Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze - An Appreciation Of J. J. Cale - 2014

From the early seventies, beginning with his hit cover of After Midnight, Eric Clapton was hugely influenced by Oklahoma blueser and Americana trailblazer J. J. Cale. Indeed, there were times when Eric sounded more like J. J. than J. J. himself, if you get my drift. Cale's laid-back, sleepy sound acted as a virtual blueprint for Clapton's entire solo career. Tracks that sounded like Cale turned up without fail on pretty much every Clapton album. Eventually, the pair of them teamed up on the excellent Road To Escondido album too.

Here, after Cale's passing, Clapton decided to pay tribute to him with this album of covers of the man's work. As he liked to do, he gathered several buddies to help him out - Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Derek Trucks - all artists steeped in the Americana tradition. The result is an unsurprisingly effortless and highly listenable workout of an album that positively drips with quality. These guys know their onions and prove it throughout the album. The album is possessed of excellent sound - warm, bassy and welcoming. 

Highlights are Tom Petty on I Got The Same Old Blues and Rock And Roll Records, Eric going swampy on Cajun Moon, John Mayer's chunky Lies, Mark Knopfler sounding typically laconic on Someday and bluesy on Train To Nowhere and Eric's take on Call Me The Breeze, also made famous by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Eric's version is, like Cale's original, far more Americana than Southern rock. Willie Nelson's strange and unique vibrato bleat doesn't quite suit the bluesiness of the material, however, but that is nit-picking. It is balanced out by the comparative strength of heavy numbers like John Mayer's Don't Wait and Don White's atmospheric Sensitive Kind.

If you have liked Eric Clapton's trademark relaxed delivery dating right back to 1970 then this album will have no trouble hitting the right buttons. I read a review somewhere that said that this won't gain Clapton any new fans, but is it supposed to? For me, you like what you like and that's that. New fans? Who needs 'em?

The cover art is nice too.

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