The Cream of Clapton

Eric Clapton

1995: Polydor/Polygram 31452 7116-2

1. I Feel Free
2. Sunshine of Your Love
3. White Room
4. Crossroads
5. Badge
6. Presence of the Lord
7. Blues Power
8. After Midnight
9. Let It Rain
10. Bell Bottom Blues
11. Layla
12. I Shot the Sheriff
13. Let It Grow
14. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
15. Hello Old Friend
16. Cocaine
17. Wonderful Tonight
18. Promises
19. I Can’t Stand It

I’m really not a Clapton fan, not by any means. I had “Cocaine” on 45 back in my adolescence and still consider it the distilled essence of vinyl rock at its grittiest and most visceral. I’d heard so many Clapton tunes on the radio as I was growing up but had no idea even that he was British, let alone that he was the person recording so many of those songs; Gerry Rafferty had a similar presence in my musical upbringing, though I find his work much more powerfully crafted than Clapton’s. I got this “best of” compilation because I wasn’t willing to dive into the full Clapton repertoire, because I just wanted the pieces I already loved (specifically After Midnight, Sunshine of Your Love, and the best of the best, Cocaine).

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Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.