Eric Clapton names “the most powerful” band he ever joined: “The more pure experience”
Any band with Eric Clapton on guitar is usually much better on principle. Even though he has had many off days when it came to live performance, Clapton’s knowledge of the blues is something that most rock guitarists would kill for, always putting the tastiest lines into his songs without needing to think all that hard. That kind of expertise doesn’t come unless there are some fine musicians behind you, and out of every act he worked with, Clapton considered Derek and the Dominoes one of the best lineups that he put together.
But a statement like that does come with a fair bit of qualifiers. There were always going to be limits on what Clapton could have done in The Yardbirds, and while it would be considered sacrilege to say that anyone was better than The Beatles, Clapton’s feature as a guest musician on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ feels more like a surprise appearance rather than being in the group.
Coming out of his blues outfit, though, Cream was already going to be a tough group to beat. Despite only having three members, what Clapton created with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker sounded like he was lost half the time, sometimes hanging back while incorporating pieces of jazz harmony into the mix. There’s no doubt that being in a group like that made Clapton better, Derek and the Dominoes is where the songwriting and finesse all came together.
Although they only made one album together, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is one of the most raw pieces of work that Clapton ever made. Written as a tale of unrequited love to Pattie Boyd, Clapton is wearing his heart on his sleeve on every song, whether that was writing tracks like ‘Bell Bottom Blues’ or covering rock classics like ‘Little Wing’.
This is a tale of heartbreak by one of the best guitarists in his prime, and yet he still got out-lapped by Duane Allman. Coming out of the Allman Brothers Band for a while, Allman’s slide guitar is one of the finest pieces of tone painting on the album, as if he’s using his guitar to cry along with Clapton as he’s singing.
Looking back, even Clapton had to admit that there was no one who could compete with what he put together, telling Louder, “There was this quartet that was one of the most powerful bands I’ve ever been anywhere near – and I was in it! The rhythm section on its own, I would have watched all night. It was the most pure experience I’ve ever had in terms of making an album and then promoting it anonymously. It’s almost unheard of.”
Even with the fantastic lineup, there were even rumours that it was supposed to be another level of virtuosic. Since he had been playing in Santana before he formed the basis of Journey, guitarist Neil Schon also had the opportunity to work with the group before turning it down to focus on his own project.
Still, maybe this time time worked out for the best. Most artists look for spots in their recording history that could be tidied up a little bit, but when it comes to raw emotion spread out on a record, there’s hardly a note out of place on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
