“I’m scared of him”: The artist Eric Clapton never wanted to talk to again
It’s the nature of the industry for every band to go their separate ways. For all of the great tracks that people can play together, there are only so many times the same record can be made before you start to realise what everyone is capable of and become a bit too comfortable every time the curtain comes up. Although Eric Clapton made the best out of that situation by changing his band up all the time, he knew that he never wanted to talk to certain members of Derek and the Dominoes for the rest of his life.
Then again, Derek and the Dominoes were far from the fully fleshed-out band that the title would imply. For all intents and purposes, this really feels like the debut album of Clapton that happens to feature an all-star lineup behind him. Given that everything was designed by ‘Slowhand’ to air out his pent-up love for Patti Boyd, ‘Layla’ and ‘Bell Bottom Blues’ will always be known as Clapton songs first and Derek and the Dominoes songs second.
That being said, it’s not like everyone didn’t contribute when making the record. As much as Clapton could make the guitar sing, Duane Allman was definitely prettier than the British legend could hope to be, and hearing them exchange lead licks in the middle of ‘Layla’ is still one of the finest guitar moments in rock history.
But the story of ‘Layla’ really is about two songs in one. Although Clapton lives every minute of pain in the first section, things get a lot more heated when the piano comes in, with drummer Jim Gordon filling out the rhythm section. Since the track is all about a spurned lover singing about being with someone who is already taken, the piano section serves as the dream sequence where all the narrator’s dreams come true, and he can live happily ever after with his lover.
That’s before people realised what Gordon would eventually do later. Outside of his various problems during sessions, Gordon would become notorious for murdering his mother in a manic episode later on. While Clapton did seem remorseful to see his friend’s downward spiral, he said that he had no desire to have contact with him again.
Despite contributing to one of the main melodic figures of his solo career, Clapton had washed his hands of Gordon when he heard the news, saying, “A part of me says I owe it to him to try and get in touch. But I’m scared. I was scared of him at the end of Derek and the Dominos. One of those reasons we broke up was the rapport between me and Jim, which had always been so good, had broken down.”
But Clapton seemed to be poised to do something different anyway. If you look at the stark contrast between Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and 461 Ocean Boulevard, he was already looking to take a few cues from what acts like The Band were doing and mixing blues with singer-songwriter tracks, and that left little room for having that kind of supergroup at his disposal.
Still, the tale of Clapton’s work with Gordon is one of the more horrific tales in hard rock history. Most acts can get over a few verbal sparring sessions, but the minute that people actually start getting killed, it’s normally time to cut off contact for good.
