There are two big mysteries to this album. First, why did it take these guys over 30 years to make it? Second, how amazing is it that "Clapton is God," yet the "King of the Blues" plays rings around him?

This album is clearly a labor of love for Clapton, and he seems content to remain in the background, riffing and leading here and there, but clearly keeping himself down in the mix, so B.B. can be front and center. It’s quite a tribute in that regard.

And, ultimately, a failure of some sort, as well. While Clapton sticks in the shadows on much of the record, and B.B.’s amazing playing and singing can carry it, a listener would be much farther into it, if the two had more intertwined playing and singing. It comes out on some tracks, most notably the standard blues of "Key to the Highway," and "Ten Long Years," but it would have made a very good album a classic, if they mixed it up more.

***1/2

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