The Road to Escondido Songwriting Credits by Eric Clapton

The Road to Escondido is Eric Clapton's 2006 collaborative album with J.J. Cale, the Tulsa-born songwriter and guitarist whose relaxed, shuffling style has been one of Clapton's defining influences since 'After Midnight' and 'Cocaine.' The album was recorded in Cale's preferred informal fashion (small sessions, live-room feel, no studio excess) and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Most of the material is co-written by Clapton and Cale, with a handful of Cale solo compositions and one Clapton original, creating a record that feels genuinely collaborative rather than a stars-meet tribute. 'It's Easy,' 'Hard to Thrill,' and 'When This War Is Over' are among the album's highlights, and Cale's ghost-like guitar figures weave through Clapton's more prominent playing throughout. The Road to Escondido is a late-career gem, a perfect meeting of two musicians and their shared influences, and served as an informal farewell to Cale, who died in 2013.