After the demise of Blind Faith, Eric Clapton did a concert tour with Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. He wrote several songs with Bonnie Bramlett in late 1969 and early 1970, which formed the basis of this, his first solo album. "Blues Power," "Let It Rain," and "After Midnight" all rank among Clapton classics. (Clapton's CROSSROADS box set has an exciting alternate version of "After Midnight," featuring a more extensive horn section and more reverb on the guitar solo.) The acoustic ballad "Easy Now" is the best of the deeper album tracks. The rest of the filler is playful and fun, if ultimately a little monotonous; it's difficult to distinguish tracks such as "Bad Boy," "Lovin' You Lovin' Me," and "I've Told You for the Last Time" from each other several minutes after hearing them.

Here is an unabashed pop album from the man who quit the Yardbirds years earlier because he thought they were too much of a pop band. EC broadened his horizons by incorporating pop, country and even gospel elements into his sound, which was nice to see. Maybe he wanted to prove that there was more to him than the blues rock that defined him in the 1960s. On the other hand, there are times on this album when a sizzling guitar solo would have been exactly what the doctor ordered. Fans who yearned for the old Clapton would have to wait several months for him to release LAYLA with Derek & the Dominos near the end of 1970. But the more laid back Clapton that most people recognize today can be traced directly to this album.

This debut Eric Clapton has some blues rock but deviates into other styles. Easy Now is one pretty acoustic ballad and Eric gives one of his best vocal performances. The lyrics are pretty hip with the time it was recorded too. The female background vocalists add a special touch on several tracks most notably Lonesome andBottle Of Red Wine. However the real meat and potatoes songs are Blues Power, Bad Boy, After Midnight, and Let It Rain. They really rock with a passion as Eric's vocals really touch the soul. Do not overlook this recording.

i just recently downloaded this and a couple of original classic e.c. releases. previously, i had timepieces, a compilation and later, the cream of clapton, which is an excellent introduction to this master of his craft. only non compilation studio outpout i owned was the cream albums and blind faith (all excellent). there are three excellent well known clapton classics on this disc: let it rain-very influenced by the style of george harrison's late period beatles stuff and his early solo work. i might even guess that harrison's vocals may even be on this tune. awesome. also, you got blues power and after midnight. the other stuff is very good although i just got this. but my first impressions were impressive. it has a lot of soulful female background vocals and a muscle shoals horn embellishment on a lot of the tracks (you can tell clapton was really influenced by harrison, the band, and delaney and bonnie when he recorded this album. the guitar playing is awesome as always. only song that reeked of filler material is the second to last song, the tune before let it rain. and it wasn't bad, maybe just takes a few listens. i'd say after only a few listens, i dug about 96% of the album, and that ain't bad...

This is a pretty okay album, actually. Crisp, professional, laid back blues-rock that occasionally courts brilliance. Let It Rain is a good example of that. Only a guitarist of Clapton's calibur could've played that kind of solo. Of course there's also his hit cover of J.J. Cale's After Midnight, a fun Mardi Gras-R&B hybrid, and the live favorite Blues Power. Those three are the album's strongest points by far, but there are some other goodies too: the horn-powered, funky Slunky; blues-pop on Bad Boy, and folk-blues on Lonesome and a Long Way from Home (a clear ancestor of 461 Ocean Blvd.'s Give Me Strength). And Clapton had a hand in most of the songwriting too, which is cool by me. A couple downsides, though. The lyrics are weak - Clapton never was much of a poet in the first place - and some of it is simply inconsequential pop, such as Loving Me Loving You, Easy Now, Don't Know Why and Told You for the Last Time. This laid the groundwork for Clapton's strongest studio album (461 Ocean Blvd), has its moments, and is nicely mellow (unlike some of his other solo stuff, which is annoyingly mellow). But it's not a work of genius. Then again, '70s Clapton wasn't exactly an innovator - damn good guitarist, though.

Eric Clapton is surrounded by a cornucopia of musicians and vocalist on this his first solo album.

Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Stephen Stills, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Leon Russell and several more lend a hand or two, and Clapton has co-written about half of the album's eleven songs with Bonnie Bramlett, the half-decent instrumental "Slunky" and the fine blues-rock numbers "Bad Boy" and "Bottle Of Red Wine" among them.

There is perhaps a little less pop-rock and a little more blues-rock here than on most of Clapton's seventies solo albums, and many of the songs that were to become concert standarts throughout the decade came from this album: Clapton's rendition of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight", the sturdy rockers "Blues Power" and "Bottle Of Red Wine" and the grand "Let It Rain".

Eric Clapton could have let loose a bit more when he recorded the vocals, and fans of his guitar hero persona may feel that he should have soloed a bit more and with a bit more reckless abandon, but this eponymous 37-minute album is nevertheless a nice, cohesive listen with plenty of highlights and precious few let-downs...a "cozy" album, and a sign of things to come as far as what Clapton's 70s solo career would bring.

"Eric Clapton" is not one of Clapton's better-known solo albums, but it has several good melodies and a lot of excellent musicanship, and while it doesn't reach the hights of "Layla" or "From The Cradle" it is definitely one of Clapton's better efforts.