Eric Clapton - Back Yard Blues (1975)

'461 Ocean Boulevard' marked a triumphant return for Eric Clapton, being his first record release after recovering from a three-year addiction to heroin. His manager Robert Stigwood offered every assistance he could, giving Clapton time to write new songs and letting him hire the musicians he wanted for the recording, such as guest vocalist Yvonne Elliman and guitarist George Terry, as well as hiring him a house in Miami to stay in, at 461 Ocean Boulevard. Despite this, the finished album consisted almost entirely of covers, such as his hit rendition of Bob Marley's 'I Shot The Sheriff', with only 'Give Me Strength', 'Let It Grow' and 'Get Ready' (written with Elliman); being original compositions. The sessions yielded many more songs than were needed for the final track listing of the album, and some of these surfaced on the 2004 re-issue of the disc, with others later appearing on the 'Give Me Strength' deluxe edition. The following year Clapton released 'There's One In Every Crowd', which once again had a number of songs held back from the eventual release, and so by taking the best of both sessions we can build a third album that could have slotted easily between those two. The songs are mostly laid-back blues, and I've omitted some of the instrumental jams in favour of actual songs, as they seemed to have more focus. I was going to call the album something along the lines of 'In The Back Yard Of 461 Ocean Boulevard', to tie in with the cover that I'd made using the reverse of the gatefold sleeve of that record, but that was just too unwieldy, so it's become simply 'Back Yard Blues'.

Track listing

01 Ain't That Lovin' You
02 Getting Acquainted (Too Late)
03 Eric After Hours Blues
04 Please Be With Me
05 Lonesome Road Blues (Walkin' Down The Road)
06 Fools Like Me
07 Meet Me (Down At The Bottom)
08 I Found A Love
09 (When Things Go Wrong) It Hurts Me Too