Neither sounds out of place on this track, while both bring out the best in each other. A slightly different, bouncy arrangement comes during the pleasing “Missing Person”, which seems to mix the best of both Clapton’s and Cale’s musical worlds. “Head’s in Georgia” is a slow, bluesy romp that again has all the hastiness of a Mark Knopfler track. John Mayer is here, Doyle Bramhill II is here, Derek Trucks is here, Albert Lee is here, the late Billy Preston was here, as was Taj Mahal. One of the highlights of this album is how it remains rather simple and straightforward despite the talent rounding things out. And like any good tune, it’s in no rush to wrap up, allowing both parties to flesh things out perfectly. Clapton’s guitar solo is quite audible, but is more of an accent on the already well-established groove. A good example of this blend is the opener “Danger”, which has all the laidback, relaxing nature of a Cale arrangement with Clapton at times giving it a slightly blues-meets-psychedelic flavoring. And while Cale has penned the vast majority of songs here, Clapton seems to have most of the lead vocals. Now, both he and Clapton have tempted fate again by reuniting for this album. Clapton’s career continued to take off, while Cale’s discography, in terms of quality, resembled one of those early airplanes that got 20 feet off the ground before crashing hard into a chicken coop.īut recently, Cale’s made an upturn of sorts, with his fabulous To Tulsa and Back release in 2004 putting him back on target.

And, of course, “After Midnight” for his solo self-titled debut years before “Cocaine”. Eric Clapton and Jean Jacques Cale struck gold together when Clapton performed Cale’s “Cocaine” for his Slowhand masterpiece back in 1977. But some duos know to quit while way ahead. The results are often depressing, and even diminish that initial magic. Often times the tandem do not leave well enough alone and quickly get back into the studio to recreate magic that is no longer there.

There are certain pairings in music that seem to bring to mind a moment in time when everything for the tandem hit on all cylinders.

Jj cale eric clapton