After three years of heroin addiction and creative inactivity, 461 Ocean Boulevard was the 1974 album on which Clapton rediscovered the primacy of music in his life. The result was a joyous collection ranging from inspired covers (“I Shot The Sheriff”, “Motherless Children”) to one of the best songs he ever wrote in “Let It Grow”. This expanded deluxe edition adds five outtakes from the original Miami sessions that are mostly forgettable jams. But disc two genuinely adds to the picture with 11 scorching performances from his December ’74 comeback concerts at Hammersmith, including previously unreleased performances of “Can’t Find My Way Home”, “Badge”, “Let It Rain” and “Layla”.
NIGEL WILLIAMSON
Advertisement