LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JULY 24, 2019…ON THIS DATE 4 YEARS AGO ERIC CLAPTON RELEASED HIS 2ND SOLO ALBUM ‘461 OCEAN BOULEVARD.’
MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT WAS CLAPTON’S COMEBACK ALBUM. 461 MARKED THE RETURN TO RECORDING FOR CLAPTON AFTER RECOVERING FROM A THREE YEAR ADDICTION TO HEROIN. THE ALBUM IS ONE OF CLAPTON’S MORE SUCCESSFUL RELEASES COMMERCIALLY, GOING ON TO SELL OVER 2 MILLION COPIES. THE ALBUM TITLE REFERS TO THE ADDRESS ON OCEAN BOULEVARD IN GOLDEN BEACH, FLORIDA WHERE CLAPTON LIVED WHILE RECORDING THE ALBUM. THE BEE GEES LATER LIVED IN THE SAME HOUSE.
EVENTUALLY THE STREET ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE WAS CHANGED AFTER THE RECORD’S RELEASE DUE TO FANS FLOCKING TO THE PROPERTY. THE HOUSE HAS LONG SINCE BEEN REBUILT, AND THE STREET ADDRESS RESTORED.
THE ALBUM WAS POWERED BY TRACKS LIKE ‘GET READY’ ( A CO-WRITE WITH YVONNE ELLIMAN WHO CLAPTON HIRED TO BE PART OF THE BAND)
‘LET IT GROW’ ( A SONG ABOUT CLAPTON’S BATTLE WITH HEROIN ADDICTION) AND THE # 1 SINGLE ‘I SHOT THE SHERIFF’ (A COVER OF BOB MARLEY’S SONG).
HERE’S CLAPTON PERFORMING ‘I SHOT THE SHERIFF’ ON A TV SHOW IN 1977
