Eric Clapton: Another Ticket

This is not Clapton Week - but very close I guess.  If this is not Eric's poorest-selling solo effort - it should be.  I think he may have mailed it in on this one.  Apparently - he owed Polydor a last record for his contract with them (which was a 15 year run on that imprint).   I read that Polydor rejected the first version he submitted (can a label even do that to such a figure as he?).  That first go was produced by a great record-maker, Glyn Johns.  (I wonder where those tapes are?)  Eric (somehow agreed?) and went back to the studio to cut the whole thing over again - but this time with the tried and true Tom Dowd at the helm.  Then, a few dates into his tour promoting this record - he collapses and was found to be near death from ulcers.  Some songs seem abit simplistic, like "I Can't Stand It" and "Catch me if You Can."  This record is backed by a one-off studio band featuring his all-British troupe of the early '80s.  It did spawn (enhance?) a life-long friendship with Albert Lee - who plays at all of Eric's Crossroads festivals.  And Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) of note, also plays on it.  In conclusion on Another Ticket: we can easily hear on this record that his Tulsa Time has ended.  It had run its course.  And that might be my favorite musical phase of this chameleon-like artist.  This record is a distinct transition (precursor?) that phased out his Tulsa period and led next to his monster resurgence with his epic late eighties triptych of power rock and synth-blues albums: Behind the Sun (1985), August (1986), and Journeyman (1989), which is my second favorite period of his.