Me & Mr Johnson
- Eric Clapton
- Band Name: Eric Clapton
- Record Label: Warner Brothers
- Release Date: Mar 30, 2004
- Critic Score
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Clapton sounds reinvigorated in these 14 songs. [2 Apr 2004, p.65]
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83The originals are still the best, but this is pretty fly for a white guy.
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80He doesn't have that doomed, hellhound-on-my-trail intensity that makes Johnson's recordings so spooky. But, at 58, he sounds like a man who has faced down more than a few canine devils of his own. [Apr 2004, p.102]
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A heartfelt tribute that's among Clapton's most purely enjoyable albums.
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Clapton pays broad tribute to Johnson as a composer and public-domain synthesist.
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70Innovative? No. Impeccable? Yes. [Apr 2004, p.114]
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70[He] attacks these songs with passion, intelligence, and a refreshing lack of blues-rock pretense.
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60No matter the song, from the stumbling “Me And The Devil Blues” to the murmuring “Come On In My Kitchen,” Me And Mr. Johnson sounds rehearsed and controlled.
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60His guitar reinvigorates age-old lines on neat and tidy arrangements, but he's even busier exploring the limited expressive range of his singing voice. [May 2004, p.119]
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In its reverential tone and the sheer joy expressed by Clapton and the all-star collection of session men joining him, the album proves utterly incongruous with the form it champions.
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60It comes across as unnecessarily tame.
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40Instead of the darkness and foreboding that infects Johnson's original '30s recordings, we get a thoroughly gentrified version of the blues. [May 2004, p.100]
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40Instead of the traditional bluesman, we're given the much less exciting elder statesman. Instead of worrying about his soul, his next drink, or his next lay, Clapton sounds like he's wondering if his Lexus is parked in an okay area.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 6
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Mixed: 0 out of 6
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Negative: 4 out of 6
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10
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JonH2I'm so tired of these blues tributes that take out all the soul of the originals, pass on this.
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DonS2