Still guided by Robert Johnson

Eric Clapton

“Back Home” (Reprise)

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IN the press information accompanying his first album of new material in five years, Clapton notes that while recording these songs he and the other musicians would clear their heads periodically by working up a Robert Johnson blues tune.

The most tangible outgrowth of that practice was last year’s “Me and Mr. Johnson” album. But Clapton’s reconnection with those deep blues roots shows up here too, not so much in the songs’ R&B;, soul and gospel styles as in the guiding spirit of the lyrics.

That spirit is a tacit warning against wasting precious time, an idea that gets additional resonance from his recording of longtime pal George Harrison’s 1979 song “Love Comes to Everyone,” featuring evocative slide guitar work that seems to channel the late Beatle.

Clapton’s vocals here extend the feeling of renewed energy and direction he revealed on the Robert Johnson album, exhibiting gospel fervor and silky soulfulness throughout, peaking with his flush-with-the-spirit workup of the Spinners’ “Love Don’t Love Nobody.” In the end, it seems Clapton is a true believer in the words of another ‘60s rock icon, the one who sang “All you need is love.”

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