461 Ocean Boulevard

461 Ocean Boulevard
Studio album by Eric Clapton
Released	July 1974
Recorded	April–May 1974 at Criteria Recording Studios, Miami, Florida
Genre	Blues-rock
Length	43:21 2:22:5 (deluxe edition)
Label	RSO
Producer	Tom Dowd
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link
Eric Clapton chronology
Rainbow Concert (1973) 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) There's One in Every Crowd (1975)

461 Ocean Boulevard is a 1974 album by blues rock musician Eric Clapton. In creating his first album after quitting heroin and his second after the dissolution of Derek & the Dominos, Clapton was under pressure during the recording of 461 Ocean Boulevard, but the album received rave reviews upon its release.^{[citation needed]}

On later pressings of the album and the Polygram CD, "Give Me Strength" was pulled because a songwriter claimed she was the composer and had not been credited (Clapton was originally listed as composer). It was replaced with the track "Better Make It Through Today", (dropped from the re-release) which was recorded in September 1974 and originally released on the "There's One in Every Crowd" album in April 1975.

In 2004 a remastered two-disc "deluxe edition" of 461 Ocean Boulevard was released. The second disc included in the packaging features a live concert which was recorded at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo (formerly the Hammersmith Odeon). The first disc also has a few new added tracks which are various studio jam sessions.

The title of the album is the address of a house on Golden Beach in Miami where Clapton was living in at the time. The house is also the one featured on the cover. In 2003, the album was ranked number 409 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[1]

Track listing

Side one

1. "Motherless Children" (Traditional, arranged by Clapton, Carl Radle) - 4:55
2. "Give Me Strength" (Clapton) - 2:51 ; replaced (temporarily) by "Better Make it Through Today" (Clapton) - 4:04
3. "Willie and the Hand Jive" (Johnny Otis) - 3:46
4. "Get Ready" (Clapton/Yvonne Elliman) - 3:50
5. "I Shot the Sheriff" (Bob Marley) - 4:30

Side two

1. "I Can't Hold Out" (Elmore James) - 4:10
2. "Please Be With Me" (Charles Scott Boyer) - 3:25
3. "Let It Grow" (Clapton) - 4:57
4. "Steady Rollin' Man" (Robert Johnson) - 3:14
5. "Mainline Florida" (George Terry) - 4:05

Deluxe edition

Disc one

The Original Album

1. "Motherless Children" (Traditional, arranged by Clapton/Radle)
2. "Give Me Strength" (Clapton)
3. "Willie and the Hand Jive" (Johnny Otis)
4. "Get Ready" (Clapton/Elliman)
5. "I Shot the Sheriff" (Marley)
6. "I Can't Hold Out" (James)
7. "Please Be With Me" (Boyer)
8. "Let It Grow" (Clapton)
9. "Steady Rollin' Man" (Johnson)
10. "Mainline Florida" (Terry)

Bonus Tracks

11. "Walkin' Down the Road" (Musgrave & Levine)
12. "Ain't That Loving You" (Jimmy Reed)
13. "Meet Me (Down at the Bottom)" (Willie Dixon)
14. "Eric After Hours Blues" (Clapton)
15. "B-Minor Jam" (Clapton)

Disc two

All songs recorded live December 4 and December 5, 1974 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England.

1. "Smile" (Chaplin, Parsons, & Phillips)
2. "Let It Grow" (Clapton)
3. "Can't Find My Way Home" (Steve Winwood)
4. "I Shot The Sheriff" (Marley)
5. "Tell The Truth" (Clapton/Bobby Whitlock)
6. "The Sky Is Crying/Have You Ever Loved A Woman/Rambling On My Mind" (James, Robinson, & Lewis/Billy Myles/Johnson)
7. "Little Wing" (Hendrix)
8. "Singin' The Blues" (McCreary)
9. "Badge" (Clapton, George Harrison)
10. "Layla" (Clapton/Jim Gordon)
11. "Let It Rain" (Bonnie Bramlett/Clapton)

Personnel

• Eric Clapton - Dobro, guitar, vocals, arranger
• Yvonne Elliman - vocals, background vocals
• Albhy Galuten - organ, synthesizer, piano, clavichord, electric piano
• Tom Bernfeld - vocals, background vocals
• Dick Sims - keyboards
• George Terry - guitar, background vocals
• Carl Radle - bass, arranger
• Jamie Oldaker - percussion & drums
• Al Jackson, Jr. - drums
• Jim Fox - drums
• Karl Richardson - engineer
• Steve Klein - assistant engineer
• Bob Defrin - art direction
• David Gahr - photography

Chart positions

Album

Singles

References