POP MUSIC : Going Down to the ‘Crossroads’ With Clapton

*** 1/2”CROSSROADS.” Eric Clapton. Polydor.

People started scribbling “Clapton Is God” on London walls as early as 1966, so it’s not hard to say that the case for the then 21-year-old guitarist has always been just a little bit, ahem, overstated. After all, the man’s nickname is “Slowhand,” which, in this case, is kinda like calling a big guy “Tiny.”

If it was this enshrinement as King of the Guitarslingers that propelled young Clapton to fame, it also proved to be a velvet prison that he’s spent the better part of the last two decades trying to escape.

But Clapton has been more than one of the first--and few surviving--guitar heroes of the ‘60s. The gentleman, born March 30, 1945, has also been a great proselytizer/popularizer of the Blues. (In fact, if you owned the collected works of every bluesman whose original versions of the songs that Clapton has seen fit to re-record on “Crossroads,” a 6-album boxed set that spans the length and breadth of E.C.’s 25-year career to date, you’d have a damn fine record collection.) You can also bet that a middle-aged, black ‘n’ blues flash such as, say, Buddy Guy is glad that--thanks to the efforts of Eric and his milk-white ilk--he doesn’t have to work a day job nowadays.

While the concept of taking off on long blues-based, improvisational flights began during Clapton’s stint with the aptly named Yardbirds, it wasn’t until he linked up with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker to form the freewheeling, power trio Cream that the idea of a rock band jamming became a BIG $ucce$$, spawning the whole notion of jazz/rock, fusion and progressive-rock in general.

Ironically, as one of the major dudes who made the question of musicianship seem to matter, it was Clapton’s supersonic, supersuccessful, experimental excesses with Cream that devolved into the ritualized, regimented heavy-metal scene so beloved by kids these days. (You could also say punk-rock was a reaction to prog-rock and all those long solos, too, but that’s getting outside the scope of this review.)

Perhaps the most interesting thing about “Crossroads” is that it shows how Clapton’s guitar-playing gets better with age, moving from a fast, fluid, linear approach derived from bluesmeisters B.B. and Freddy King via T-Bone Walker to a more personal, economical, less-obviously flashy thang that incorporates country, soul, folk and rock elements along with the blues in all its hues ‘n’ crying strings. Whether playing straight electric, acoustic, slide or with a wah-wah pedal, Clapton’s fret ‘n’ fingerwork showcases the precise attack, penetrating tone and gift for spiraling, sparkling melody that distinguishes him from legions of lesser pickers.

This is hardly headline news to anyone who’s heard such certified “Classic Rock” classics as “White Room,” “Can’t Find My Way Home,” “Layla,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Cocaine,” “Lay Down Sally” and about a dozen other sounds found in this boxed set. As an added treat, several of the hits included here are heard in either alternate takes, remixes or live renditions, rather than their more-familar forms.

About a third of the package consists of either rare or previously unissued material, highlighted by a couple of wild-eyed, live! workouts on Freddy King’s “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and a BBC radio broadcast of “Steppin’ Out” from the halcyon daze of Cream.

The real treat, however, has to be the almost telepathic duet between Clapton and the late great Duane Allman on Little Walter’s “Mean Old World” from the Derek & the Dominos sessions. Then there’s the five songs’ worth of solid smoke from the second Derek & the Dominos album that was never completed, and both sides of the long-unavailable, first Derek & the Dominos single (“Tell the Truth” b/w “Roll It Over”)that Phil Spector produced before the “Layla” sessions.

Even though one can’t help wonder why tunes from the semi-legendary “Five Live Yardbirds” LP were left out of the box in favor of lesser, albeit less-easily available, Yardbirds numbers, this is basically a well-programmed package, marred mainly by “Rolling Stone” Senior Editor Anthony DeCurtis’s self-serving liner notes, which make it seem as if Cream’s break-up was spurred by a negative review in “Rolling Stone” six months’ earlier. Yeah, right.

From blues purism to beer commercials. (One of the two versions of “After Midnight” spotlighted here is a full-length take on the slow, stripped-down arrangement currently airing as part of the “Night Belongs to Michelob” campaign). From guitar hero to reformed heroin addict. From a “supergroup” named Blind Faith to a conversion to the Anglican Church, not to mention a well-publicized romantic triangle with his best friend’s wife, you can hear virtually all of Eric Clapton’s musical life on display here.

It’s been said that an unshakeable belief in one’s self as a sinner is a prerequisite for effective bluesicianship. Listening to Eric Clapton standing at the “Crossroads” that has served as the central image in his and his idol, the late country blues giant Robert Johnson’s own mythology, dividing his soul between wheels-of-fireworkouts on such gabardine blues vehicles such as Elmore James’s “The Sky Is Crying,” Bobby (Blue) Bland’s “Further On Up the Road” and Otis Rush’s “Double Trouble” and such overtly inspirational numbers as “Presence of the Lord,” Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” and “Heaven Is One Step Away,” you could almost believe it.