Me and Mr. Johnson

by

Eric Clapton

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Man, after reading some of the vehemently negative reviews posted here, I feel like George Bush at a Howard Dean rally by expressing a somewhat different view.

I like this CD. To me, its the best thing EC has done since his Cream years. Think of Cream's music and EC's work with John Mayall, then think of years of commercial garbage like I Shot the Sheriff and worse and you'll see what I mean.

When I bought this, I wasn't expecting "authenticity", some of the media hype prior to its release notwithstanding. And I didn't expect a CD full of Cream-like power blues. Actually, I didn't really expect anything, but I hoped that the CD would redeem him in the eyes of old fans like myself who have endured nearly thirty lean years with hardly a bone thrown our direction.

It has done this. Yes, Me and Mr Johnson is a lot more polished than other Johnson tributes I have heard and no, its not "authentic". But to my ears, it is quite enjoyable. Clapton has his own way with the blues and here he and his capable sidemen give us his interpretation of Robert Johnson's music and nothing more.

Robert Johnson was no doubt a great songwriter and I like all the songs here no matter who covers them. On this CD, I like the interpretations of Me and the Devil Blues, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Stop Breakin' Down Blues, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, and Love In Vain the best.

If you are a Clapton fan and make an honest attempt to listen to the album for what it is rather than constantly comparing the songs to the originals, you may find you really like this. Listen as though you are hearing these songs for the first time. Eric Clapton can't be Robert Johnson and he shouldn't try to be. He can only be himself and on Me and Mr Johnson he offers us his homage to the man he holds to be his chief musical influence. Check it out for yourself!

When Clapton recorded and released his 'Unplugged' few years ago, he made wonderful covers of both Robert Johnson's Malted Milk and Walking Blues. The result was absolutely brilliant. I had not heard a more inspired, passionate,soulful Clapton in years.

I would say that the opposite is true of 'Me and Mr. Johnson'. Leaving aside why Clapton decided to record the 14 songs he chose instead of Rambling on My Mind, I'm a steady Rollin'Man, and so on; the record has a major problem.

There's no energy, there's no strength, there's no passion. If you listen to Robert Johnson's original recording they're phenomenlly powerful. In Clapton's rendition, those very same song almost put you to sleep.

Love in Vain is a perfect case in point. It is a very powerful song, one of those songs that strikes some chords inside you. Robert Johnson created that magic, the Rolling Stones were able to preserve that magic in their cover, but all the magic is lost with Clapton. Love in Vain is almost boring. Clapton is a great guitar player and great bluesman, but the arrangements he chose for this record are terrible. They take all the energy away from these great great songs. What a disaster.