After the guest-star-drenched No Reason to Cry failed to make much of an impact commercially, Eric Clapton returned to using his own band for Slowhand.
The difference is substantial -- where No Reason to Cry struggled hard to find the right tone, Slowhand opens with the relaxed, bluesy shuffle of J.J.
Cale's "Cocaine" and sustains it throughout the course of the album.
Alternating between straight blues ("Mean Old Frisco"), country ("Lay Down Sally"), mainstream rock ("Cocaine," "The Core"), and pop ("Wonderful Tonight"), Slowhand doesn't sound schizophrenic because of the band's grasp of the material.
This is laid-back virtuosity -- although Clapton and his band are never flashy, their playing is masterful and assured.
That assurance and the album's eclectic material make Slowhand rank with 461 Ocean Boulevard as Eric Clapton's best albums.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CocaineJ.J. Cale | Eric Clapton | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 2 | Wonderful TonightEric Clapton, Michael Kamen | Eric Clapton | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 3 | Lay Down SallyEric Clapton, Marcy Levy, George Terry | Eric Clapton | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | Next Time You See HerEric Clapton | Eric Clapton | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | We're All the WayDon Williams | Eric Clapton | Play | 02:33 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 6 | The CoreEric Clapton, Marcy Levy | Eric Clapton | Play | 08:45 | 20 MB | 52 MB |
| 7 | May You NeverJohn Martyn | Eric Clapton | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 8 | Mean Old FriscoArthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Traditional | Eric Clapton | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | Peaches and DieselEric Clapton, Albhy Galuten | Eric Clapton | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 39 mins | 90 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 221 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Watalu Asanuma | Cover Photo, Photography |
| 2 | Paul Bishow | Producer |
| 3 | J.J. Cale | Composer |
| 4 | Eric Clapton | Composer, Design, Editing, Guitar, Main Personnel, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 5 | Patti Clapton | Design, Editing |
| 6 | Mel Collins | Horn, Main Personnel, Saxophone |
| 7 | Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup | Composer |
| 8 | Yvonne Elliman | Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Michael Etchart | Producer |
| 10 | Albhy Galuten | Composer |
| 11 | Glyn Johns | Audio Production, Producer, Surround Sound |
| 12 | Michael Kamen | Composer |
| 13 | Bill Levenson | Producer |
| 14 | Marcy Levy | Composer, Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 16 | John Martyn | Composer |
| 17 | Monique McGuffin | Production Coordination |
| 18 | James Oldaker | Drums, Main Personnel, Percussion |
| 19 | Jamie Oldaker | Drums, Percussion |
| 20 | Joseph M. Palmaccio | Digital Remastering |
| 21 | Carl Radle | Bass, Guitar (Bass), Main Personnel |
| 22 | Andy Seymour | Photography |
| 23 | Dick Sims | Keyboards, Main Personnel |
| 24 | Daniel Stewart | Art Direction, Design |
| 25 | David Stewart | Art Direction, Design |
| 26 | George Terry | Composer, Guitar, Main Personnel |
| 27 | Traditional | Composer |
| 28 | Don Williams | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |