J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road To Escondido [Enhanced Edition, Red & Blue]

Eric Clapton had been covering J.J. Cale's songs for decades, from "After Midnight" to "Cocaine," before the two finally made a record together. The Road to Escondido is that long-awaited collaboration: two masters of understatement trading verses and guitar lines over the relaxed, rolling groove that Cale practically invented.

Most of the songs come from Cale's pen, including "Danger," "Anyway the Wind Blows" and "Don't Cry Sister," and Clapton sounds happy to let them breathe, leaning into the laid-back shuffle rather than pushing for fireworks. The album also holds a special place in rock history as the home of the final recordings of keyboardist Billy Preston, and it is jointly dedicated to Preston and Brian Roylance.

The record won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, a fitting recognition for a partnership that had been building in spirit for most of both men's careers.

This Enhanced Edition adds three bonus studio tracks, "Wrong No More," "I Got to Find My Baby" and "Roll On," plus live versions of three songs recorded in San Diego. It is pressed on two LPs of red and blue vinyl.