Search - Eric Clapton :: Eric Clapton (Dlx) (Exp)

Decent album,excellent compilation.

Philip A.Cohen | Bay Harbor Islands, Florida United States | 06/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure that the Delaney & Bonnie southern-fried sound was the ideal vehicle for Eric Clapton's talents,even if this musical hookup did lead to the formation of "Derek & The Dominos".Some of the early,negative reviews of this set relied on misinfomation.The mix of the album which appeared on the bootleg CD "The Unsurpassed Eric Clapton" in the 1990's,and purported to be the "Delaney Bramlett mix" of the album,was,in fact,Clapton's own rough mix of the album.The REAL "Delaney Bramlett mix" debuts on Disc 2 of this two-disc set.The bonus tracks are decent;a combination of some Clapton sessionman appearances for Delaney & Bonnie and King Curtis,and 3 previously unreleased selections,2 of them sung by Clapton."She Rides" is particularly fascinating,being the "Let it Rain" backing track with an early,different lyric and vocal melody.The recording was reworked in a manner similar to how Cream's "Lawdy Mama" was transformed into "Strange Brew".I wish there had been more outtakes available to include,but,if Marc Roberty's Eric Clapton sessionography book is correct,there is nothing else to add.Universal Music's efforts are excellent.It would have been nice to have the complete,officially unreleased Clapton mix of the album included as well,but it's floating around on a high quality bootleg anyhow.But,ultimately,the Tom Dowd mix released in 1970 was and is best."

Clapton, steps back and succeeds :)

Mark L. Mckenzie | San Francisco, CA USA | 07/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's worth it for the gossamer versions of Let It Rain alone. But I've always liked this album and hearing it in two different ways is a wonderful experience. It never sounded so clean and with a compare and contrast you make up your mind if its Dowds or Bramletts mix you prefer. Eric doesn't play less, perhaps more tasty is a better way of saying it. His voice is fine and its some of the best solo material IMHO that he did. Easy now rings with a cleaner sound than it ever did on the old ATCO pressing. Its up to you if you want it. But if your a fan of Clapton how can you pass this gem up ? Oh yes he stole Bramletts band after this was all over but its a good prelude to Layla for future guitar hero worship :)"

Nice Set, Could Have Been Even Better

Georgia Guitarist | Marietta, GA United States | 06/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was listening to Clapton before I even knew there was an Eric Clapton, since the first two U.S. Yardbirds albums credited only Jeff Beck. Once I "discovered" EC via Cream, I was hooked. Of course I "backed up" at that point and bought Mayall's Bluesbreakers album. I was devastated when Cream disbanded. Despite the radical change in musical direction, I loved "Eric Clapton" and literally wore the grooves out. So, several years later I tossed my copy of "Eric Clapton" in the garbage and purchased a brand new copy. Imagine my surprise when I put the needle down on the first track and heard a completely different mix of the song Slunky. In the version I had previosuly owned, the song actually starts on the first beat of the song (rather than the strange starting point that Tom Dowd chose) and there was no opening sax solo. The mix just established a backing groove that continued up until the guitar solo. Then, I heard this overwrought, breathy vocal on Bad Boy that was completely different from the version I had tossed. The previous mix featured a vocal that I'd compare to Eric's more relaxed approach in Let it Rain. Reading the liner notes in this new Deluxe Edition, I guess these were Eric's own mixes, not Delaney's. But they were released, because I owned them. I have always hoped to once again own these mixes. I'm disappointed that the legendary Delaney mixes are not the ones I thought they would be. Unlike an earlier reviewer, I'm not going to bust this album for not being what I wanted it to be. Unlike another earlier reviewer, I'm not going to bust this album for failing to be Cream or latter day EC. It's nice to have a remastered version. It's nice to have Teasin' from this era. The alternative versions of Don't Know Why and I've Told You for the Last Time are very interesting and EC burns up the solo in the latter. And She Rides is just fascinating. As odd as it is to hear different lyrics on top of the Let it Rain backing track, it kind of makes you wonder why EC and Delaney Bramlett would take a fully completed mix with a well executed lyric and redo it. I'm glad they did, I guess, just because I'm now so used to Let it Rain, but it's just as good a tune with the alternative lyrics. There are three reasons why I don't award this set 5 stars. First, there's nothing special about the inclusion of Delaney & Bonnie's version of Groupie (Superstar) - EC's role is neither critical or noticeable. Second, Blues in "A" is OK, and it's more interesting than the jams on the Blind Faith Deluxe Edition, but the Derek & the Dominos jams set a standard that this track simply can't meet. Third, those Eric Clapton mixes of a few of the songs (especially the radically different ones like Slunky and Bad Boy) should be here, perhaps instead of Blues in "A" and Groupie. In summary, Eric has always been a musical nomad, being very influenced by the musicians he's working with at the time. The music here is good, most of Eric's solos are excellent in this brand-new-at-the-time (non-Cream, non-blues) setting, and a couple of the songs are absolute classics. It's a good set that's worth owning, but it could have been better with a few different bonus tracks."