Eric Clapton

Although not Clapton's strongest record, Backless does feature "Promises," which is one of the man's very best tunes. Since this disc came right after Slowhand, it was seen as something of a letdown on its release. But the fact is, it's a good, solid record -- and nothing was going to top Slowhand.

Eric Clapton must want to be the Mississippi John Hurt of his generation: a sweet-tempered
old soul who can communicate great pleasure and great pain in a mumble. The surprise is
that he gets away with it so easily. In its way, Backless is a seductive record, if you're
attracted to the interplay of Clapton's dolorous voice and Marcy Levy's raspy backup
vocals, George Terry's slide guitar and Glyn Johns' pristine production. It's dishe... More >

Whatever Eric isn't anymore--guitar genius, secret auteur, humanitarian, God--he's certainly king of the Tulsa sound, and here he contributes three new sleepy-time classics. All are listed on the cover sticker and none were written by Bob Dylan. One more and this would be creditable. (Grade - B-)