Clapton

Eric Clapton, one of the greatest musicians of all time

A guitar virtuoso, once called a guitar God, Eric Clapton has not pleased the audience with a new material for quite some time now. The musician has performed a lot of splendid covers in his career-time which includes both solo and part of a group works – the artist is now 65, and it is the fifth decade that he does not part with his guitar. Besides, Clapton is the author of many a world hit himself, among which are Tears In Heaven, (I) Get Lost, Crossroads and Layla. In 2006 Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale, the author of several Clapton’s hits recorded a collaborative album The Road to Escondido, and since then the artist only did some touring. Yet he has performed some new songs and covers from the stage quite recently and promised to include them into his new album. The fans have been waiting for the new creation impatiently, and finally late this September the record Clapton has seen the light of the day. The new album traditionally includes both pop-blues and rock standards as well as absolutely new songs which serve the best proof that Eric Clapton is still one of the greatest musicians of all time.

Beautiful standards and new songs on Clapton

It is not hard to guess that Clapton includes songs penned by Clapton himself or co-written by him as well as by those authors with whom the artist is a long-term friend. The same goes about the professional musicians who have provided the faultless arrangements. The album opens with a great composition Travelin' Alone, refined with organ sounds created by Steve Winwood and his synthesizer. The song Rocking Chair is one of those which Eric Clapton has performed at one of his relatively recent concerts, whereas the cover of J.J. Cale’s song River Runs Deep proves to be one of the record’s most calm and soft numbers. The standard How Deep Is The Ocean conquers not only with piano modulations, guitar bass and an amazing sax, but also with Clapton’s soulful singing. The musicians Allen Toussaint and Wynton Marlsalis join the artist on My Very Good Friend The Milkman and When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful, and both of the songs deserve applause for they present the examples of a very delicious jazz and contemporary pop music mixture. As for Eric Clapton’s vocals they sound just the same vivid and contagious as years before – whichever song you choose here, it will definitely not disappoint. A marvelous ballad Diamonds Made From Rain pleases with a most beautiful tune and optimistic lyrics, while a classic blues number Hard Times Blues reminds of the days when the guitarist's blues singles made it to the leading positions of the world charts. The album closes with another wonderfully melodious standard Autumn Leaves, one of the most romantic and melancholic songs written in the last century.

A perfect balance between form and content

It goes without saying that Eric Clapton is a person interesting in every way, hence each of his album releases becomes an important event. His contribution to the world’s music culture is enormous, and taking into account his mature age, the new work really deserves admiration and will take an honorable place in the discography dating back to the late 1960s. On the whole the artist’s albums can be conventionally divided into two groups – those containing unrestrained blues compositions and reggae experimentation and faultless pop ballad collections with perfect arrangements, with the fans of the former often criticizing the latter and vice versa. As for the album Clapton it is simultaneously similar to the guitarist’s previous works and different from them at the same time, for the arrangements here are really good, but the emotions are also here in abundance. The thing is that Clapton has enough of experience behind his back to masterly doze these two main traits of his creative work. Thus, the record Clapton is the best example of how an artist, due to his talent, persistence and an ability to cope with hardships can find a perfect balance between form and content – the quality of sound and strong emotions.