» Me and Mr. Johnson

Me and Mr. Johnson Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Me and Mr. Johnson: a great blues collection
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: R. Johnson must have come back as Eric Claton.
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: me and mr. johnson, by eric clapton
Comment: 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.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Out the window at 70 mph.....
Comment: 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'!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Concept - Poor Execution
Comment: 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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