The new album from Eric Clapton, due for release on March 22nd in the UK and Europe, and March 30th in the US, includes the talents of a couple of integral members of Roger Waters' band - guitarists Andy Fairweather-Low and Doyle Bramhall II.

"Me And Mr Johnson" features Clapton renditions of fourteen of the twenty-nine songs written and recorded by the legendary Mississippi blues master Robert Johnson over the course of his brief career in the 1930s. Clapton: "His music is like my oldest friend, always in the back of my head, and on the horizon. It is the finest music I have ever heard. I have always trusted its purity, and I always will."

Brain Damage has been given a sneak preview of the album, and it shows Clapton and his talented band at the height of their powers - evoking the 1930s of Johnson and his recordings, with a 21st century edge. The recording in places is fairly rough, in an attempt to sound like Johnson's vintage tracks - but sounds all the better for this attempt at authenticity. Andy Fairweather-Low and Doyle Bramhall II's contributions can be heard supplementing EC's soulful playing throughout.

Clapton is touring the album, and apart from Andy FL, the whole band is accompanying him on the road. Andy was initially thought to be included on the tour, but is now confirmed as not appearing, sadly. Included as part of the tour is Clapton's now normal residency at London's Royal Albert Hall. Doyle and Andy have both toured at length with Roger Waters, and Clapton himself provided guitar duties on Roger's Pros and Cons Of Hitchhiking Tour, and of course, the album itself...