, before we bust into the 8 minute hard-rock track “The Core”. Here Clapton gets as heavy as ever, crafting a real guitar song, with guest vocals from Yvonne Elliman, of “I Don‘t Know How To Love Him” fame. Just listen to that riff, and tell me this song wasn’t crafted for ol’ Slowhand himself (yes, his nickname is Slowhand. That’s the album’s namesake). After a terrific sax solo, just listen to Clapton rip it up like his life depended on it. This is Doobie Brothers. This is Allman Brothers. This is Clapton doing what Clapton does best.
“May You Never” switches back to the soft jam, complete with soft-sung vocals and light organ inflections. Though less country-tinged than “Lay Down Sally”, you can still feel the country influence. Speaking of country music influencing Clapton’s songs, we move to “Mean Old Frisco”. This is a deep, pounding blues track, the type Buddy Guy or B.B. King would play. To hear this kind of music from a scrawny white English guy is mind-rattling, but lord knows, Clapton can keep up with the best of them. The soul in the man’s guitar playing comes out clear as day on this track, and shows once more why “Clapton Is God”.
The album ends on “Peaches & Diesel”, a gorgeous finale track that’s all guitar, acting as a sort of reminder of the content of the album, giving variations on the theme of “Wonderful Tonight”. It’s a terrific final track to one of the best albums Clapton has ever recorded.
I truly and deeply recommend this album. If you go on looking for heavy rock and roll, you’ll be let down, but if you want to put on a record with some of the best guitar playing of all time, and don’t mind it being gentle and smooth, then you can’t do better than this.
-Mike
Next up is #219: Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.
No comments:
Post a Comment