ERIC CLAPTON ERIC CLAPTON (1970)
When Eric Clapton left Cream he abandoned his psychedelically painted Gibson SG guitar and probably his employment of the Les Paul or any other Gibson instrument. From here on he played a Fender, early on a Telecaster but thereafter mostly a Stratocaster. His style of playing changed, from hard tock bluster to a more melodic, bluesy and country style, and the sound changed from the over driven hard rock roar of the humbucking Gibson to the thinner, sharper and more piercing attack of the single coil pickup Fender guitars.
There was a transitional period with Blind Faith where some of the material sounded like a further refinement of the Cream style and with Derek and the Dominos he excised the Cream links and played as pure a modern blues style as one could hope to hear, and he played powerfully.
According to the history, Clapton was influenced by The Band and Delaney & Bonnie to move to a simpler, song based musical style and away from virtuosity for its own sake.
Eric Clapton, his solo debut, reflects this new approach in songs and playing. The songs are more poppy, countrified and quite low key as is the playing, generally. Even his voice is more unassuming and lacking in confidence.
The cover photograph is not inspiring either, as it shows an apologetic looking Clapton, in a bad leisure suit, slumping in a chair, with a Stratocaster balanced against his leg. If ever I saw an album cover that would put me off buying the record, it’s this one.
The overall impression is that album lacks the power, passion and ambition of the Cream years and is the obvious harbinger of the type of commercially successful material and sound that made Clapton a pop star in the Seventies. The upside is that Clapton became a much more dedicated and powerful blues player, alongside his pop tunes, than he was in the ultimately suffocating power trio. The downside was, when Cream reunited to play a bunch of concerts in 2005 and early 2006, Clapton still played the Strat, played the same relaxed, bluesy way and made Cream sound like a technically accomplished but uninspired Cream cover band.
“After Midnight” is good, bouncy fun and deservedly a hit. ”Blues Power” isn’t very powerful in its studio version and usually done better live. “Let it Rain” is a future Clapton classic that also grew in live performances.
For the rest, the songs are workmanlike and the performances competent. It’s a well-crafted introduction to the new direction Clapton would make his own over the next decade but it’s not a classic album and I wouldn’t include it in a top ten list of the best Clapton albums. It’s one of those records I’d listen to once, for the record, and then file, never to be heard again.
