ERIC CLAPTON
''461 OCEAN BOULEVARD DELUXE EDITION, DISC ONE''
1974
NOVEMBER 9 2004
142:05
1/Motherless Children
Traditional/4:53
2/Give Me Strength
Eric Clapton/2:54
3/Willie and the Hand Jive
Johnny Otis/3:31
4/Get Ready
George Harrison, Yvonne Elliman/3:47
5/I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Marley/4:25
6/I Can't Hold Out
Elmore James/4:14
7/Please Be With Me
Charles Scott Boyer/3:26
8/Let It Grow
Eric Clapton/5:00
9/Steady Rollin' Man
Robert Johnson/3:14
10/Mainline Florida
George Terry/4:09
11/Walkin' Down the Road
Paul Levine, Alan Mungrove/5:17
12/Ain't That Lovin' You
Jimmy Reed/5:30
13/Meet Me (Down at the Bottom)
Willie Dixon/6:59
14/Eric After Hours Blues
Eric Clapton/4:23
15/B Minor Jam
Eric Clapton/7:11
DISC TWO (LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON, DECEMBER 4TH AND 5TH, 1974)
1/Smile
Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons, James Phillips/4:39
2/Let It Grow
Eric Clapton/6:23
3/Can't Find My Way Home
Steve Winwood/4:49
4/I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Marley/7:49
5/Tell the Truth
Eric Clapton, Bobby Withlock/7:03
6/The Sky Is Crying; Have You Ever Loved A Woman; Ramblin' On My Mind
Elmore James; Billy Myles; Robert Johnson/7:23
7/Little Wing
Jimi Hendrix/6:49
8/Singin' the Blues
Mary McCreary/7:42
9/Badge
Eric Clapton, George Harrison/8:36
10/Layla
Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon/5:26
11/Let It Rain
Eric Clapton, Bonnie Bramlett/6:33
Tom Bernfield /Backing Vocals
Eric Clapton /Dobro, Guitar, Vocals
Yvonne Elliman /Guitar, Vocals
Jim Fox /Drums
Albhy Galuten /Clavichord, Piano, Piano (Electric), Synthesizer
Al Jackson, Jr. /Drums
Jamie Oldaker /Drums, Percussion
Carl Radle /Bass Guitar
Dick Sims /Organ
George Terry /Guitar, Backing Vocals
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
461 Ocean Boulevard is Eric Clapton's second studio solo album, arriving after his side project of Derek and the Dominos and a long struggle with heroin addiction. Although there are some new reggae influences, the album doesn't sound all that different from the rock, pop, blues, country, and R&B amalgam of Eric Clapton. However, 461 Ocean Boulevard is a tighter, more focused outing that enables Clapton to stretch out instrumentally. Furthermore, the pop concessions on the album -- the sleek production, the concise running times -- don't detract from the rootsy origins of the material, whether it's Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive," the traditional blues "Motherless Children," Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," or Clapton's emotional original "Let It Grow." With its relaxed, friendly atmosphere and strong bluesy roots, 461 Ocean Boulevard set the template for Clapton's '70s albums. Though he tried hard to make an album exactly like it, he never quite managed to replicate its charms.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith -- which had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation. That it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however, was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for one of his stature. And his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typical of his self-effacing approach: it was, in effect, an album by the group he had lately been featured in, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.
Not surprisingly, before his solo debut had even been released, Clapton had retreated from his solo stance, assembling from the D&B&F ranks the personnel for a group, Derek & the Dominos, with whom he played for most of 1970 and recorded the landmark album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Clapton was largely inactive in 1971 and 1972, due to heroin addiction, but he performed a comeback concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on January 13, 1973, resulting in the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (September 1973). But Clapton did not launch a sustained solo career until July 1974, when he released 461 Ocean Boulevard, which topped the charts and spawned the number one single "I Shot the Sheriff."
The persona Clapton established over the next decade was less that of guitar hero than arena rock star with a weakness for ballads. The follow-ups to 461 Ocean Boulevard, There's One in Every Crowd (March 1975), the live E.C. Was Here (August 1975), and No Reason to Cry (August 1976), were less successful. But Slowhand (November 1977), which featured both the powerful "Cocaine" (written by J.J. Cale, who had also written "After Midnight") and the hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight," was a million-seller. Its follow-ups, Backless (November 1978), featuring the Top Ten hit "Promises," the live Just One Night (April 1980), and Another Ticket (February 1981), featuring the Top Ten hit "I Can't Stand It," were all big sellers.
Clapton's popularity waned somewhat in the first half of the '80s, as the albums Money and Cigarettes (February 1983), Behind the Sun (March 1985), and August (November 1986) indicated a certain career stasis. But he was buoyed up by the release of the box set retrospective Crossroads (April 1988), which seemed to remind his fans of how great he was. Journeyman (November 1989) was a return to form. It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years, though in the interim he would suffer greatly and enjoy surprising triumph. On March 20, 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son was killed in a fall. While he mourned, he released a live album, 24 Nights (October 1991), culled from his annual concert series at Royal Albert Hall in London, and prepared a movie soundtrack, Rush (January 1992). The soundtrack featured a song written for his son, "Tears in Heaven," that became a massive hit single.
In March 1992, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that, when released on an album in August, became his biggest-selling record ever. Two years later, Clapton returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became one of his most successful albums, both commercially and critically. Crossroads, Vol. 2: Live in the Seventies, a box set chronicling his live work from the '70s, was released to mixed reviews. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by the pseudonym "X-Sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer Simon Climie as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail Therapy to mixed reviews in early 1997.
Clapton retained Climie as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. Pilgrim was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its spring 1998 release, but the album debuted at number four and stayed in the Top Ten for several weeks on the success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with old friend B.B. King on Riding with the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing, entitled Reptile, followed in early 2001. Three years later, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson. Released in 2005, Back Home, Clapton's 14th album of original material, reflected his ease with fatherhood. Also in 2005, Clapton unexpectedly teamed with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker for a Cream reunion that included May concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall and shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden in October, with the former being compiled for a live release that fall.
This turned out to be the first of many reunions and looks back for Clapton. In 2006, he elevated the profile of his latter-day idol J.J. Cale by recording an album-long duet, The Road to Escondido. The following year he released his autobiography -- accompanied by a new career compilation called The Complete Clapton -- which focused more on his trials with addiction and subsequent recovery than his musical career. In 2008, Clapton began playing regular shows with his old Blind Faith partner Steve Winwood, gigs that were captured on the 2009 double-live set Live from Madison Square Garden. Winwood also appeared on Clapton’s next studio album, 2010’s Clapton, which was a collaboration-heavy affair also featuring Cale, Sheryl Crow, Allen Toussaint, and Wynton Marsalis. In 2011, Clapton returned the favor to Marsalis by collaborating on the live concert album Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center. collapse
''461 OCEAN BOULEVARD DELUXE EDITION, DISC ONE''
1974
NOVEMBER 9 2004
142:05
1/Motherless Children
Traditional/4:53
2/Give Me Strength
Eric Clapton/2:54
3/Willie and the Hand Jive
Johnny Otis/3:31
4/Get Ready
George Harrison, Yvonne Elliman/3:47
5/I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Marley/4:25
6/I Can't Hold Out
Elmore James/4:14
7/Please Be With Me
Charles Scott Boyer/3:26
8/Let It Grow
Eric Clapton/5:00
9/Steady Rollin' Man
Robert Johnson/3:14
10/Mainline Florida
George Terry/4:09
11/Walkin' Down the Road
Paul Levine, Alan Mungrove/5:17
12/Ain't That Lovin' You
Jimmy Reed/5:30
13/Meet Me (Down at the Bottom)
Willie Dixon/6:59
14/Eric After Hours Blues
Eric Clapton/4:23
15/B Minor Jam
Eric Clapton/7:11
DISC TWO (LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH ODEON, LONDON, DECEMBER 4TH AND 5TH, 1974)
1/Smile
Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Parsons, James Phillips/4:39
2/Let It Grow
Eric Clapton/6:23
3/Can't Find My Way Home
Steve Winwood/4:49
4/I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Marley/7:49
5/Tell the Truth
Eric Clapton, Bobby Withlock/7:03
6/The Sky Is Crying; Have You Ever Loved A Woman; Ramblin' On My Mind
Elmore James; Billy Myles; Robert Johnson/7:23
7/Little Wing
Jimi Hendrix/6:49
8/Singin' the Blues
Mary McCreary/7:42
9/Badge
Eric Clapton, George Harrison/8:36
10/Layla
Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon/5:26
11/Let It Rain
Eric Clapton, Bonnie Bramlett/6:33
Tom Bernfield /Backing Vocals
Eric Clapton /Dobro, Guitar, Vocals
Yvonne Elliman /Guitar, Vocals
Jim Fox /Drums
Albhy Galuten /Clavichord, Piano, Piano (Electric), Synthesizer
Al Jackson, Jr. /Drums
Jamie Oldaker /Drums, Percussion
Carl Radle /Bass Guitar
Dick Sims /Organ
George Terry /Guitar, Backing Vocals
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
461 Ocean Boulevard is Eric Clapton's second studio solo album, arriving after his side project of Derek and the Dominos and a long struggle with heroin addiction. Although there are some new reggae influences, the album doesn't sound all that different from the rock, pop, blues, country, and R&B amalgam of Eric Clapton. However, 461 Ocean Boulevard is a tighter, more focused outing that enables Clapton to stretch out instrumentally. Furthermore, the pop concessions on the album -- the sleek production, the concise running times -- don't detract from the rootsy origins of the material, whether it's Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive," the traditional blues "Motherless Children," Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," or Clapton's emotional original "Let It Grow." With its relaxed, friendly atmosphere and strong bluesy roots, 461 Ocean Boulevard set the template for Clapton's '70s albums. Though he tried hard to make an album exactly like it, he never quite managed to replicate its charms.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
By the time Eric Clapton launched his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album in mid-1970, he was long established as one of the world's major rock stars due to his group affiliations -- the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and Blind Faith -- which had demonstrated his claim to being the best rock guitarist of his generation. That it took Clapton so long to go out on his own, however, was evidence of a degree of reticence unusual for one of his stature. And his debut album, though it spawned the Top 40 hit "After Midnight," was typical of his self-effacing approach: it was, in effect, an album by the group he had lately been featured in, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.
Not surprisingly, before his solo debut had even been released, Clapton had retreated from his solo stance, assembling from the D&B&F ranks the personnel for a group, Derek & the Dominos, with whom he played for most of 1970 and recorded the landmark album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Clapton was largely inactive in 1971 and 1972, due to heroin addiction, but he performed a comeback concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on January 13, 1973, resulting in the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert (September 1973). But Clapton did not launch a sustained solo career until July 1974, when he released 461 Ocean Boulevard, which topped the charts and spawned the number one single "I Shot the Sheriff."
The persona Clapton established over the next decade was less that of guitar hero than arena rock star with a weakness for ballads. The follow-ups to 461 Ocean Boulevard, There's One in Every Crowd (March 1975), the live E.C. Was Here (August 1975), and No Reason to Cry (August 1976), were less successful. But Slowhand (November 1977), which featured both the powerful "Cocaine" (written by J.J. Cale, who had also written "After Midnight") and the hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight," was a million-seller. Its follow-ups, Backless (November 1978), featuring the Top Ten hit "Promises," the live Just One Night (April 1980), and Another Ticket (February 1981), featuring the Top Ten hit "I Can't Stand It," were all big sellers.
Clapton's popularity waned somewhat in the first half of the '80s, as the albums Money and Cigarettes (February 1983), Behind the Sun (March 1985), and August (November 1986) indicated a certain career stasis. But he was buoyed up by the release of the box set retrospective Crossroads (April 1988), which seemed to remind his fans of how great he was. Journeyman (November 1989) was a return to form. It would be his last new studio album for nearly five years, though in the interim he would suffer greatly and enjoy surprising triumph. On March 20, 1991, Clapton's four-year-old son was killed in a fall. While he mourned, he released a live album, 24 Nights (October 1991), culled from his annual concert series at Royal Albert Hall in London, and prepared a movie soundtrack, Rush (January 1992). The soundtrack featured a song written for his son, "Tears in Heaven," that became a massive hit single.
In March 1992, Clapton recorded a concert for MTV Unplugged that, when released on an album in August, became his biggest-selling record ever. Two years later, Clapton returned with a blues album, From the Cradle, which became one of his most successful albums, both commercially and critically. Crossroads, Vol. 2: Live in the Seventies, a box set chronicling his live work from the '70s, was released to mixed reviews. In early 1997, Clapton, billing himself by the pseudonym "X-Sample," collaborated with keyboardist/producer Simon Climie as the ambient new age and trip-hop duo T.D.F. The duo released Retail Therapy to mixed reviews in early 1997.
Clapton retained Climie as his collaborator for Pilgrim, his first album of new material since 1989's Journeyman. Pilgrim was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews upon its spring 1998 release, but the album debuted at number four and stayed in the Top Ten for several weeks on the success of the single "My Father's Eyes." In 2000, Clapton teamed up with old friend B.B. King on Riding with the King, a set of blues standards and material from contemporary singer/songwriters. Another solo outing, entitled Reptile, followed in early 2001. Three years later, Clapton issued Me and Mr. Johnson, a collection of tunes honoring the Mississippi-born bluesman Robert Johnson. Released in 2005, Back Home, Clapton's 14th album of original material, reflected his ease with fatherhood. Also in 2005, Clapton unexpectedly teamed with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker for a Cream reunion that included May concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall and shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden in October, with the former being compiled for a live release that fall.
This turned out to be the first of many reunions and looks back for Clapton. In 2006, he elevated the profile of his latter-day idol J.J. Cale by recording an album-long duet, The Road to Escondido. The following year he released his autobiography -- accompanied by a new career compilation called The Complete Clapton -- which focused more on his trials with addiction and subsequent recovery than his musical career. In 2008, Clapton began playing regular shows with his old Blind Faith partner Steve Winwood, gigs that were captured on the 2009 double-live set Live from Madison Square Garden. Winwood also appeared on Clapton’s next studio album, 2010’s Clapton, which was a collaboration-heavy affair also featuring Cale, Sheryl Crow, Allen Toussaint, and Wynton Marsalis. In 2011, Clapton returned the favor to Marsalis by collaborating on the live concert album Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center. collapse
No comments :
Post a Comment