Money & Cigarettes

Vinyl package features one 140g black vinyl disc with insert in direct-to-board Stoughton jacket, manufatured at Pallas.

'Money and Cigarettes' marked several important turning points in Eric Clapton's recording career: his debut release on his own Duck imprint; the first album he made after giving up drinking; and marked his working with new players (with the exception of second guitarist Albert Lee) including Stax Records veteran bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn and Muscle Shoals drummer Roger Hawkins, also bringing in guest guitarist Ry Cooder.
His new songs reflected on his changed condition, with 'Ain't Going Down,' a thinly veiled musical rewrite of the Jimi Hendrix arrangement of 'All Along the Watchtower,' serving as a statement of purpose that declared, 'I've still got something left to say.' Other notable hits include 'The Shape You're In' the acoustic ballad 'Pretty Girl' and covers of Sleepy John Estes' 'Everybody Oughta Make a Change' (significantly placed as the album's leadoff track), Albert King's 'Crosscut Saw,' and Johnny Otis' 'Crazy Country Hop.'

Maybe it was the recording environs of Nassau, Bahamas, that made this such a laidback effort. Maybe it was the presence of trusty Clapton pals Albert Lee, Ry Cooder, and Donald "Duck" Dunn. Money is a relaxed collection of simple songs summed up by the album's sole hit, "I've Got a Rock and Roll Heart." Old-time boogie-woogie and '50s rock is the key inspiration on tracks such as "Slow Down Linda" (which even sounds like a second "Lay Down Sally"), the Eddie Cochran-esque "Man in Love" and "The Shape You're In," which features a nice lead tradeoff between Clapton and Lee. Covers of the Albert King staple "Crosscut Saw" and Sleepy John Estes's "Everybody Oughta Make a Change" boast the album's best blues fills and flurries, while the freight-train jump blues of Johnny Otis's "Crazy Country Hop" closes out the low-key LP with something more resembling a bang. --James Rotondi