Crossroads Revisited

Eric Clapton and Guests

This mostly chronological sampling of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festivals from 2004 (14 songs), 2007 (10), 2010 (11), and 2013 (5) would feel like an embarrassment of riches except that almost nothing about it is embarrassing. The world may not need another version of Willie Nelson singing “On the Road Again,” but hearing John Mayer, Vince Gill, and Gary Clark Jr. acquit themselves amid genuinely stiff competition could make one optimistic about diversity. Hearing Clapton and Steve Winwood’s “Presence of the Lord” could make one optimistic about everything else.

Together

The Explorers Club

Beach Boys aficionados will have fun identifying what The Explorers Club creatively recycles. “Wild Honey”’s theremin sound (the title track), “Add Some Music to Your Day”’s background vocals (“Once in a While”), practically all of “I Went to Sleep” (“Be Around”) and “’Til I Die” (“Before I’m Gone”)—seriously, neither The Wondermints nor Papa Doo Run Run have anything on these South Carolinians. All that they lack is a lead singer as idiosyncratically soulful or as soulfully idiosyncratic as Brian, Mike, Carl, Al, Dennis, or Bruce.

Apache

Aaron Neville

Not many iconic vocalists wait until 75 to release their toughest album. Then again, not many iconic interpreters of other people’s songs wait until 75 to co-write ten-elevenths of an album either. Neville has done both. “Be Your Man” bristles with blaxploitation-soundtrack funk. “Heaven” and “Ain’t Gonna Judge You” suggest that, as Catholics go, he likes Pope Francis. “Hard to Believe” and “Fragile World” quote Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. But it’s the music and the lyrics of “Stompin’ Ground” that tell his truest story.

Ishkode! Ishkode!

Jonathan Richman

With his acoustic guitar, a percussionist, some background singers, and the occasional accordion or sitar, Richman extends his childlike worldview not only into its fourth decade but also into literal world music. He sings in Ojibwe, Spanish, French, and Italian. He covers Charles Trenet and sets Paramahansa Yogananda to music. He borrows melodies from Joe Cuba and whoever wrote “Hang On Sloopy.” And he recounts a love-at-first-sight moment so intense that he’d have given up his credit card and passport just to make it last.

Encore

In a recent interview, Eric Clapton announced that, due to nerve damage, he can seldom play guitar without pain anymore. That news would explain the mellowness of his latest album, I Still Do (Bushbranch/Surfdog), if not for the fact that almost every Clapton solo album has been defined by its palliative properties. What hasn’t defined any Clapton album since 1978 is the production of Glyn Johns. His return gives I Still Do a personality.

Make that something of a personality. From the Bob Dylan and the J.J. Cale covers to the alternating blues and soft pop sequencing, Johns has essentially picked up where he left off. And, as Clapton himself has seldom strayed from Johns’ formula, I Still Do sometimes feels as overfamiliar as (to quote the title of Clapton’s 2013 album) an old sock. An exception: “I’ll Be Seeing You,” a 78-year-old show tune that Clapton transforms into an autumnal follow-up to “Wonderful Tonight.” —A.O.