Money and Cigarettes

The title Money and Cigarettes came from Eric Clapton’s bleak assessment of what he had left after his first period in rehabilitation for alcoholism. That context gives his 1983 album a particular weight before a note is played. Rather than presenting recovery as a grand rebirth, the record feels more workmanlike and earthbound: blues, rock and country-inflected playing from a musician rebuilding his circumstances and, just as importantly, rebuilding his band.

Recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau in late 1982, Money and Cigarettes was produced by Clapton with his long-time collaborator Tom Dowd. The sessions began with Clapton’s existing touring group, but Dowd was dissatisfied with the results. With the exception of guitarist Albert Lee, the backing band was replaced. The new line-up brought in musicians including bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, drummer Roger Hawkins and Ry Cooder, players whose feel was rooted deeply in American rhythm and blues. Wikipedia also records that Clapton suffered several collapses during the sessions, a stark reminder that the album’s steadiness was hard won. The music rarely strains for spectacle. Instead, the attraction is in touch, groove and the conversation between the guitars. Clapton’s playing is often economical, while Dunn and Hawkins give the songs a disciplined pocket and Cooder adds another distinctive instrumental voice. The cover image, showing Clapton with a melting Stratocaster and cigarette, turns the album title into an appropriately dry visual joke rather than a heroic pose.

Contemporary response was mixed and the album achieved only moderate commercial success, but that makes its strengths easier to hear now. Money and Cigarettes is not trying to compete with the scale of Clapton’s best-known 1970s records. Its appeal is smaller and tougher: musicians with enormous experience locking into blues-rooted songs, and a star performer sounding less interested in mythology than in finding his footing again.