Few albums exude as much easygoing musical confidence and maturity as The Road to Escondido. It's easy to see why. The recording marks the first collaboration of two guitar legends, J.J Cale, 68, and Eric Clapton, 61. Their careers have been entwined since Clapton covered Cale's 'After Midnight' and 'Cocaine' in the 1970s. Cale and Clapton jointly produced and recorded this album, each playing and singing on the tracks. Cale wrote 11 of the 14 songs, and Clapton wrote 'Three Little Girls.' They play John Mayer's 'Hard to Thrill' and the blues classic 'Sporting Life Blues.' The late Billy Preston also contributed keyboard to this recording before his death last June.
The Road to Escondido is blues, country, folk and rock blended in the smoothest way possible. It reveals two maestros smart enough to get out of the way of their near-perfect songs and let them happen.
