''Clapton'' is the eighteenth solo studio album by English rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
. It was released on 27 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States.Listen To Four New Songs From "Clapton" On Whereseric.com – Where Is Eric – 2 September 2010 /ref>
Background
The album was Clapton's first studio album in four years following his duet with
J.J. Cale
John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and sound engineer. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knop ...
in ''
The Road to Escondido
''The Road to Escondido'' is a collaborative studio album by J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton. It was released on 7 November 2006. Contained on this album are the final recordings of keyboardist Billy Preston. The album is jointly dedicated to Pr ...
'' (2006), and is made up of a mix of new material and cover songs. Clapton has played tracks off this album such as "Rocking Chair" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful" live on tour. Clapton has said, "This album wasn’t what it was intended to be at all. It's actually better than it was meant to be because, in a way, I just let it happen."
Chart performance
''Clapton'' debuted at number seven on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, his highest charting album on the chart since ''
Reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalia ...
'' from 2001. In the United States it entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number six, selling 47,000 copies in its first week on the chart. The album reached top five positions in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Critical reception
According to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, ''Clapton'' received an average of 72 out of 100 indicating generally favourable reviews from music critics, based on ten critiques. In his review of ''Clapton'' for Allmusic,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...
said that "there's no record quite like ''Clapton'' in Eric Clapton's catalog," and goes on to say that the album "flows easy, the blues never hitting too hard, the New Orleans jazz never getting too woozy, the standards never too sleepy, the sounds subtly shifting but changing all the same." In
David Fricke
David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...
's review for
rollingstone.com
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...
he called ''Clapton'', "a serenely masterful engagement with roots – the guitarist co-wrote just one original – that is all over the place in repertoire yet devoutly grounded in its roaming. Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean" comes with an earnest, sandy Clapton vocal and lighthouse beams of trumpet by Wynton Marsalis. Little Walter's "Can't Hold Out Much Longer" has the crusty flair of Clapton's 1965 and '66 recordings with John Mayall. A pair of Fats Waller romps are decked out in New Orleans brass and pianos, one of them played by Allen Toussaint."
53rd Annual Grammy Awards
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...
Rocking Chair
A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...
" (
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...
) – 4:04
# "River Runs Deep" (
J.J. Cale
John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and sound engineer. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knop ...
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
) – 5:29
# "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" (Lyrics: Johnny Burke, Music:
Harold Spina
Harold Spina (21 June 1906 – 18 July 1997) was an American composer of popular songs. His best-known work happened in the early 1930s, when he collaborated with lyricists Johnny Burke and Joe Young on songs such as "Annie Doesn't Live Her ...
) – 3:20
# "Can't Hold Out Much Longer" (
Walter Jacobs
Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...
) – 4:08
# "That's No Way to Get Along" (
Robert Wilkins
Robert Timothy Wilkins (January 16, 1896 – May 26, 1987) was an American country blues guitarist and vocalist, of African-American and Cherokee descent. His distinction was his versatility: he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and g ...
) – 6:07
# "Everything Will Be Alright" (J.J. Cale) – 3:51
# "Diamonds Made from Rain" (
Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Early life
Bramhall was born i ...
,
Nikka Costa
Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born 4 June 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa.
Early ...
,
Justin Stanley
Justin Stanley is an Australian musician, producer and songwriter.
He has worked with an eclectic range of musicians including Beck, Prince, Jimmy Cliff, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney and Snoop Dogg.
Some of the artists Stanley had produced, in ...
Harry M. Woods
Henry MacGregor WoodsIMDb bio for Harry M. Woods (November 4, 1896 – January 14, 1970) was a ) – 2:51
# "Hard Times Blues" (Lane Hardin) – 3:45
# "Run Back to Your Side" (Bramhall,
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
Joseph Kosma
Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer.
Biography
Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographe ...
,
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallic ...
,
Jacques Prévert
Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...
"You Better Watch Yourself"
;Barnes & Noble and Best Buy bonus track
#
"Take a Little Walk with Me"
;iTunes bonus track
#
"I Was Fooled"
;Amazon.com bonus track
#
"Midnight Hour Blues"
Personnel
Performers
*
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
– vocals, guitar,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
(12)
*
Doyle Bramhall II
Doyle Bramhall II (born December 24, 1968) is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Early life
Bramhall was born i ...
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and founder of The Derek Trucks Band. He became an official member of The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. In 2010, he formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, blues sin ...
–
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos t ...
(2), guitar (3)
* J. J. Cale – guitar (3, 8), vocals (3, 8, 9)
*
Greg Leisz
Gregory Brian Leisz ( ; born September 18, 1949) is an American musician. He is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer. He plays guitar, dobro, mandolin, lap steel and pedal steel guitar.
Biography
Leisz grew up in the garage band cultu ...
–
pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...
(1), acoustic piano (2, 4-15),
Wurlitzer electric piano
The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...
(3), keyboards (14)
* James Poyser – Hammond organ (3, 8)
*
Allen Toussaint
Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...
– acoustic piano (6, 11)
* Steve Riley – accordion (8)
*
Paul Carrack
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
– Hammond organ (9)
* Sereca Henderson –
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
(10)
*
Willie Weeks
Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ...
– bass guitar (1, 4, 8, 9, 10, 13),
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
Jim Keltner
James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...
Abe Laboriel Jr.
Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo ...
– drums (2, 14)
*
Jeremy Stacey
Jeremy Stacey (born 27 September 1963) is a British drummer and keyboard player. His early works included the 1990s band The Lemon Trees (with twin brother Paul Stacey on guitars, Guy Chambers and others) and Denzil. He has also played with ...
– drums (3, 10)
*
Justin Stanley
Justin Stanley is an Australian musician, producer and songwriter.
He has worked with an eclectic range of musicians including Beck, Prince, Jimmy Cliff, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney and Snoop Dogg.
Some of the artists Stanley had produced, in ...
Thomas Brenneck
Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer. He became known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and a member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of ...
– horns (3)
*
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top 40 ...
– harmonica (4, 7, 15)
*
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...
sousaphone
The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...
(8)
* Edward Lee – tenor saxophone (8)
* Tim Callagan – trombone (8), trumpet (8)
* Dan Ostreicher – horns (8)
* Sherrell Chenier Mouton – washboard (8)
* Tim Izo Orindgreff – saxophone (9, 10)
* Elizabeth Lea – trombone (9, 10)
* Printz Board – trumpet (9, 10)
*
Nick Ingman
Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor.
Born and educated in London, Ingman moved ...
The London Session Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
Nikka Costa
Domenica "Nikka" Costa (born 4 June 1972) is an American singer whose music combines elements of pop, soul, and blues. She also had a career as a child singer starting in the early 1980s. She is the daughter of music producer Don Costa.
Early ...
Lynn Mabry
Lynn Mabry (born March 21, 1958) is an American singer.
Early life
Born in Vallejo, California, Mabry's mother enjoyed playing piano and her father was a choir director and radio DJ. They divorced when she was 3 years old.
Career
She got he ...
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...
– vocals (10) Arnold Kłymkiw - vocals (15)
Production
* Producers – Eric Clapton, Doyle Bramhall II , Justin Stanley (Track #10).
* Engineer and Mixed by Justin Stanley
* Recorded at
Ocean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, California, Nashville, Tennessee, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates re ...
(Hollywood, CA) and
Piety Street Recording
Piety Street Recording is a recording studio at 728 Piety Street in the 9th Ward/ Bywater, New Orleans.
History
The building was originally a US post office and later housed the Louisiana Center For Retarded Citizens. After a few short-term ten ...
(New Orleans, LA).
* Mastering –
Gavin Lurssen
Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.Terry O'Neill (front and back), Gregory Malphurs (guitars).
* Design – Stephen Walker
* Production Coordinator – Debbie Johnson
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...