Journeyman (album)

Journeyman
Eric Clapton's studio album
Publication (s)	November 18, 1989
Label (s)	Recapitulation , duck
Format (s)	LP, MC, CD
Genre (s)	Rock , blues rock
Title (number)	12
running time	56:35
production	Russ Titelman, Jill Dell'Abate
Studio (s)	Power Station, Skyline Studios (both New York City ), and Townhouse Studios , London
chronology August (1986) Journeyman From the Cradle (1994)
Single releases 1989 Pretending 1990 No alibis 1990 Bad love 1990 Before You Accuse Me 1990 Run so far

Journeyman ( English for "journeyman") is the eleventh studio album by Eric Clapton . It was released on November 18, 1989.

Background and success

The album represented Clapton's comeback, who was addicted to alcohol until the mid- 1980s . The album represents the typical electric rock sound of that time, but also serves Clapton's blues roots with songs like Before You Accuse Me or Running on Faith . The most successful commercial single was Bad Love ; it brought Clapton a 1990 Grammy for best male vocal performance and a number 1 hit on the rock charts. In addition to the tried and tested staff, Clapton also relied on many well-known compositions, such as the often- covered Hound Dog or songs specially written for him such as Pretending , which also took first place in the rock charts. It became Clapton's first album to reach double platinum status in the US. He called it one of his favorite albums. From 1990 to 1991 Clapton presented the album on the Journeyman World Tour .

Production and guest musician

The twelve tracks on the album, including a joint work by Clapton with Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones and with Robert Cray , were produced by Russ Titelman, who previously supervised albums by Paul Simon , Rickie Lee Jones and Randy Newman , among others .

Numerous guest musicians came to the recordings in the New York Power Station and Skyline Studios and the Townhouse in London . In addition to Robert Cray, who can be heard on four songs on the guitar, the singer Daryl Hall , for example , the drummer Jim Keltner , who is also on the Concert for Bangladesh album , and the saxophonist David Sanborn , who was responsible for the production of the previous album August responsible Phil Collins , the Dire Straits -Keyboarder Alan Clark , bassist Pino Palladino , the singer Chaka Khan and later Toto -Keyboarder Greg Phillinganes with. Linda Womack sang Lead Me On with Clapton , with her husband Cecil, with whom she wrote the piece, on guitar and in front of the vocal microphone. With George Harrison , who contributed the track Run So Far and plays the guitar on this piece, Clapton has been friends since he worked on the White Album .

Track list

1. Pretending ( Jerry Lynn Williams ) - 4:48
2. Anything for Your Love (Williams) - 4:16
3. Bad Love (Clapton, Mick Jones) - 5:11
4. Running on Faith (Williams) - 5:27
5. Hard Times ( Ray Charles ) - 3:00
6. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 2:26
7. No Alibis (Williams) - 5:32
8. Run So Far ( George Harrison ) - 4:06
9. Old Love (Clapton, Robert Cray ) - 6:25
10. Breaking Point (Marty Grebb, Williams) - 5:37
11. Lead Me On ( Cecil Womack , Linda Womack ) - 5:52
12. Before You Accuse Me ( Ellas McDaniel ) - 3:55

reception

The Munzinger archive retrospectively notes a “divided echo” for the album. The Frankfurter Rundschau liked the move away from the mainstream ingratiation of the previous album in 1990. She found Clapton “empathetic in sluggish blues and soul pieces, energetic and rough with the straight rock numbers”. The Internet platform Allmusic awarded 4.5 out of 5 points and said the album showed Clapton's virtuosity without any showmanship. It's the best since Slowhand .

The album reached number two on the British album charts and number 16 on the Billboard 200 and the German album charts. In Austria and Switzerland, the album was ranked 29th and seventh respectively.

Awards for music sales

Journeyman has been awarded 9 × gold and 5 × platinum worldwide.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Argentina (CAPIF)	gold	30,000
Australia (ARIA)	gold	35,000
France (SNEP)	gold	162,500
Japan (RIAJ)	gold	100,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	200,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	gold	7,500
Netherlands (NVPI)	gold	50,000
Sweden (IFPI)	gold	50,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	gold	25,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	50,000
United States (RIAA)	2 × platinum	2,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	300,000
All in all	9 × gold 5 × platinum	3,010,000

Main article: Eric Clapton / Music Sales Awards

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eric Clapton: The Autobiography, 2007.
2. ^ Roland Schmitt, Dieter Paul Rudolph, Uli Twelker, Tom Przybylla: Eric Clapton . British rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. In: Munzinger archive . Pop Archive International. No. 02/2011 , February 2011, p. 3 (the page number refers to the print version 4/93; the online version 02/2011, which is not freely available, is unpaginated).
3. ↑ Martin Scholz: "Old Slowhand" relies fully on the good old blues . The star assures: "I'm a completely normal guy". In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 3, 1990, Rock-Rundschau, p. 18 .
4. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Eric Clapton. Journeyman. In: allmusic.com. Retrieved May 12, 2014 . 
5. ↑ Sales figures for Journeyman in France ( Memento from January 17, 2019 in the Internet Archive )