Me and Mr. Johnson
Eric Clapton
Reprise

 

Honkin’ on Bobo
Aerosmith
Columbia

 

Last fall I wrote a column listing a number of rock superstars who should return to their blues roots. Lo and behold, not only did two of my nominees record blues albums, but also released them on the same day.

 

Both albums are what you would expect from the respected artists. Clapton’s album of all Robert Johnson tunes is a slick-produced blues album, but Clapton’s guitar playing keeps it in the Delta and out of the malls. It helps that Clapton surrounded himself with excellent musicians like Doyle Bramhall II and longtime bassist Nathan East. Harmonica man Jerry Portnoy shines on “When You Got A Good Friend” and Billy Preston has fun on the piano (“32-20 Blues”) and on organ (“Little Queen Of Spades”).

 

It’s the lesser-known tunes and arrangement variety that fare best. There’s some fun acoustic slide on “They’re Red Hot” and Sunday-morning harmony on “Come On In My Kitchen.” There’s the laid-back front porch feel to “Kind Hearted Woman Blues” and “Love In Vain.” “Me And The Devil Blues” and “Last Fair Deal Gone Down” are stripped down and raw, even by Clapton’s standards. Ironically enough, this is Clapton’s best work since his last blues album, 1994’s From The Cradle.

 

This is Aerosmith’s first foray into an all-blues album, which teeters at times between the sincere and the band Blueshammer from the film Ghost World. The Boston Five makes some full-throttle blues shouters for the Coyote Ugly crowd (Bo Diddley’s “Road Runner,” “Shame Shame Shame,” “You Gotta Move” and “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” which is done like every band’s cover of the Big Joe Williams classic). However, there are some surprisingly nice moments on this album.

 

Anytime you get Joe Perry to sing (Fleetwood Mac’s “Stop Messin’ Around” and a haunting cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Back Back Train”) is a plus. Perry’s guitar work, along with Brad Whitford (still one of the best guitar tag teams in rock), builds another bridge between rock and blues. Steven Tyler whips out the harmonica on a decent “Eyesight To The Blind” and a stripped down “Temperature” (with Johnnie Johnson on piano). He tries channeling Howlin’ Wolf on “I’m Ready” and handles a male spin of Aretha Franklin’s “Never Loved A Man” (this time “Never Loved A Girl”) quite nicely. The lone Aerosmith original is OK (“Grind”), but the final track, an acoustic trip-to-church cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Jesus Is On The Main Line,” is the best surprise of all.