Eric Clapton - Reptile (2001) 2LP

A reptile, according to Eric Clapton, is something of a bloke, as in some local character you might share a pint with down at the pub. So this 14-song collection is aptly named: If it were a barfly, it wouldn't turn heads when it entered the bar, but it wouldn't empty the place, either. Working with essentially the same team that put together '00's Riding with the King (sans, of course, B.B. King), Reptile feels like a summary of the many guises Clapton has adopted in his illustrious past. Blues has always been the backbone of EC's music and here he tackles Walter Davis's "Come Back Baby" with surefootedness. Clapton has mined J.J. Cale's fine-and-mellow repertoire in the past, coming up with the hits "Cocaine" and "After Midnight"; here he revives Cale's "Travelin' Light" with unfussy aplomb. He kicks things off with an instrumental samba, ventures back into lite rock, and mixes originals and covers, the latter bunch including Stevie Wonder's "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It" and James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight." In the end, it's apparent this reptile is something of a chameleon. --Steven Stolder