August (Eric Clapton album)

chronology
August
Eric Clapton's studio album
Publication ; (s)	November 24, 1986
admission	April - May 1986
Label (s)	Duck , Warner Bros.
Format (s)	LP , CD , MC , digital
Genre (s)	Pop rock , rock
Title (number)	12
running time	55:31
production	Eric Clapton; Phil Collins; Tom Dowd;
Studio (s)	Sunset Sound Studios
October 1986	It's in the way that you use it
November 24, 1986	run
November 24, 1986	Miss you
November 24, 1986	Holy Mother
January 1987	Behind the mask
June 8, 1987	Tearing Us Apart

August is the tenth studio album by British rock musician Eric Clapton . It was released on November 24, 1986 under the Warner Bros. and Duck Records labels and is considered one of the most popular Clapton albums.

Background information

Clapton went to Los Angeles to record songs for a new album that would be created in collaboration with Phil Collins and Tom Dowd . In his biography, Clapton says he wanted Dowd to co-produce because he wasn't sure if Collins met his musical tastes. Clapton, Collins, Greg Phillinganes and Nathan East recorded the songs at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood . The winds and the duet Tearing Us Apart with Tina Turner were mixed in in New York. In memory of the birth of Clapton's son on August 21, 1986 at St. Mary's Hospital, the album was given its title. British photographer Terry O'Neill took the cover photo.

Track list

No.	title	Songwriter	length
1.	It's in the way that you use it	Eric Clapton, Robbie Robertson	4:11
2.	run	Lamont Dozier	3:39
3.	Tearing Us Apart with Tina Turner	Eric Clapton, Greg Phillinganes	4:15
4th	Bad Influence	Robert Cray , Michael Vannice	5:09
5.	Walk away	Richard Feldman, Marcella Detroit	3:52
6th	Hung up on your love	Lamont Dozier	3:53
7th	Take a chance	Eric Clapton, Nathan East, Greg Phillinganes	4:54
8th.	Hold on	Eric Clapton, Phil Collins	4:56
9.	Miss you	Eric Clapton, Bobby Columby, Greg Phillinganes	5:06
10.	Holy Mother	Stephen Bishop, Eric Clapton	4:55
11.	Behind the mask	Chris Mosdell, Ryuichi Sakamoto , Michael Jackson	4:47
12.	Grand Illusion (only on CD version)	Bob Farrell, Dave Robbins, Wesly Stephenson	6:23
Overall length:			55:31

occupation

Musician

Eric Clapton - guitar , vocals
Phil Collins - drums , percussion , background vocals
Tina Turner - vocals, background vocals
Henry Spinetti - drums
Nathan East - bass
Laurence Cottle - bass
Gary Brooker - keyboard , vocals
Leon Pendarvis - horn arrangements
Michael Brecker - saxophone

Jon Faddis - Trumpet
Randy Brecker - trumpet
Dave Bargeron - trombone
Greg Phillinganes - keyboard, vocals
Richard Feldman - keyboard
Richard Cottle - synthesizer
Katie Kissoon - background vocals
Magic Moreno - Background Vocals
Tessa Niles - background vocals

production

Steve Chase - engineering
John Jacobs - Engineering

Paul Gommersall - Engineering
Peter Hefter - Engineering

Reception and criticism

Music critic William Ruhlmann of the music website Allmusic only awarded two of the maximum five rating units for the album. He described the title song It's in the Way That You Use It as "excellent", but criticized that it did not fit the environment of the album. (“Excellent, but incongruous, leadoff track”). Allmusic critic Richard Gilliam described Clapton's version of Behind the Mask as a "catchy, funny song [...]" ("catchy, fun tune [...]"). Anthony Decurtis of the American music magazine Rolling Stone criticized August heavily and noted at the end of his assessment that August could be the "prelude to a fall" ("[...] August could be the prelude to a fall [...]") for Clapton . The critics of the British music magazine Kerrang gave the album four and a half stars out of five.

Chart successes and awards

The studio album reached number 32 in the German music charts for one week in 1986 . In total, it stayed in the charts for 13 weeks. In Switzerland, August placed 23rd on the Swiss charts . There it was in the charts for seven weeks. The album ranked third in the UK album charts, stayed in the Top 10 for seven weeks and was in the UK music charts for a total of 46 weeks . In the United States, the album ranked 37th on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for 34 weeks.

All single releases of the album reached the charts. The single It's in the Way That You Use It reached both number 77 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs in 1986. Run and Miss You reached numbers 21 and 9 on the rock song chart. The release Behind the Mask placed 15th in the British single charts in 1987. In the same year, the duo Tearing Us Apart reached number 56 on the UK chart and number five on the Billboard mainstream rock song chart.

Awards for music sales

A gold record of the British Phonographic Industry .

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Japan (RIAJ)	-	34,000
United States (RIAA)	gold	500,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	300,000
All in all	1 × gold 1 × platinum	834,000