The Mr Johnson in the title is Robert Johnson, early blues legend and an inspiration for Clapton and a host of others including Fleetwood Mac, the Blues Brothers, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.
Robert Johnson was born May 8, 1911, in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, and died of poisoned whiskey, given to him by a jealous husband August 16, 1938.
Writing and recording only 29 compositions in his short life, the bluesman, hobo, womaniser and (allegedly) deal - with -the - devil - maker has gone down in history as the greatest bluesman ever.
This record is Clapton's homage to the great man and some may wonder why it has taken so long.
Clapton has recorded some of Johnson's tunes before, most notably with Cream - Crossroad blues - and two on the Unplugged album but this time Clapton devotes a whole album to his hero. Usual band members are on this disc as well as Billy Preston - keyboards and Jerry Portnoy - harmonica. and they gel together really well. The playing by all is really top class and two tracks stand out from the 14 in total: They're Red Hot (track 3)and Last Fair Deal Gone Down (track 6).
No lengthy guitar solos feature on any track, but some nifty slide guitar from Doyle Bramall II is something to listen out for.
A disappointment for me was If I had Possession Over Judgement Day (track 11) If you think you have heard it before, you have, on Unplugged under its alternate title, Rolling and Tumbling, which was a much better version. This would have been better left off in my opinion, giving Clapton the opportunity to record one of Johnson's lesser known numbers.
So - a modern day blues legend pays homage to one of the origional blues greats, perfect!!!!
Go get this album now, its a classic blues album, although not quite as good as the earlier From The Cradle, but you won't be dissapointed.
Find out more about Robert Johnson here: http://www.deltahaze.com/johnson/index.htm
Good review and it appears that you like the same music as I do, I was wondering if I should review more blues albums as I didn't want to bore people but it's nice to find that many people love the blues. David
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