Customer Reviews

There's One In Every Crowd

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You know who you are. The long-time fan of Clapton's, the person in the audience nowadays yelling "Go Slowhand!" as Eric plays lick after passionless lick, the dude who wishes Eric would reunite with Cream for good. If so, this is not for you. Sorry. If it's any consolation, I used to be one of you. Somewhere down the line, my road forked off and, at the tender age of 20, here I am saying that this album is too subtle for most. What is the world coming to? What sense could I have? Hear me out.

The genius behind these songs is not in the mindless soloing, or the screeching vocals. In fact, the record has neither. Rather, it's "There's One In Every Crowd"'s economy that gives it a five-star charm. Most words are barely spoken over a whisper. Most solos barely reach above the tenth fret. And they barely last more than thirty seconds. Instead, the album is full of melodic, moody guitar playing, and breathy even sexy singing. And, God, what a band- they're guaranteed to hit the groove that will either make you melt or shiver by the time the last seconds of "Opposites" dissappear back to 1975. That is, unless you're the guy mentioned above. If you are, again, I'm sorry...your loss.

Like everyone else here, I agree that this recording is badly overlooked. There are certain times when I prefer the softer side of Eric to the blues droaning of Layla and Assorted Love Songs. This recording has gospel, regaae, and acoustic flavorings as well as just a touch of the blues. Eric's singing is a lift muffled but his tone does compliment the songs very well. The last four songs were all written completely by Eric and let me tell you that they all have good chord progressions especially High. I would recommend this CD for those fans of Eric who can appreciate him as a total musician and not just a blues purist.

There's One In Every Crowd, the rather overlooked follow-up to the excellent 461 Ocean Boulevard, marks the beginning of Clapton's career when he decided that he no longer wanted to be known just as a bluesy lead guitarist. On this album there's barely a flicker of a Clapton blues solo to be heard. What you get instead is a series of songs some good, one or two mediocre, and a mixture of gospel, reggae and light pop. Most of the songs in this set are composed by Clapton, who plays in a very laid-back style. In fact this style was already beginning to emerge on his preceding solo album (461 OB). But it's taken much further here. By this stage Clapton was pleasing himself and not his fans, who were still clamoring for his fiery Cream style solos. Here he just sings, strums rhythm guitar, a few short non-bluesy solos here and there, and fair use of the Dobro, an instrument that took his fancy for a few years. The same backing musicians as used on 461 OB are present here.

It's not that this record is bad or even boring. It isn't. Bland, it maybe to those who were heavily into Cream or Derek And The Dominoes. But I really like most of the tracks especially Pretty Blue Eyes, with its lilting acoustic guitar solo, High, and the gospel-like We've Been Told. But the outstanding track is the highly soulful and moody Better Make It Through Today. This shows a side of Clapton that he failed to capitalize on later albums. TOIEC is just so different in style to what Clapton had been doing and was famous for, only a few years earlier. It's hard to believe this is the same guy. However he was to continue in this vein for years to come and on some considerably worse albums than this one.

To sum up if you like the unplugged side of Clapton without his bluesy guitar, you may well get to enjoy this album, as most of the songs are up to standard and grow on you after a few plays. Otherwise, if you haven't the patience or time, best stay away.

There's One In Every Crowd was Eric Clapton's studio follow up to 461 Ocean Boulevard. Mr. Clapton dabbled a bit in other musical styles like reggae on that release and he takes that one step further here. He treads into spiritual waters on tracks like "We've Been Told (Jesus Is Coming)" and the old gospel standby, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". "Singin' The Blues" is a cover of a 50's hit and he goes into more familiar territory on the bluesy "The Sky Is Crying". There's One In Every Crowd is an often overlooked album in Mr. Clapton's catalog, but it is a quite, nice and easy listen from Slowhand.

I keep coming coming back to this lovely record. For the first ten years I was enthralled by the laid-back acoustic blues numbers towards the end of the record, the slow beautiful ones like "The Sky is Crying" and "Better Make it through Today," that have that mournful organ sound. Now, however, I enjoy the upbeat reggae flavored ones as well. This is not in your face power chord rock-n-roll but rather a soulful exploration of several musical styles. I see it as a companion to Neil Young's brilliant and under appreciated 70's record, Tonight's the Night. Both have the same late-night feel, and to paraphrase Neil, "It was recorded at a time when the musicians would play at my speed: slow."

This album, has gotten some of the worst reviews from critics out of all of EC's 70 albums. I personally disagree. Its not an album full of long solos so if thats what your looking for then this is the wrong CD for you. It is how ever one of the most personal, eclectic albums of EC's career. It ranges from gospel, sweet ballads, blues/country blues, reggae and rock. I don't really care for Don't blame me an inferior re-write to I shot the sherriff, but other than that I love this album. Don't be persuaded by people who give this a bad review it really is a great album.

While many reviewers and fans neglect the albums between "461 Ocean Boulevard" and "Slowhand," 1975's "There's One in Every Crowd" and 1976's "No Reason to Cry" easily equal the quality of the former masterpieces. No major radio singles, but plenty of mellow blues (and even a little gospel), funky riffs, moving ballads, and tasteful musicianship. These two albums definitely do not belong in the bargain bins!

This review is strictly for the DTS release, that is amazingly still available on Amazon at the time of this writing. The mix is top-notch. It would have been best in DVD-Audio format (this is not a DVD-Audio release, even though the Amazon details state that it is), but the semi-hi resolution of DTS is better than nothing. There are guitars all over the place, though the playing is subtle compared to "Derek and the Dominos In Concert" (like what isn't compared to the playing there), but hey, this is a great Clapton solo release. What's even better is that every song is good, some great, and practically none of them are ever played on the radio. With the DTS release, it sounds like you were sitting in the center of the recording studio when the band was laying down the master takes. Keyboards are in the rear speakers, but occasionally in the front right ("Better make it through the day", which is stunning in this format with a beautifully understated guitar solo). Clapton's vocals front and center and the backup vocals sound 360 degrees around the listener. Percussion sounds coming from all over the place ("Pretty Blue Eyes").

It's a shame that there are so few DTS/DVD-Audio/SACD releases still available at reasonable prices. If you have even the slightest interest in an underated Clapton release or an interest in owning a great DTS release, or both, then throw down your $25 (amazon market place seller) and enjoy! I cannot imagine this being in print for too much longer.

Review's not about the album itself but the mastering quality. This is
a DTS 5.1 mastered disc and NOT DVD-Audio. Would do everyone good if Amazon knew the difference.

However, the improved quality from a CD mastering is obvious. Not sure if this is just due to re-mastering for DTS or the sampling itself. If you the right audio setup (I have an HTPC with M-Audio Revo 7.1, Rotel pre-amp and amp out to Sonus Faber Concertos and Solo for the front and B&W for the rears), the quality shows through obviously. Imaging is not the best, but, I can live with that just to hear the nuances that you'd appreciate in this kind of music.

While many reviewers and fans neglect the albums between "461 Ocean Boulevard" and "Slowhand," 1975's "There's One in Every Crowd" and 1976's "No Reason to Cry" easily equal the quality of the former masterpieces. No major radio singles, but plenty of mellow blues (and even a little gospel), funky riffs, moving ballads, and tasteful musicianship. These two albums definitely do not belong in the bargain bins!