Eric Clapton 461 Ocean Boulevard CD

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

After playing the 1973 Rainbow Concerts that were arranged by good friend Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton returned to Florida's Criteria Recording Studio to cut 461 OCEAN BOULEVARD. Because of a stint of personal turmoil, Clapton had not played guitar for two years preceeding the Rainbow Concerts, but with the help of a core group of musicians including George Terry, former Derek & the Dominos bassist Carl Radle, Jamie Oldaker, and Yvonne Elliman, Slowhand put together an album that many consider to be his best.

Focusing more on his singing than his guitar pyrotechnics of the past, the new, improved Clapton used a laid-back, J.J. Cale-type vocal style to great effect on a mellow version of "Willie And The Hand Jive" and Elmore James's "I Can't Hold Out." Far from being a kinder, gentler guitar hero, Clapton also showed considerable spark on a slide-drenched "Motherless Children" and the driving "Mainline Florida," which closes out the album. Of course, his cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" was the musical statement that took him to the top of the charts and let the general public know he was back. 461 OCEAN BOULEVARD is still one of the highest points of Clapton's solo career.

461 Ocean Boulevard is Eric Clapton's second solo studio album, arriving after his side project of Derek and the Dominos and a long struggle with heroin addiction. Although there are some new reggae influences, the album doesn't sound all that different from the rock, pop, blues, country, and R&B amalgam of Eric Clapton. However, 461 Ocean Boulevard is a tighter, more focused outing that enables Clapton to stretch out instrumentally. Furthermore, the pop concessions on the album -- the sleek production, the concise running times -- don't detract from the rootsy origins of the material, whether it's Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive," the traditional blues "Motherless Children," Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff," or Clapton's emotional original "Let It Grow." With its relaxed, friendly atmosphere and strong bluesy roots, 461 Ocean Boulevard set the template for Clapton's '70s albums. Though he tried hard to make an album exactly like it, he never quite managed to replicate its charms. [A 2004 reissue on a hybrid SACD includes the bonus tracks "Walkin' Down the Road," "Ain't That Lovin' You" and "Meet Me (Down at the Bottom)."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Personnel: Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar, dobro); Eric Clapton; Carl Radle (bass guitar); Jamie Oldaker (drums, percussion); Al Jackson, Ali Muhammed Jackson , Jim Fox (drums); Thomas Bernfeld, Tom Bernfield (background vocals); George Terry, Yvonne Elliman (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Albhy Galuten (piano, electric piano, clavichord, synthesizer); Dick Sims (organ).

Audio Remasterer: Joseph M. Palmaccio.

Recording information: Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, FL (04/1974-05/1974).

Photographer: David Gahr.

Arrangers: Eric Clapton; Carl Radle.Q (2/96, p.104) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...closed the chapter on Clapton as guitar hero and opened a new one as a hitmaker with a more relaxed and commercial style..."
Uncut (p.172) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he 1974 album on which Clapton rediscovered the primacy of music in his life. The result was a joyous collection..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.119) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A form-finding set, comedown as comeback."