Derek & The Dominos

Following the dissolution of Blind Faith and his exit from Delaney & Bonnie, Eric Clapton attempted once more in the early 1970s to function as merely another participant within a collective by launching Derek and the Dominos. That project yielded his most compelling work of the period, even though the ensemble produced just a single studio album and completed one tour before disintegrating. Driven by the twin lead guitars of Clapton and Duane Allman, the group forged an unvarnished, intensely expressive style. Together Clapton and Allman unleashed unfiltered feeling through their instruments, most memorably across the album’s timeless centerpiece “Layla,” which quickly became a cornerstone of classic rock.

The quartet coalesced in spring 1970 when Clapton handled guitar and vocals alongside three alumni of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends: Bobby Whitlock on keyboards, Carl Radle on bass, and Jim Gordon on drums. These same musicians had already supplied the core rhythm section for Clapton’s self-titled solo debut, which was tracked between late 1969 and early 1970 yet did not appear until August 1970. Derek and the Dominos made their live bow at London’s Lyceum Ballroom on June 14 and spent the remainder of the summer performing across England. From late August into early October they cut the acclaimed double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs while Duane Allman joined as a guest guitarist. The band then resumed touring in both England and the United States, closing the final show on December 6.

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs found commercial traction in America, where shortened edits of “Bell Bottom Blues” and the title track entered the singles chart, yet the set failed to register in Britain. The Dominos reassembled in May 1971 hoping to complete a follow-up album, but the sessions collapsed unfinished. Clapton subsequently withdrew from the music industry while battling heroin addiction.

During his absence and after Duane Allman’s fatal motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, both the band and the Layla album rose sharply in estimation. Issued again in 1972 at its complete seven-minute length to promote the compilation History of Eric Clapton, “Layla” reached the Top Ten in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single reappeared in the British Top Ten in 1982. A live document drawn from the 1970 American dates, titled In Concert, also sold briskly.

Subsequent decades have only heightened the group’s reputation, positioning Derek and the Dominos among Eric Clapton’s most significant accomplishments. Material from the unfinished second album surfaced on the 1988 retrospective box set Crossroads. The 1990 collection The Layla Sessions spread the original recordings across three discs, while Live at the Fillmore (1994) presented a more expansive edition of the earlier In Concert album.