819 Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)

 819 Eric Clapton - 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974)

Studio Album - Blues Rock



About the Act:

Eric Clapton started life as a baby, in Surrey, England, but soon became one of the best-known blues guitarists in the world, despite being English. His musical career spans from 1962 to the present, and as well as a solo career, he played in some rather well-known bands - The Yarbirds, Cream, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, Delaney & Bonnie and Derek & The Dominos. He has had 22 studio albums as a solo artist, several with the bands, a handful of collaborations, and guested on lots of other albums. He is known as "God" by some of his fans, and a "Slowhand", a reference to the fact that his guitar style is more about feel and texture than technicalities and speed. He is one of my favourite guitarists ever.


About the Album:

This was Eric's second solo album, and came after 3 years of inactivity during which he was mired in a heroin addiction. It was recorded in a house in Golden Beach, Florida, with the address 461 Ocean Boulevard. It sold a couple of million copies and in some ways was his breakthrough as a solo artist.


My History with this Album:

I discovered Eric Clapton in my late teens, being a guitarist, and liking blues (actually what I really knew at the time was Blues Rock). I had a copy of this album on a cassette tape, and have distinct memories of listening to it on the station of my home town. It has been a go-to Eric Clapton album ever since, and must qualify as one of my most-played albums of my life.


Review:

So, if you bother to read the things above, you will realise that I hardly come to this album cold. It will also come as no surprise that I love it. Let's try and describe it and analyse why.

In some ways it's not a typical Blues Rock album. It lacks bravado, it's not in-your-face. It's muted, but with a restraint that feels like maturity. Eric sings, and he's not noted for being an amazing singer, in fact at times he mumbles his way through. Mostly that's deceptive because the words are clear, it's just not strident, and the music goes with that. I guess more people will know Eric Clapton's music that JJ Cale's, but I can hear a really strong connection with this album and JJ Cale, again a mumbler, again muted and at times subdued. That doesn't mean there are no upbeat songs on the album - his version of I Shot the Sherriff is a radio-friendly classic, but it's the shuffling sound of Willie and the Hand Jive and the mellow Let it Grow that I think are the real highlights of this album. Despite the fact that Eric is known for his virtuoso guitar work, this is not an album of screaming solos. It's varied and thoughtful and actually quite stylistically diverse. The strength of the album is that it is about a band playing together in a blended, reactive way, and it is just great.

And that might be why I love it, it doesn't pretend to be anything big, it just hits a sweet spot of restrained excellence. It's of its time, but still manages to be timeless. And for me, of course, there is the warm homeliness of it, it's not challenging just completely pleasant, but very, very listenable. It doesn't particularly make me think, but it makes me smile, and that is enough.


8.2/10 


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/73cxqemPE6sVoCkwRuPU6E

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGibfZATlGo3GMlv2mrN5NCS00nUos96

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/461_Ocean_Boulevard



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