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Rating: Between 1971 and 1972, Eric Clapton went through one of the darkest periods of his career and life: no albums and no concerts, except for the "Concert for Bangladesh" organized by Harrison in 1971. His heroin addiction was irreparably dragging him towards the abyss. It was thanks to Pete Townshend's help that Clapton managed to emerge towards less dark horizons: Pete organized the Rainbow Concert in 1973, marking Clapton's great return, and also offered him a part in the film Tommy (in fact, he would play the role of "The Hawker," the guru-healer, in 1975). Eric Clapton regained his vitality and decided to clean up his act: he bought a house in Miami and decided to record a new album, simply titled with his home's address: "461 Ocean Boulevard." With a new band behind him, Clapton seems to have found inspiration again.
Motherless Children features a pretty good riff that opens the song. Throughout the track, the rhythm remains at a great level until the end, with Clapton’s great singing, which I consider overall a very nice piece. Give Me Strength is a slow track where the slowhand puts incredible passion into playing the guitar, and it lasts just those 3 minutes or so before the piece becomes boring. Willie And The Hand Jive is a blues dressed in exotic sounds, which actually doesn't represent a memorable moment, just like the reggae influences of Get Ready, which are easily overlooked. The cover of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff is really good, almost even better than the original. I Can't Hold Out is another blues with a very classic feel. Please Be With Me is a beautiful acoustic ballad, with a noteworthy slide solo and an extremely melancholic tone in the vocals. Even Let It Grow is a great classic, amazing in the arrangements, with a small part where the arpeggio vaguely recalls Stairway To Heaven (the chords are practically the same) and the lyrics are truly extraordinary. Steady Rollin' Man is an excellent, solid bluesy piece, perfectly played and always enjoyable to listen to. The closing of Mainline Florida is full of rhythm and Clapton's guitar performs the usual feats.
The only flaw that prevented "461 Ocean Boulevard" from being a great album, in my opinion, are those two or three filler blues tracks, a scheme Eric Clapton unfortunately would continue to use throughout his career. Nonetheless, it remains one of Clapton's most distinctive solo albums, imbued with a particular tropical/exotic atmosphere that other albums don't possess.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Motherless Children (04:53)
(traditional)
Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
Motherless children have a hard time when mother is dead, lord.
They don't have anywhere to go;
Wandering around from door to door.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can when your mother is dead, lord.
Father will do the best he can;
So many things a father can't understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can when your mother is dead, lord.
Sister will do the best she can;
So many things a sister can't understand.
Nobody treats you like a mother will when your mother is dead.
When your mother is dead, when your mother is dead.
When your mother is dead, Lord, when your mother is dead.
02 Give Me Strength (02:54)
by Eric Clapton
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
My home may be out on the highway,
Lord, I've done so much wrong
But please, give me strength to carry on.
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.
My home may be out on the highway,
Lord, I've done so much wrong
But please, give me strength to carry on.
03 Willie and the Hand Jive (03:30)
Got a cool little chick named Rocking Millie.
He can walk and stroll and Susie Q
And do that crazy hand jive, too.
Mama, mama, look at Uncle Joe
Doing the hand jive with sister Flo.
Grandma gave baby sister a dime;
Said, "Do that hand jive one more time."
Hand jive, hand jive, hand jive,
Do that crazy jive.
Doctor and a lawyer and an Indian chief,
They all dig that crazy beat.
Way-Out Willie gave them all a treat
When he did that hand jive with his feet.
Chorus
Willie and Millie got married last fall.
They had a little Willie junior and that ain't all.
Well, the kids got crazy and it's plain to see,
Doing the hand jive on T.V.
Chorus
04 Get Ready (03:47)
by Eric Clapton and Yvonne Elliman
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's a man who's going to break your heart.
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's a man who's going to break your heart.
Well, you've been fooling 'round and I don't know why.
Left me on my own, sitting high and dry.
But I'm going to get you back, just you wait and see;
You can't do those things that you're doing to me.
Chorus
I've never needed a running 'round pissing hound,
Checking out the bitches in heat.
You've got a lot of nerve, dishing out what you serve,
Waggling your piece of meat.
Chorus
I want to get revenge on your sinful sins.
I got to get you back for what you did back then.
And now you've got it back, life is misery.
Well, ha ha ha to you, ha ha to me.
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's the one that's going to break your heart.
Ready, get ready. Ready.
He's the one that's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart.
Get ready, get ready, get ready.
He's the one who's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart.
Get ready, get ready, get ready.
'Cause he's the one who's going to break your heart, break your heart,
Break your heart, break your heart.
05 I Shot the Sheriff (04:24)
I shot the sheriff,
But I did not shoot the deputy.
I shot the sheriff,
But I didn't shoot the deputy.
All around my home town
They're trying to track me down.
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of the deputy;
For the life of a deputy.
I said..
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self defense.
I shot the sheriff
And they say it was a capitol offense.
Sheriff John Brown always hated me.
For what? I don't know,
But every time that I plant a seed,
He said, "Kill it before it grows."
He said, "Kill it before it grows."
I said..
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self defense.
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self defense.
Freedom came my way one day
And I started out of town.
All of a sudden I see Sheriff John Brown
He was aimin' to shoot me down.
So I shot, I shot him down.
I said..
I shot the sheriff,
But I did not shoot the deputy.
I shot the sheriff,
But I didn't shoot the deputy.
Reflexes got the better of me
And what is to be must be.
Every day the bucket falls to the well.
One day the bottom will drop out.
Yes, one day the bottom will drop out.
I said..
I shot the sheriff,
But I didn't shoot the deputy.
Oh, no, oh, no.
I shot the sheriff,
But I did not shoot no deputy.
Oh, no.
06 I Can't Hold Out (04:14)
(by Elmore James)
I just talked to my baby on the telephone,
She said, "Stop what you're doing and baby come on home."
I can't hold out, I can't hold out too long.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone.
You said, "Baby don't you worry, you're my heart's desire.
You know that I love you, I can't stand to see you cry."
I can't hold out, I can't hold out too long.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone.
She said, "Baby you can run, you can walk or fly.
You know that I love you, you're my heart's desire."
I can't hold out, I can't hold out too long.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone, oh yeah.
I talked to my baby, I talked to my baby.
I talked to my baby, I talked to my baby.
I get a real good feeling talking to you on the phone.
07 Please Be With Me (03:26)
Oh my word, what does it mean?
Is it love or is it me
That makes me change so suddenly?
Looking out, feeling free.
I sit here lying on my bed,
Wondering what it was I'd said
That made me think I'd lost my head,
When I knew I lost my heart instead.
(chorus)
Won't you please read my signs, be a gypsy.
Tell me what I hope to find deep within me.
Because you can find my mind, please be with me.
Of all the better things I've heard,
Loving you has made the words
And all the rest seem so absurd,
'Cause in the end it all comes out I'm sure.
Chorus
10 Mainline Florida (04:05)
by George Terry
My heart was leaping in the sun;
My friends all say that you're the one.
Let me get this one thing very clear:
There ain't enough going on down here.
Mainline Florida, oh say.
Mainline Florida, O.K.
Her arms were open, open wide;
Her invitation's a changing tide.
I could remember not long ago
We took a cruise down on Hotel Row.
Chorus
Second Verse
Chorus
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