Music : Me and Mr. Johnson
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0093624842323
Label: Reprise / Wea
Manufacturer: Reprise / Wea
Number Of Discs: 1
Publication Date: 2004
Publisher: Reprise / Wea
Release Date: March 30, 2004
Sales Rank: 9167
Studio: Reprise / Wea
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Editorial Review:
Album Description:
On Me And Mr.Johnson, Eric Clapton covers 14 of the 29 songs Robert Johnson, the most mythic figure of the blues, wrote and recorded in his lifetime. For fans of deep blues,it doesn ’t get any better than this. After the success of Clapton ’s first two traditional blues albums —1994 ’s Gram- my-winning triple-platinum, #1 pop From The Cradle, and 2000 ’s Grammy-winning, double-platinum,#3-charting Riding With The King collaboration with B.B.King —Me And Mr.Johnson finds Clapton once more at the crossroads of blues and rock.
The cover illustration by Peter Blake includes both published photographs of Robert Johnson: a rendering of the Robert Johnson Studio Portrait / Hooks Bros., Memphis c. 1935 / © 1989 Delta Haze Corporation / the Robert Johnson photo booth self-portrait, early 1930s / © 1986 Delta Haze Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
Amazon.com:
It's impossible to overemphasize the importance of singer-guitarist-songwriter Robert Johnson's contribution to blues music. The same can be said of Eric Clapton, one of Mr. Johnson's most dedicated interpreters. From his work with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to Cream and beyond, Clapton has arguably attracted more widespread attention to Johnson's music than any other living musician. A decade after his all-blues From the Cradle (which included no Johnson material), Clapton jumps into the icon's catalog with both feet by covering 14 Johnson tunes. With a stripped-down veteran band that includes such longtime associates as drummer Steve Gadd, keyboardist Billy Preston, and harmonica ace Jerry Portnoy, the guitarist attacks these songs with passion, intelligence, and a refreshing lack of blues-rock pretense. From the upbeat jump of "32-20 Blues" and "They're Red Hot" to the slower, grinding "Little Queen of Spades" and "Milkcow's Calf Blues," Clapton acquits himself well, eschewing his slicker inclinations with arrangements that underscore Johnson's rawest tendencies--although perhaps he doesn't seem sufficiently terrified when walking with Lucifer on "Me and the Devil Blues." Still, this is a successful and admirable return to his roots, one that will hopefully introduce an even larger audience to Johnson's seminal work. --Hal Horowitz
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Mr. Clapton does a wonderful job on Mr. Johnson's songs. A top notch band as always, this time with Billy Preston on organ. Just a really great album.
Rating: -
To most people Robert Johnson's legacy will live on forever. But with Eric Clapton taking ahold of these songs he has pushed Johnsons's legacy even further. I had goose bumbs from the first song to the last.
Rating: -
eric proves again why he has been at the top of his game for over 40 years. he just is simply the best guitar player and interperter of the blues of robert johnson. he has the gift despite lifes difficulties.
Rating:  -
I played it 1-1/2 times...then it became litter.
The cover showing Clapton in a stark setting, acoustic guitar in hand, led me to believe this would be an " solo acoustic blues" album, befitting a "tribute" to RJ.
WRONG.
Slick, over produced, over-blown, and most especially, over-instrumented, this disc sounds like a "Chicago Blues" session...
Yes, I disliked this take on Robert Johnson very much.
To Eric Clapton:
Listen to Rory Block doing Johnson....
The Lady and Mr. Johnson
That's how to show tribute...Smokin'!!
Rating:  -
The power of Robert Johnson's music lies in his haunting lyrics, stark arrangements, and tortured delivery. Unfortunately, in reworking Johnson's songs for "Me and Mr Johnson", Eric Clapton has robbed them of their original power, substituting instead competent, but out-of-place, Chicago Blues-style arrangements and disappointingly hackneyed vocal delivery. Johnson's lyrics alone are left to carry the load and, alas, they cannot.
Clapton can do better, and, indeed, he has. Listen to "Malted Milk" from Unplugged and "Terraplane Blues" and "Ramblin' on My Mind" from
Sessions For Robert J. (CD + DVD) for proof that he can interpret Johnson's music in inspired fashion. Given the magnitude of Robert Johnson's influence on Eric Clapton, a Clapton album comprised entirely of Johnson's songs seemed a very promising undertaking. If only "Me and Mr Johnson" had lived up to that promise . . .
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