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Sessions For Robert J. (CD + DVD) ReviewEric had released "Me and Mr. Johnson" only six months earlier. It was o.k., but there wasn't anything particularly compelling about it. Some songs were good, a continuation of the blues material he had previously released on "Behind the Cradle", only this time the focus was exclusively on Robert Johnson, but a few cuts were lackluster walk-throughs. In addition, the performances were entirely electric, full band efforts which was part of the reason for disappointment. Eric was too comfortable hiding behind a full band set-up. For anyone who has really "gotten it" in terms of what Robert Johnson was all about, acoustic seems the way to go - you want to get to the heart of it all - you just can't hide if it's only you and the guitar. Peter Green made the same misstep a few years ago with his own Robert Johnson compilation. It too was primarily a full band set up. But, what you really hoped for was a stripped down session with just one guy and his guitar - something that Robert Johnson was able to pull off in the 1930's, but something that wealthy white rockers nurtured on stadium rock don't seem to be comfortable with. Robert, after all, performed face-to-face with small house party audiences - obviously he had to bare it all night after night... Eric and Peter had gotten too comfortable with huge stadiums. Still... you have this hope that guys as talented as Peter Green and Eric Clapton have it in them somewhere and you just need to get them to take the chance. Is it possible?This latest release by Clapton ("Sessions for Robert J.") continues to be exclusively about Robert Johnson songs. Yes, many of the songs are duplicated on the two CD releases ("Me and Mr. Johnson" and "Sessions for Robert J"), but each performance is different on the respective albums. In fact, "Sessions for Robert J." actually contains two different versions of "Hell Hound on my Trail" and "Love in Vain" (yet a third version of "Love in Vain" was originally released on "Me and Mister Johnson" so that there are now three completely different versions available).
O.K. so how is the new "Sessions for Robert J."?
In a word - "STUNNING!"
This is all that one could hope for and more since it is all on DVD in 5.1 Surround Sound. This album is quite a bit better than "From the Cradle". Watching Eric actually perform these songs on the TV screen is a revelation. And yes, some of it is just Eric and his guitar! But perhaps the best is the session where Eric plays with just one other guitar player - Doyle Bramlett. It is truly entertaining to watch these guys stay in step with each other on these technically difficult songs - If you have ever learned to play some of these songs in slide guitar you would know these are tough enough to just play solo!
About half of the songs are with a full band and regardless of what was said above, these are great! Yes, acoustic versions would be nice (and you can choose between electric and acoustic for "Hell Hound on My Trail"), but the full band approach on "Sessions for Robert J." does not disappoint at all! Eric pulls it off and really throws his heart into the performances - no "walk through" performances here! This is where "Sessions" outperforms the earlier "Me and Mister Johnson". There is energy on "Sessions" whereas "Me and Mister Johnson" seems more workman like. And one could safely hazard a guess to say that perhaps Eric felt the same way. After all, you have to wonder why he chose to release a second Robert Johnson album (with a huge duplication of song titles) inside of six months if he was really happy with the first effort? Well, whatever the reason, this album is great!
Some favorite songs on "Sessions":
"Terraplane Blues" - Eric and Doyle run through this song like a sharp knife through watermelon - they absolutely nail it! Worth the price of this set just to have this one song! Historical note: this song was actually performed by Eric in the same Dallas Texas hotel third floor where Johnson originally recorded it in the 1930's! In any case, Eric's vocal is simply amazing! Wow! There is a live version of Eric doing this same song solo in 1994 (a very rare performance caught on a bootleg tape - did he ever even perform it again in concert during that tour?) - it was really good and now we have the same song in much better fidelity and an even better performance! Yes, yes - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
"Rambling on my Mind" & "Stones In My Passway" - Eric performing acoustic solo. These are basically the way one might have thought it should be done, one man with one guitar - Peter Green please take note!
"Milk Cow Blues", "Traveling Riverside Blues" & "If I had Possession Over Judgment Day" - Eric with the full band. These rock! Very intense and meant to be played loud. Sounds great on 5.1 DTS.
By the way, the least favorite song is "They're Red Hot" - an atypical song in the Johnson cannon, but Eric's version comes off as better than Robert Johnson's original! And even though it's too "happy" for a blues album, it does sound good here!
Having said all this, we have to realize that listening to the original 1930's Robert Johnson songs on scratchy old 78s is an acquired taste for some, but this is probably because few people today are willing to listen to low-fidelity recordings. Please note that the latest releases of the original "King of The Delta Blues" (volume 1 and volume 2) have been remastered (yes, I know - how many times do they need to endlessly remaster this stuff?) and this time on some tracks the vocals and bass have a clarity and presence that far exceeds both the two Columbia box set releases and even the Gold disc. A lot of the hardness in Robert's voice remains on a few tracks, but often it has been toned down a bit in the latest transfers and the bass is much higher in the mix - overall, I think it just sounds better now even if the hiss and ticks and pops are now actually more pronounced - less digital noise reduction seems to result in better fidelity here. In any case, try these most recent remasters if you had a problem with the sound quality of the sterilizing noise reduction used on the Columbia box set (which was re-remastered a second time around 1996 when the smaller box was issued - stay away from the original long box issued in 1991 which now has the worst sound available). I have learned to play several Robert Johnson songs on slide guitar and through that experience found genius not just in his execution, which of course is perfect, but also in Robert's arrangements. The simple truth is that Robert Johnson with his limited resources (poor Black man in the 1930's in the deep South) was perhaps an even a more naturally gifted musician than Eric Clapton - if that is even possible! This assessment is reinforced by Eric himself in the section in the DVD where he discusses how hard it is for him to sing in a different tempo than the guitar as Robert often effortlessly does. So take it from there...
By the way, if you go directly to the various sessions in the DVD you will miss the mini-interviews with Eric. You have to click on "play all" to get the entire presentation. I had been just clicking on the individual sessions thereby missing the interviews until I found them accidentally.
Please note that the companion CD is missing something like half of the performances included in the DVD! My solution was to make my own compilation direct from the DVD with ALL the songs - it will fit nicely on one 80 minute CD-R.
Bottom line, Eric finally does justice to his blues influences (this is even better than "From the Cradle") and created yet another classic in the process.
Sessions For Robert J. (CD + DVD) OverviewEVERY SUPERSTAR HAS A BEGINNING AND THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THEIR STORY! THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF THEIR EARLY CAREERS! 38 INCREDIBLE TRACKS. ONE INCREDIBLE LOW PRICE! DIGITALLY REMASTERED.
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