August

Having made his presence known in the MTV universe with his video for "Forever Man", Eric Clapton returned to the studio to record AUGUST, an album that found him working with a broad spectrum of writers. Unlike BEHIND THE SUN's class reunion of Clapton side musicians, AUGUST found E.C. backed by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Nathan East (later of jazz supergroup Fourplay) and drummer Phil Collins (who shared production duties with long-time Clapton knob-twirler Tom Dowd).
Clapton collaborated with some renowned writers here, including Robbie Robertson ("It's In The Way That You Use It") and Stephen Bishop ("Holy Mother", dedicated to the recently deceased Richard Manuel). AUGUST also found Clapton eschewing old blues covers for newer material written by Robert Cray ("Bad Influence") and Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier ("Run", "Hung Up On Your Love"). The most exciting moment on the record comes during the mechanised funk of "Tearing Us Apart", a Clapton duet with the red-hot Tina Turner.|