Money and Cigarettes, Eric Clapton's 1983 album is one of those neither fish nor fowl releases. As a kid Eric Clapton was one of those has beens who was a big deal in the late '60s and early '70s but his output through the rest of the decade to me was spotty. I actively disliked "I Shot the Sheriff" and thought "Cocaine" was stupid. I couldn't see the appeal to "Wonderful Tonight" although my buddy Gord loved it and it was his wedding song. I'm probably just strengthening the argument that I'm just an unwashed Luddite who has no idea which end of a telephone pole goes in the ground. I suppose I should have just said I wasn't really a fan of a lot of Eric's solo work and left it at that.
So why buy this at all?
I found it for a buck, and I may not have been much of a fan, but come on - it's Eric Clapton and whether I'm a fan or not the guy is a legend. Besides I'll admit to really liking his late career resurgence and figured it was worth a shot.
I think time has been kind to this one. Back in '83 this was an odd duck (it was on Duck Records, although it was Warner who called the shots) and compared to what was in fashion at the time this was a hard one to peg. This was mainly '70s styled singer songwriter mid tempo infused blues songs. It's not like they're bad songs, they're all pretty standard but they're immaculately performed, even if they aren't particularly memorable. Eric was supported by the likes of Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass, Ry Cooder and Albert Lee on guitar and Roger Hawkins on drums. Producer Tom Dowd helped craft a pleasant sounding album. It sounds awesome.
For those of us who were getting into the groove of '80s rock Money and Cigarettes was out of place. The fact that he pulled off a "hit" was a nifty trick. The lone single I remember "I've Got a Rock N' Roll Heart" is much better than I remember. With the exception of the weirdly derivative "Ain't Going Down" that sounds like a sped up musical interpolation of Jimmy's version of "All Along the Watchtower" all of the songs are enjoyable even if they're aren't especially memorable.
At his core Clapton was a blues man who could craft a decent hook now and again. Listening to this now, it's actually a really good album that doesn't pretend to being anything other than a collection of blues songs with a pop bent here and there.
Money and Cigarettes would be his only album between 1974 to 2004 that wouldn't go gold or platinum in the states. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a forgotten gem but listening with today's ears this was far better than I expected it to be ... or not to be. That wasn't really just a question, just an observation.
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