Me and Mr. Johnson is an album by Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 released in 2004. The album is a tribute to legendary blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

man Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...

. According to Clapton's autobiography, the recordings weren't intended to become an album. The band had rented the studio, but Clapton didn't have any songs written, so he suggested they record Robert Johnson songs. They recorded enough songs for an album and it was decided to release them as such.

Critical reception

The album was warmly received by several critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

 of Allmusic said that, apart from Riding with the King, that Me and Mr. Johnson was his greatest album since From the Cradle

From the Cradle

From the Cradle is a blues cover album by Eric Clapton. Released on 13 September 1994 by Reprise Records, the album was Eric Clapton's long awaited follow-up to his massively-successful live album, Unplugged...

. Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

's Chris Willman said that Clapton sounded inspired by the songs. Darryl Sterdan, in his review of Sessions for Robert J for Jam!

Jam!

Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....

 CANOE

Canadian Online Explorer

Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...

, feels that several of the DVD recordings sound better than the songs on Me and Mr. Johnson. The Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

magazine reviewer felt that it made sense for Clapton to wait until he was older to make a Robert Johnson tribute album, that his voice sounds more the part of a bluesman on the album than on From the Cradle, and that the album has a good variety of songs. The USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

review by Edna Gundersen

Edna Gundersen

Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who is a longtime music writer and critic for USA Today.Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and entertainment news for the El Paso Times from 1977 to 1987...

 gave the album a slightly higher rating than Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

's Honkin' on Bobo

Honkin' on Bobo

Honkin' on Bobo is the 14th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 30, 2004 by Columbia Records. The album includes 11 covers and one original track titled "The Grind"...

and commented that Clapton's understanding of Robert Johnson's music made the recordings seem both "greasy" and "graceful".

Track listing

All songs written by Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...

.

1. "When You Got a Good Friend" – 3:20
2. "Little Queen of Spades" – 4:57
3. "They're Red Hot
   They're Red Hot
   "They're Red Hot" is a song originally performed and written by blues musician Robert Johnson. Notably, it is one of very few songs recorded by the bluesman that is not based around twelve bar blues. It is based on a common ragtime chord progression...
   
   " – 3:25
4. "Me and the Devil Blues" – 2:56
5. "Travelling Riverside Blues" – 4:31
6. "Last Fair Deal Gone Down
   Last Fair Deal Gone Down
   Last Fair Deal Gone Down is the fifth full-length album by Katatonia, released in 2001 by Peaceville Records. The album is named after a song by delta blues singer Robert Johnson.-Track listing:*All Lyrics by Renkse. "Teargas" was Co-Written....
   
   " – 2:35
7. "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" – 2:30
8. "Milkcow's Calf Blues
   Milk Cow Blues (song)
   -Original version:The original version was recorded by Arnold in Chicago on September 10, 1934, and released the next month by Decca Records.-Robert Johnson version:...
   
   " – 3:18
9. "Kind Hearted Woman Blues
   Kind Hearted Woman Blues
   "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" is a blues song recorded on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03416 and ARC 7-03-56. Johnson performed the song in the key of A, and recorded two takes, the first...
   
   " – 4:06
10. "Come on in My Kitchen
    Come On in My Kitchen
    "Come On in My Kitchen" is a blues song by Robert Johnson. Johnson recorded the song on Monday, November 23rd, 1936 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas - his first recording session...
    
    " – 3:35
11. "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day
    Rollin' and Tumblin'
    "Rollin' and Tumblin" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles...
    
    " – 3:27
12. "Love in Vain
    Love in Vain
    "Love in Vain" is a 1937 blues song written by Robert Johnson.The song is noted for its sad lyrics, tone, and style. In the 1991 documentary film The Search for Robert Johnson, John P. Hammond plays Robert's recording of "Love in Vain" for the elderly Willie Mae Powell, the woman for whom it was...
    
    " – 4:02
13. "32-20 Blues
    32-20 Blues
    "32-20 Blues" is a blues song by Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, recorded during his second recording session in San Antonio, Texas on November 26, 1936. The song was originally released on 78 rpm format as Vocalion 03445, in April the following year. The title refers to the .32-20 Winchester...
    
    " – 2:58
14. "Hellhound on My Trail
    Hellhound on My Trail
    "Hellhound on My Trail" is a blues song recorded by Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson in 1937. It was the first song recorded during Johnson's last recording session in Dallas, Texas on Sunday, June 20, 1937 and the first single released from that session...
    
    " – 3:51

Personnel

• Eric Clapton
  Eric Clapton
  Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
  
   – guitar, slide guitar
  Slide guitar
  Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
  
  , vocals, producer
• Lee Dickson – guitar technician
• Andy Fairweather-Low
  Andy Fairweather-Low
  Andrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band, Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.-Early career:Fairweather Low first found fame as a...
  
   – guitar
• Doyle Bramhall II
  Doyle Bramhall II
  Doyle Bramhall II is a guitarist and vocalist in his band Smokestack and was also the second guitarist in Eric Clapton's band from 2004 to 2009.-Discography:with Arc Angels*Arc Angels...
  
   – guitar, slide guitar
• Jerry Portnoy – harmonica
• Billy Preston
  Billy Preston
  William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
  
   – keyboards
• Nathan East
  Nathan East
  Nathan Harrell East is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego...
  
   – bass
• Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd
  Steve Gadd is an American session and studio drummer, notable for his work with popular musicians from a wide range of genres.-Biography:...
  
    – drums
• Simon Climie
  Simon Climie
  Simon Climie is a songwriter/producer and the former lead singer of the UK pop duo Climie Fisher, who had hits with "Love Changes " and "Rise to the Occasion"....
  
   – producer
• Pino Palladino
  Pino Palladino
  Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
  
   – bass on "Traveling Riverside Blues"
• Jim Keltner
  Jim Keltner
  James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
  
   – drums on "Traveling Riverside Blues"

Sessions for Robert J

In late 2004, a companion project, Sessions for Robert J, was released on CD/DVD. It features Clapton and the band performing additional takes of songs from Me and Mr. Johnson, as well as others not on the album, including "From Four 'Til Late", "Terraplane Blues", "Ramblin' on my Mind", "Sweet Home Chicago", and "Stones in my Passway". Several songs are performed in duet by Clapton on acoustic guitar

Steel-string acoustic guitar

A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...

 and Doyle Bramhall II on steel string acoustic and dobro guitars. Between sessions, Clapton discusses Johnson's profound influence on him and other musicians. One notable segment features Clapton performing in the 508 Park Avenue building (http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/01/blues_for_508_park_ave_owners.php) in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, that served as a make-shift studio in 1937 for Johnson to cut his legendary recordings.

CD

1. "Sweet Home Chicago" – 5:17
2. "Milkcow's Calf Blues" – 3:49
3. "Terraplane Blues" – 3:36
4. "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day" – 3:23
5. "Stop Breakin' Down Blues" – 2:56
6. "Little Queen of Spades" – 5:27
7. "Traveling Riverside Blues" – 4:26
8. "Me and the Devil Blues" – 2:50
9. "From Four Until Late" – 3:01
10. "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" – 5:39
11. "Ramblin' on My Mind" – 2:42

DVD

1. "Kind Hearted Woman Blues"
2. "They're Red Hot"
3. "Hell Hound on My Trail"
4. "Sweet Home Chicago"
5. "When You Got a Good Friend"
6. "Milkcow's Calf Blues"
7. "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day"
8. "Terraplane Blues"
9. "Hell Hound on My Trail"
10. "Me and the Devil Blues"
11. "From Four Until Late"
12. "Love in Vain"
13. "Ramblin' on My Mind"
14. "Stones in My Passway"
15. "Love in Vain"
16. "Little Queen of Spades"
17. "Traveling Riverside Blues"

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Australian Top 50 Albums	23
Austrian Top 75 Albums	5
Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums	12
Belgium (Wallonia) 100 Albums	16
Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...	3
Danish Top 40 Albums	9
Finnish Top 50 Albums	11
French Top 100 Albums	11
German Albums Chart	8
Greek Top 50 Albums	9
Hungarian Top 40 Albums	30
Irish Top 75 Albums Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...	33
Italian Top 20 Albums	9
Japanese Top 30 Albums	20
Netherlands Top 100 Albums	12
New Zealand Top 40 Albums	14
Norwegian Top 40 Albums	14
Polish Top 50 Albums	21
Portuguese Albums	27
Swedish Top 60 Albums	7
Swiss Top 100 Albums	7
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	10
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	6
US Blues Albums	1

Certifications

Country	Provider	Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds)
Canada	Music Canada Music Canada Music Canada was a Canadian music television miniseries which aired approximately monthly on CBC Television from 1966 to 1967.-Premise:This series featured various special productions of music and dance, from classical to modern styles.-Scheduling:...	Gold (50,000 units shipped)
Hungary	MAHASZ Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....	Platinum (60,000 units sold)
United Kingdom	BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...	Silver (60,000 units shipped)
United States	RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...	Gold (500,000 units sold)