Consumer Guide Album

Eric Clapton: E.C. Was Here [RSO, 1975]
From Clapton a live album is welcome these days. At the very least it guarantees that his head was higher than his feet at time of recording, and live albums being what they are it also assures plenty of what he does best, which is play guitar. But though Clapton's choked lyricism can be exciting, he does have trouble breaking loose, and because George Terry's sound is so like his own their colloquies don't spark much. Besides, this is basically a blues album--four of the six cuts fit the category with varying degrees of authenticity--and I expect a blues album to be sung as well as played. B-