Eric Clapton - "It's In The Way That You Use It" (forgotten song)

 

So it turns out that Eric Clapton is collaborating with Van Morrison for another anti-lock down song.  This is apparently separate from the Van Morrison songs we learned of last month.  This is disappointing, dangerous, and completely tone deaf: how many people should be put at risk so this septuagenarian can do live shows again?

I'm not the biggest Eric Clapton fan, but owing to the time and place of my birth, I can't help but a fan to a certain degree.   He's objectively a guitar god, "Badge", "Layla", and "Wonderful Tonight" are all great song, and they have formed the soundtrack for various moments in my life.  So with sadness, I have to admit that the news about Clapton's does have a measure of personal disappointment.  

I will mark this occasion with a song that I like, even if not one of his greatest.  "It's in the Way That You Use It" was first featured on the soundtrack of "The Color of Money", a film that I really enjoyed when it came out.  It was later released on his LP "August", but it will always be a soundtrack song for me.  I'm not here to convince you that it's one of his classics, and it definitely has cheesy 80s production.  In preparing this post I learned that it was co-written by Robbie Robertson, which is pretty cool.  But I'm not going to deny that I like this song, even if the latest news does diminish my enjoyment just a bit.

"I've seen dark skies, never like this"

Eric Clapton - "It's in the Way That You Use It"

Gil Scott-Heron - "Me and the Devil" (the song remains the same)

I didn't know that much about Gil Scott-Heron; sure I knew some of his more famous spoken word stuff, like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" & "Whitey On The Moon", but I didn't realize he was a legitimate singer.

Herbert recently turned me on to GSH's 2010 LP "I'm New Here", which is a mix of songs and spoken word tracks. I'll review the LP later (edit: it took nine years), but the center piece of the LP is GSH's version of the 1937 Robert Johnson classic "Me and the Devil Blues" (the title here is reduced to just "Me and the Devil"). Musically, instead of a standard blues arrangement, it is given the doom stomp treatment that reminds me of Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", albeit with more of a synth/electronic sound. Vocally, GSH's leathery voice compares favorably with Robert Johnson.

As you surely know, this is Johnson's second song dealing with Faustian themes, the other being "Cross Road Blues", which is generally associated with him selling his soul for his guitar proficiency (of course, this is a great theme for musicians; see also: the 1986 film "Crossroads", Paganini, Tartini, etc.)

There have been countless covers of Johnson's song... Two more notable versions are Eric Clapton's, from his 2004 LP "Me and Mr. Johnson" and the Cowboy Junkies from their 1986 debut LP "Whites Off Earth Now!!". I'm a big Cowboy Junkies fan (even though this is their first mention here), but I think Gil Scott-Heron might have done a better version of this song.

Gil Scott-Heron: "Me and the Devil" (the official video incorporates ~1:45 of GSH's "Your Soul and Mine" from "I'm New Here")

Robert Johnson: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Eric Clapton: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Cowboy Junkies: "Me and the Devil Blues"