Eric Clapton

Me & Mr Johnson

Good Effort, Not Enough...

Review Score:

(6/10)
Having been a fan of both Robert Johnson and Eric Clapton, I was impatient to unwrap the album and listen to it. What a disappointment... Compared to his other exclusively blues album, "From The Cradle", this is a frustratingly mediocre interpretation of great songs... I think the sound is way too refined for Robert Johnson songs, whose wailing voice and slide guitar were "deeply soulful", to use Clapton's words.

I cannot pinpoint the exact reason for my dislike, but I believe the mojo is just not there. Maybe it's the crisp and flawless rhythm of Steve Gadd, maybe it's the studio-perfect bass sound of Nathan East, maybe it's Billy Preston's leaking organ, or it's just the too-clean, squeaking, perfectly reproduced Blackie replica sound that Clapton loves so much...

It might be a good album for some people who like to listen to music in the background, but for hardcore blues fans, I don't think it'll do. It would have been much better if Clapton had just taken his acoustic into the studio and had Jerry Portnoy or Chris Stainton with him on a few tracks... Well, the producer obviously had other things in mind...

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