Unabashed

I went to my favorite blues club two days before Christmas -- a night I expected would be slow. And there was Archie Edwards, strumming an acoustic guitar and singing solo, slouched in a chair behind a microphone on an otherwise empty stage, and telling stories of his early days in Mississippi. It was not the stuff of big nights at Tornado Alley.

It definitely was the blues, however. And blues, along with traditional folk, is what makes up the best of Bob Dylan's relatively obscure Good As I Been to You recording and Eric Clapton's enormously successful Unplugged release. Acoustic recordings from two well-known electric guitarists are something of a surprise; I think we can assume that these "aging rockers" are offering a tip of the hat to their roots.

The format of Bob Dylan's new release is not too different from Archie Edwards' regular appearances at Tornado Alley. It's just Bob on this one -- one guitar, one harp, one voice. If you don't like Dylan in any of these categories, perhaps you should leave this 30th-anniversary release -- his 38th recording -- for the Dylan collectors to snatch up.

Though completely acoustic, Good is reminiscent of Dylan's 1974 release Blood on the Tracks -- especially the tenderness conveyed in "Hard Times" -- "Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door/oh, hard times, come again no more." Compared to Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964), for example, his guitar work is much more intricate and accomplished now. Dylan continues telling stories as he always has, with six titles of the 13 songs on Good carrying characters' names. And he appears not to have lost the twinkle in his eye as he renders the old favorite "Froggie Went a Courtin'."

The debate over Dylan's creative ability will surely go on (The Washington Post ran opposing headlines last fall at the 30th anniversary date: "Living Legend" and "Goodbye Geezer"), and Dylan will likely continue answering the critics through his ever-changing musical journey. My criticism, rare as it is of Bob Dylan, is that none of the songs on this collection are attributed to a specific composer. Noting simply "traditional" or "public domain" shirks responsibility when, for example, "Sittin' on Top of the World" can be traced to a 1972 Howlin' Wolf recording, where credit is given to Bo Chatman of the Mississippi Sheiks.

CYNICAL observers of the music world claim that the huge sales of Eric Clapton's Unplugged, not to mention the six Grammy awards, are the result of sympathy or sentimentality about the death of Clapton's 4-year-old son in a tragic accident in 1991. The Grammy awards may be partly attributable to that, especially considering his lack of recognition there over the years. But the sales and affection listeners have for Clapton are an indication of something else: Clapton deserves the sincerity award.

"Tears in Heaven" -- the melodic popular ballad written in response to his son's death -- may not merit "song of the year" status, but Unplugged as a whole is a reasonable winner for "album of the year." Listeners who go beyond "Tears" to the reworked version of "Layla," written more than 20 years ago yet almost new here, can't help appreciating this live recording. And if you keep listening, you get to the additional gems "Walkin' Blues" and "Malted Milk" -- two Robert Johnson tunes -- and "San Francisco Bay Blues" -- a guaranteed toe-tapper.

Eric Clapton is known for his ability to share the stage and collaborate with others. With Nathan East on bass and Chuck Leavell on piano, Clapton's guitar is just one aspect of a well-balanced band. Ascribing to the old blues adage that "less is more" on guitar (one major variation from rock guitarists), Clapton's version of "Alberta," with a liner note saying "traditional, arranged by Huddi Ledbetter," is a showcase for Leavell's slow-boogie keyboards. "Old Love," written with Robert Cray, ebbs and flows in the best blues tradition.

What we get from musicians who've been around so long is authenticity -- to sing the blues especially. Clapton says, "I compose to heal myself," and that's what this music is all about. Remember that even before he lost his son, Clapton witnessed the loss of his bodyguard, booking agent, and assistant tour manager, as well as his close friend, Stevie Ray Vaughan, when -- after Clapton's gig -- their helicopter went down. Clapton was riding in the helicopter behind theirs.

Clapton was asked in an interview once, "Even two of the musicians who played with you on Layla are now dead. Do you ever stop and ask yourself, 'Why didn't that happen to me? Why am I so blessed?'" His response seems to sum up the emotion of Unplugged: "I clearly am ... So the simple way of me looking at this question is to think that because it wasn't me [who died], I do have a responsibility to express my gratitude for still being alive after everything I've experienced" (Musician, February 1993).

The time to look back at early experiences and influences comes, naturally, later in life. Frankly, I'm just glad these two music greats are still around. We might have been surprised at Jimi Hendrix's 1990s recordings, but we'll never have the privilege of knowing.

Karen Lattea is administrative director of Sojourners.

Good As I Been to You. By Bob Dylan. Columbia Records, 1992.
Unplugged. By Eric Clapton. Reprise Records, 1992.