J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton: The Road to Escondido

Label: Reprise
Sound/Style: Mature and organic blues/country/southern rock blend

In 1969, when Eric Clapton was embarking on a solo career, he heard an unreleased recording by J.J. Cale, a then-unknown musician from Oklahoma City. The song in question, "After Midnight," became Clapton's first hit single in 1970. The success of the record led to Cale's solo debut a year later, released to critical acclaim. Indeed, critics have often identified Cale as being the real item, based on his languid and unselfconscious delivery of the songs Clapton made into flashier rock staples. Clapton's version of "After Midnight," while appealingly upbeat, is a literal and perhaps less intriguing interpretation of the song's openly hedonistic lyric: "After midnight, we're gonna let it all hang down/ After midnight, we're gonna chug-a-lug and shout."