18 March : Delaney and Bonnie with Eric Clapton

I have contradictory views about this album. On the one hand, I think it would be a great one to slide into the 8-track when you hit the freeway in your convertible with the top down. On the other hand, I’d rather have been in the audience at the show than on the other end of a pair of headphones.

The album plays in that white soul/r and b/blues groove and does it well. There’s no sense that this is dated; you know you could go to a hall and hear this band today and they’d sound just the same and be just as much fun. That is a strength, but it’s also a weakness of the album, because this is music to experience rather than sit down and listen to.

The core of this band would metamorphose into Derek and the Dominoes later in the year, spurred in part by Delaney and Bonnie encouraging Eric Clapton to sing, although here he really is just one of the band, and happier for it. Dave Mason and Rita Coolidge are also in there, with great horns from Jim Price and Bobby Keys.

So this is a great album if you like this kind of thing, but I’d rather have been there dancing than sitting here listening.

On Spotify, but I can’t see it as a whole album or playlist on YouTube.