The artist who rejected Derek and the Dominos: “I don’t think my folks are gonna let me”
Any classic rock musician usually wouldn’t think twice about the idea of jamming with Eric Clapton if they had the chance. No matter what era he was playing in, he was still considered a god amongst musicians, and any opportunity to learn a few licks off of him was something most people would embrace the minute they got the call. When Clapton was putting together the beginnings of one of his best supergroups, one fellow guitar icon managed to slip through his fingers.
Then again, adding anyone to Clapton’s arsenal was always going to be a bit of a gamble. The beauty behind some of the best bands he played in was working in the context of a trio or a four-piece. Clapton didn’t really need someone behind him playing rhythm guitar and filling out the sound, so when performing with Cream, he was more than likely to fly off the handle, knowing Jack Bruce was there to keep him grounded through everything.
But even though Blind Faith was fun, Derek and the Dominos was the equivalent of a musical fireworks show on display. The core foundation of the band may have been based on Clapton’s infatuation with Patti Boyd, but the real marriage in the band was between ‘Slowhand’ and Duane Allman, each of them trading licks off each other to create the perfect back-and-forth throughout ‘Layla’.
The true beauty came from the fact that Clapton had more sounds to work with. The Allman Brothers Band already had a great track record for a pure mix of country, rock, jazz, and everything in between, but for a brief few minutes, there was a chance of adding some more flavours to his sound when checking out Santana.
Although Carlos Santana was already blowing up on the scene with songs like ‘Oye Como Va’ and ‘Black Magic Woman’, Clapton was more interested in the new kid in his band, Neal Schon. Before he became one of the biggest guitarists in the world playing with Journey, Schon actually had the opportunity to jam with Derek and the Dominos but eventually had to graciously turn down the guitar legend.
Despite playing one show with Clapton, Schon remembered his parents getting in the way of him performing with Derek and the Dominos in any capacity, saying, “He’s like, ‘I’d like you to come on tour with me,’ and I’m like, ‘I’d love to go. But I can’t get out of school right now. I don’t think my folks are gonna let me.’ It got so bad with me toward my folks. So, I was not really attending school. I was getting both my folks worked. I’d go, and I’d be hanging out with my friends playing in the garage, and I wouldn’t be going to school.”
It’s not like they didn’t have a point, though. In the footage of Schon playing ‘Black Magic Woman’ with Santana, he still looked pretty young, and if he was about to enter the world of a strung-out Clapton dealing with facing Boyd’s rejection, we might not have ever heard what songs like ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ or ‘Faithfully’ would have sounded like had he never met Steve Perry.
Still, that kind of opportunity is something every guitarist is going to be kicking themselves for until the end of time. Anyone can claim to be influenced by Clapton, but eventually getting the call to play with a blues god is something that most people wouldn’t even think of turning down so quickly.
