''Money and Cigarettes'' is the eighth solo studio album by Eric Clapton, recorded after his first rehabilitation from alcoholism. Produced by Clapton and

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recording ...

with, apart from

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

, a new backing band of veteran session musicians including Donald "Duck" Dunn, Roger Hawkins, and Ry Cooder. The album was moderately successful commercially, reaching Top 20 chart positions in several countries. Critical reception was lukewarm.

Background

The cover depicts Clapton, cigarette in hand, standing next to a melting

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

guitar. Clapton chose the name of the album "because that's all I saw myself having left" after his first rehabilitation from alcoholism. After finishing a North American tour, Clapton and his touring band consisting of

Henry Spinetti Enrico Antonio Giorgio Spinetti (born 31 March 1951) is a Welsh session drummer whose playing has featured on many prominent rock and pop albums. Career Spinetti was born in Cwm, near Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Wales. His first band, aged about ...

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

Chris Stainton Christopher Robert "Chris" Stainton (born 22 March 1944) is an English session musician, keyboard player, bassist and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s. In addition to his collaboration with Cocker, St ...

and Dave Markee went into the

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producer ...

in Nassau, Bahamas, to record tracks for a new studio album. Listening to the new recordings, Clapton recalled, the songs have got a "pub atmosphere" and represent a "continuation of his work with

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of Small Faces (1965–69) and subsequently Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces ...

." Producer Tom Dowd, however, was not pleased with the recordings and the sound of Clapton's band, asking Eric to change his band, except for

. Clapton changed his band to the line-up as it is presented on the album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

and suffered from multiple collapses during the recording sessions.

Chart performance

The album was commercially quite successful, reaching Top 10 chart positions in two countries, followed by four positions in the album charts

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

. In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, ''Money and Cigarettes'' positioned itself on number 22 on the charts compiled by Gfk Entertainment. In the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the album ranked on position 16. In the United Kingdom and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the album peaked at number 13 and 11 on the nations' official music charts. Reaching peak position five on the Sverigetopplistan chart, the album became of one Clapton's highest-charting releases in Sweden. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, ''Money and Cigarettes'' peaked at number three, making it the highest position for the release.

Critical reception

In his review for ''AllMusic'', William Ruhlmann notes straight away, that "''Money and Cigarettes'' marked several important turning points in Eric Clapton's recording career: It was his debut release on his own Duck imprint within Warner Bros.' Reprise Records subsidiary. It was also the first album he made after coming to terms with his drinking problem by giving up alcohol. Newly focused and having written a batch of new songs, he became dissatisfied with his longtime band and fired them, with the exception of second guitarist Albert Lee. In their place, he hired session pros like Stax Records veteran bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and Muscle Shoals drummer Roger Hawkins, also bringing in guest guitarist Ry Cooder." Finishing his analysis, the critic summed the album up, "For all the changes and the high-powered sidemen, though, ''Money and Cigarettes'' ended up being just an average effort from Clapton." ''Rolling Stone'' critic

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 ...

rates the album with 3.5 out of five possible stars and concludes: "Like most of Clapton's recent solo records, ''Money and Cigarettes'' makes no claim to greatness. Still, the simple, unaffected blues power at work here is surprising and refreshing. As the chorus in Clapton's cover of Johnny Otis' 1958 party rocker "Crazy Country Hop" goes: 'Ooh wee oh oh ooh la la/Let's rock & roll.' On ''Money and Cigarettes'', Clapton offers no more and gives no less." Critic Robert Christgau rates the album with a "B+."

Track listing

Personnel

* Eric Clapton – electric guitar, slide guitar, lead vocals *

– keyboards, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals * Peter Solley – Hammond organ * Ry Cooder – electric guitar, slide guitar * Donald Dunn – bass * Roger Hawkins – drums * Chuck Kirkpatrick – backing vocals * John Sambataro – backing vocals

Production

* Producers – Tom Dowd and Eric Clapton * Engineers – Tom Dowd and Michael Carnavale * Assistant Engineer – Dennis Halliburton * Mastered by Mike Fuller at

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

(Miami, FL). * Art Direction – El & Nel Ink., Graham Hughes * Photography – Graham Hughes * Design – El & Nel Ink., Ian Murray * Model Maker - Laurie Savage * Typography and Design - Ian Murray Acrobat Design

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1983 albums Eric Clapton albums Albums produced by Tom Dowd Warner Records albums