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| Me and Mr. Johnson | 
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| Artist: Eric Clapton
Label: Reprise / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy Used: $2.98
You Save: $16.00 (84%)
New (43) Used (37) Collectible (2) from $2.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  254 reviews
Sales Rank: 9707
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.3
MPN: 48423
UPC: 093624842323
EAN: 0093624842323
ASIN: B0001HAHXW
Publication Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | When You Got A Good Friend | | • | Little Queen Of Spades | | • | They're Red Hot | | • | Me And The Devil Blues | | • | Traveling Riverside Blues | | • | Last Fair Deal Gone Down | | • | Stop Breakin' Down Blues | | • | Milkcow's Calf Blues | | • | Kind Hearted Woman Blues | | • | Come On In My Kitchen | | • | If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day | | • | Love In Vain | | • | 32-20 Blues | | • | Hell Hound On My Trail |
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 249 more reviews...
 Not a very good job May 15, 2004
80 out of 90 found this review helpful
When Clapton recorded and released his 'Unplugged' few years ago, he made wonderful covers of both Robert Johnson's Malted Milk and Walking Blues. The result was absolutely brilliant. I had not heard a more inspired, passionate,soulful Clapton in years.
I would say that the opposite is true of 'Me and Mr. Johnson'. Leaving aside why Clapton decided to record the 14 songs he chose instead of Rambling on My Mind, I'm a steady Rollin'Man, and so on; the record has a major problem.
There's no energy, there's no strength, there's no passion. If you listen to Robert Johnson's original recording they're phenomenlly powerful. In Clapton's rendition, those very same song almost put you to sleep.
Love in Vain is a perfect case in point. It is a very powerful song, one of those songs that strikes some chords inside you. Robert Johnson created that magic, the Rolling Stones were able to preserve that magic in their cover, but all the magic is lost with Clapton. Love in Vain is almost boring. Clapton is a great guitar player and great bluesman, but the arrangements he chose for this record are terrible. They take all the energy away from these great great songs. What a disaster.
"Blues-zak" April 1, 2004
61 out of 73 found this review helpful
Clapton plays it safe here with some very laid back blues playing reminiscent of his late 70's early 80's recordings. The production is slick and commercial with no rough edges to the sound, almost "overproduced" (hardly a quality for anyone who is a blues "purist"). All the instruments are mixed equally with no particular musician upfront in the mix; consequently this is not a "Clapton guitar" album. If anything Clapton's vocals are the most prominent feature here. I give Eric credit, he has become an above average singer and it shows on this release. His vocals are very smooth and soulful. Billy Preston contributes some fine piano, too bad Billy couldn't have taken over the vocal chores on a song or two. If you've been a Clapton fan since his Yardbirds & Bluesbreakers days, chances are you'll be more than a little disappointed here (you gotta get John Mayall's 70th Birthday Concert with both Clapton & Mick Taylor). If "Unplugged" is your favorite (and first) Clapton album, chances are you'll really enjoy this recording.
Personally, I find it a bit too "commercial" for my blood. The music is better suited for an elevator ride rather than a Southside Chicago Blues Club. The blues is emotion & passion. This album comes off a little too "blues-by-numbers", lacking in the above to qualities. Clapton's vocals on "Ramblin' On My Mind" from the Bluesbreaker's album have 10 times the emotion shown here. I would not use the term "restraint" in reference to this release as much as the term "record sales". It reminds me of the story about a young British Blues Guitarist who left his band back in the mid-60's because he thought they were getting too commmercial.
 Overarted rock tribute to blues great April 12, 2004
32 out of 35 found this review helpful
With all the hoolpa this cd has received, one is atonsihed by the absolute nonsense of some of the rock critics who rave about this. Much of this collection of performances of songs that Robert Johnson recorded is on the level of a bar band doing Robert Johnson. None of Clapton's renditions of these songs match those by Robert Lockwood, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Big Joe Williams, Junior Wells, Eddie Taylor, Boyd Gilmore, Muddy Waters and others who have taken Johnson's songs and produced recordings that are more passionately and personally performed. Clapton is too reverent to these songs and the lyrics which is strange for a homage to Johnson whose own work adapted and transformed his contemporaries music as Elijah Wald details in his recent book. Check out Leroy Carr's In the Evening before listening to Robert Johnson's Love in Vain and Clapton's rendition pales compared to the Stones' cover of it three decades ago. Both Junior Wells and Eddie Taylor had standout recordings of Stop Breakin' Down that makes Clapton's rendition here sound not very distinguished. Call Clapton a rock guitar god all you want and a great popularizer of the blues, but when you have assimilated not simply Johnson's music but also the great bluesmen of the past fifty years, than Clapton's achievement is clearly overstated. One other point was that I was not enamored by the studio band. There are some great players (and Mr. Portnoy is a great harp player), but the rhythm section does not swing and they sound second rate comapred to some of the classic Chicago bands of the sixties and seventies.
 Listen To It For What It Is April 14, 2004
27 out of 31 found this review helpful
Man, after reading some of the vehemently negative reviews posted here, I feel like George Bush at a Howard Dean rally by expressing a somewhat different view.
I like this CD. To me, its the best thing EC has done since his Cream years. Think of Cream's music and EC's work with John Mayall, then think of years of commercial garbage like I Shot the Sheriff and worse and you'll see what I mean.
When I bought this, I wasn't expecting "authenticity", some of the media hype prior to its release notwithstanding. And I didn't expect a CD full of Cream-like power blues. Actually, I didn't really expect anything, but I hoped that the CD would redeem him in the eyes of old fans like myself who have endured nearly thirty lean years with hardly a bone thrown our direction.
It has done this. Yes, Me and Mr Johnson is a lot more polished than other Johnson tributes I have heard and no, its not "authentic". But to my ears, it is quite enjoyable. Clapton has his own way with the blues and here he and his capable sidemen give us his interpretation of Robert Johnson's music and nothing more.
Robert Johnson was no doubt a great songwriter and I like all the songs here no matter who covers them. On this CD, I like the interpretations of Me and the Devil Blues, Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Stop Breakin' Down Blues, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, and Love In Vain the best.
If you are a Clapton fan and make an honest attempt to listen to the album for what it is rather than constantly comparing the songs to the originals, you may find you really like this. Listen as though you are hearing these songs for the first time. Eric Clapton can't be Robert Johnson and he shouldn't try to be. He can only be himself and on Me and Mr Johnson he offers us his homage to the man he holds to be his chief musical influence. Check it out for yourself!
Karaoke Blues May 24, 2007
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
There is little doubt that Clapton is a living legend having made considerable contributions to blues-based popular music. Unfortunately, "Me and Mr. Johnson" is not that considerable. With an all star cast of musicians (Andy Fairweather-Low, Billy Preston, Nathan East, and Steve Gadd) this disc offers the listener tweaked and polished interpretations of almost half of the legendary blues man's existing repertoire. However, what the album offers in terms of production it certainly lacks in feeling. Some other reviews have used the term "elevator music" to describe the recording, but "karaoke" would be a better term. There is little to convince you that this is distinctly Clapton playing a heartfelt blues classic rather than an average Joe reading the lyrics off a television monitor in a smoky bar somewhere. Upbeat numbers such as "They're Red Hot" fare much better than tortured tracks such as "Hell Hound On My Trail," which comes across more like an angry weenie dog snapping at his heels.
While the album may serve as an introduction to early blues music for new listeners, Clapton's "From The Cradle," "Riding With The King," and even his "MTV Unplugged" are much more representative of his talent as an interpreter of the blues. Both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly gave this record a good review, but just because he is already a legend doesn't warrant the rubber stamp of approval from even the most die hard of fans in my opinion. I would suggest checking out the albums mentioned above if you are interested in Clapton and/or a bridge to the blues genre.
On a last note, beware that this CD is copy protected, which may cause some problems if you would like to convert the songs to a digital device such as an I-Pod or mp3 player. Just another way of making it more difficult for the honest consumer rather than serving as a true deterrent of piracy.
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