A Tribute To Eric Clapton (2022) CD Review

Eric Clapton, as probably anyone who listens to music knows, is an accomplished and incredibly talented guitarist. He’s near the top of every list of great guitar players, and in addition to his solo career he was a member of some influential bands, including The Yardbirds, Cream, and Blind Faith. He’s also written or co-written some excellent songs over the years. And whatever nonsense he may have spouted against safety protocols during the pandemic, he is still one heck of a good artist. Last year, several artists joined forces to pay tribute to Eric Clapton, choosing songs from his solo albums as well as from Cream, The Yardbirds and Blind Faith. Most of the songs picked for this tribute album are from fairly early in Clapton’s career. The album was produced by Jürgen Engler, who also plays guitar, bass and keyboards.

“Cocaine” is one of the first songs I recall hearing from Eric Clapton when I was growing up. It got quite a bit of airplay in Massachusetts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and a live version of it was included on the compilation Time Pieces, which was the first Clapton album I ever got (I was ten or eleven years old at the time, and got it on cassette). And “Cocaine” is the song that kicks off this tribute, this version featuring Kirk Fletcher on vocals and guitar, and Brian Auger on organ. It is a fairly faithful rendition, and I like the work on keys during the instrumental section in the middle. “Cocaine” was included on Clapton’s 1977 album Slowhand, as was “Lay Down Sally,” this tribute’s second track. This was always one of my favorites. It’s a fun country number that Eric Clapton co-wrote, and the version here is really good. It features Sammy Kershaw on vocals, and Albert Lee delivering some delicious work on guitar.

This disc then goes back to the Cream days for a couple of tracks, starting with “I Feel Free,” which was written by Peter Brown and Jack Bruce. The version here is wild, with Arthur Brown on vocals, James Williamson on guitar and Rat Scabies on drums. It was also included on Arthur Brown’s Monster’s Ball, which was released in October. Then “Sunshine Of Your Love” features Eric Gales on vocals and guitar, and Doug Pinnick on bass. This song allowed me to get away with a lot of stuff in seventh grade. One of our teachers made a reference to this song, and only my friend Dan and I got it. And so from then on, we had a bit more freedom in that classroom. The song comes from Disraeli Gears, which was the first Cream album I bought, a cassette I listened to over and over. This version focuses on the guitar work, and has an interesting ending.

From Eric Clapton’s first album is chosen the track “Let It Rain,” this version featuring Jack Russell on vocals, and Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. They do a good job with it. I particularly like the guitar work in that last section. That’s followed by “Wonderful Tonight,” another song from Slowhand, and another of Eric Clapton’s best songs. It’s such a pretty number. Oli Brown is on vocals and guitar on the version included on this tribute album, and delivers a really nice performance. Wayne Proctor is on drums, Jon Trier is on organ, and Alex Phillips is on bass. Lynne Jackaman provides backing vocals. Then the band Molly Hatchet gives us “Layla,” one of Clapton’s most famous songs, this one coming from the only studio album by Derek And The Dominos, released in 1970. The song has two distinct sections, almost feeling like two different songs. I figured Molly Hatchet would kick ass on that first section, which the band does. But these guys also do quite a good job with the pretty second section.

The first version I heard of “I Shot The Sheriff” was that by Eric Clapton, which was included on 461 Ocean Boulevard, and then also on Time Pieces. It wasn’t until several years later, when I was in high school, that I heard Bob Marley’s recording. Clapton’s version still maintained much of the reggae feel, while adding some rock elements. The version on this tribute album has much more of a blues rock sound, particularly in the guitar work. Pat Travers is on guitar and vocals, Artimus Pyle is on drums, and David Sancious is on keys. That’s followed by “For Your Love,” a song recorded by The Yardbirds, and so the oldest song chosen for this tribute album. Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere & The Raiders) provides the vocals on this version. Rick Nielsen is on guitar, Gregg Bissonette is on drums, Tom Petersson is on 12-string bass, and Robert Bird is on rhythm guitar. It’s a pretty cool and pretty wild rendition.

Then we get the most recent of the songs chosen for this album, “Tears In Heaven,” which came out in late 1991 (the version I mainly listened to was on the Unplugged album, which was released in 1992). This is an interesting choice to cover, because it’s such a personal song, about a heartrending subject. Ana Popovic delivers a strong bluesy vocal performance. She also plays lead guitar and slide guitar on this track, and is joined by Buthel Burns on bass and Jerry Wayne Kelley Jr. on drums. That’s followed by “White Room,” a Cream song that was written by Peter Brown and Jack Bruce, and was always one of my personal favorites. Graham Bonnet delivers a powerful vocal performance, backed by Snowy White on guitar. The album then concludes with the Blind Faith song “Can’t Find My Way Home,” written by Steve Winwood, and here sung by Shirley King, who puts her own touches on it. Martin Barre is on guitar. This is one of the disc’s best tracks.

CD Track List

1. Cocaine
2. Lay Down Sally
3. I Feel Free
4. Sunshine Of Your Love
5. Let It Rain
6. Wonderful Tonight
7. Layla
8. I Shot The Sheriff
9. For Your Love
10. Tears In Heaven
11. White Room
12. Can’t Find My Way Home

A Tribute To Eric Clapton was released on June 17, 2022 on Cleopatra Records.