There's One in Every Crowd

Having stayed out of the recording studio for four years prior to making his comeback album, 461 Ocean Boulevard, Eric Clapton returned to recording only a few months later to make its follow-up, There's One in Every Crowd. Perhaps be hadn't had time to write or gather sufficient material to make a similarly effective album, since the result is a scatter-shot mixture of styles, leading off with two gospel tunes, one a reggae version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." Clapton and his second guitarist, George Terry, had written a sequel to "I Shot The Sheriff," "Don't Blame Me," which Clapton sang in his best impersonation of Bob Marley's voice. The other originals included "Opposites," whose lyrics were just that -- day, night, life, death, etc. The album's best track, naturally, was the blues cover, Clapton's take on Elmore James's "The Sky Is Crying." But There's One in Every Crowd was a disappointing follow-up to 461 Ocean Boulevard, and fans let Clapton know it: While the former album had topped the charts and gone gold, the latter didn't even make the Top 10. ~ William Ruhlmann