Journeyman (album)

Journeyman
Studio album by Eric Clapton
Released	7 November 1989
Recorded	1989
Genre	Blues rock
Length	56:35
Label	Duck / Reprise
Producer	Russ Titelman
Eric Clapton chronology
Crossroads (1988) Journeyman (1989) 24 Nights (1991)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Robert Christgau	B−[3]
Deseret News	(favourable)[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Q	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]

Journeyman is the eleventh studio album by blues/rock musician Eric Clapton, released in 1989.

The album was heralded as a return to form for Clapton, who had struggled with alcohol addiction in the mid-1980s and had recently found sobriety. Much of it has an electronic sound, mostly influenced by the 1980s rock scene, but it also includes blues songs like "Before You Accuse Me," "Running on Faith," and "Hard Times." The strongest single commercially from this album was "Bad Love," which earned him the 1990 Best Male Rock Vocal Performance Grammy Awards, and reached the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart. "Pretending" had also reached the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart the previous year, remaining at the top for five weeks ("Bad Love" had only stayed for three weeks).

While the album was only a moderate commercial success at the time, reaching number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart, it went on to become his first solo studio album to go double platinum. This is one of Eric Clapton's favourite albums.^[8]

Track listing

1. "Pretending" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 4:48
2. "Anything for Your Love" (Williams) – 4:16
3. "Bad Love" (Eric Clapton, Mick Jones) – 5:11
4. "Running on Faith" (Jerry Lynn Williams) – 5:27
5. "Hard Times" (Ray Charles) – 3:00
6. "Hound Dog" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:26
7. "No Alibis" (Williams) – 5:32
8. "Run So Far" (George Harrison) – 4:06
9. "Old Love" (Clapton, Robert Cray) – 6:25
10. "Breaking Point" (Marty Grebb, Williams) – 5:37
11. "Lead Me On" (Cecil Womack, Linda Womack) – 5:52
12. "Before You Accuse Me" (Ellas McDaniel) – 3:55

Outtakes

1. "Forever" Unissued
2. "Don't Turn Your Back" Unissued
3. "Something About You" Unissued

Personnel

• Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals, Dobro, design
• Nathan East – bass, background vocals
• Jim Keltner – percussion, drums, tambourine, drum programming
• Phil Collins – drums (on track 3), background & harmony vocals
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone
• Robert Cray – guitar (solo on Old Love and Before You Accuse Me)
• Phil Palmer – guitar
• John Tropea – rhythm guitar
• George Harrison – guitar & harmony vocals (on track 8)
• Cecil Womack – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Jerry Lynn Williams – guitar, background & harmony vocals
• Gary Burton – vibraphone
• Jeff Bova – synthesizer, programming, drum programming, synthesizer horn
• Jimmy Bralower – drum programming
• Alan Clark – synthesizer, keyboards, Hammond organ, sequencing
• Robbie Kondor – synthesizer, harmonica, keyboards, vocoder, drum programming
• Rob Mounsey – synthesizer
• Robby Kilgore – synthesizer
• Greg Phillinganes – synthesizer, piano, keyboards, background vocals
• Richard Tee – piano, Fender Rhodes
• Carol Steele – percussion, conga, tambourine
• Arif Mardin – arranger, string arrangements
• Linda Womack – vocals
• Daryl Hall – harmony vocals
• Tawatha Agee – background vocals
• Lani Groves – background vocals
• Chaka Khan – background vocals
• Tessa Niles – background vocals
• Vanessa Thomas – background vocals
• Hank Crawford – alto saxophone
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
• David "Fathead" Newman – tenor saxophone
• Jon Faddis – trumpet & horn
• Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Pino Palladino - bass (on track 3)

Production

• Produced By Russ Titelman
• Engineered By Larry Alexander, Steve "Barney" Chase, Ben Fowler (also assistant engineer), Michael O'Reilly, Dave O'Donnell, Jack Joseph Puig, Steve Rinkoff & Dave Wittman; assisted by Richard Arnold & UE Natasi
• Mixed By Gary Wright, Russ Titelman, Rob Eaton & Steve Chase
• Mastered By Ted Jensen

Singles performance

Charts

Notes