Another Outstanding Testament to His Hero

"Sessions For Robert J" is amazing, and in my opinion, a clear winner over the also-extraordinary "Me and Mr. Johnson". The CD contains several new covers of Johnson songs on his "Me and Mr. Johnson" album such as "Milkcow's Calf Blues," "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day," and "Me and the Devil Blues". It also includes a few other Johnson covers not on the album such as the amazing "Sweet Home Chicago," "From Four Until Late," and a new acoustic cover of "Ramblin' On My Mind," which he originally covered in 1965 with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.



The sessions for several of these songs can be seen on the DVD, including sessions for songs not on the CD. The DVD also contains intervals with interviews with Clapton, touching on his love of Robert Johnson and his roots as well as a few interesting facts about Johnson's mysterious history. The interviews, the stories, the songs, and the videos all make "Sessions For Robert J" and obvious choice for any Eric Clapton fan. You won't be the least bit disappointed.

Bubble gum blues.

Yes, we all know these songs are sub-standard renderings of Johnson's material. The added acoustic element of the CD+DVD package bumps up the value for money (slightly), but it is still somewhat dull.



I'd like to concentrate here upon the DVD. Firstly, the conceit of having Clapton visit the sites of Johnson's recording sessions is interesting - if you didn't see John Hammond do it back in 1990 for his documentary 'The Search for Robert Johnson'. Clapton labours for authenticity, but the sight of him being handed guitars by his guitar techs and aides, and the undoubted preparation that went into his recording in the dilapidated warehouse district building, just seems so staged and - to be honest - so pig rich, that it irks. In Hammond's documentary, he is filmed playing in a railroad sidecar, on the streets, at crossroads (!) and the Gunter Hotel - just him and his National. It's a more honest depiction of how Johnson would have presented his music in the everyday, without the help of an entourage. (And Hammond seems to handle all the parts of Johnson's guitar work fine - debunking Clapton's insistence that he play with another guitarist [Doyle Bramhall II] in order to 'capture' the full range of what Johnson was doing).



Clapton also needs to accept a little bit more of the so-called 'revisionist' work of authors like Elijah Wald, who does a terrific job in his 'Escaping the Delta' of providing some much needed context to Robert Johnson's work. Clapton also needs to publicly state that Johnson was very much a product of records as much as everyday experience and the so-called 'juke joints': he openly lifted entire arrangements from other players that came before him. His music did not spring fully formed from his own fingers.



So, be wary of this release. The additional DVD is certainly intended to bump up sales ('Me and Mr. Johnson' is already being tossed out for $9 at my local music store), and the acoustic material is nice to listen to given the quality of the guitars, but I'd recommend John Hammond's 'The Search for Robert Johnson' if you want some general background to Johnson, and even his own CD ('At the Crossroads: Blues of Robert Johnson') which collect's Hammonds attempts at recording Johnson over the years (recordings that indeed pre-date Clapton's 60s Johnson work).



But, of course, the real place to go is the new releases of 'The King of the Delta Blues' (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), which will give you Johnson as he's never been heard before. After that, the later, mid-90s release of 'The Complete Recordings' will give you all the alternate takes so far located.



So, this CD + DVD is best heard - and seen - once. Then discarded. Like bubblegum.

Clapton breaks out again

When Clapton diverges from the blues he often sounds lacklustre. When he tries too hard, same result. It's interesting that he thought his "unplugged" was not fit for release, but the rawness and warmth earnt it a grammy. "Me And Mr Johnson" was a litlle to "mannered" and "polished". Hre he plays and sings as a real blues musician, just as he did on "From The Cradle".

One question for "Mr.Get Real". How did you transfer the DVD audio tracks to audio CD? My software won't co-operate so far