Derek & The Dominos: The band Eric Clapton called one of the most powerful
Eric Clapton enjoyed an exciting career in which he was able to work with several different revered bands. The likes of The Yardbirds, Cream and Blind Faith were all mightily successful, and all played a pivotal role in cementing Clapton as one of the greatest guitarists to ever live. That being said, there was one band in particular that he refers to as the most powerful he ever played with, the reasons for which resonated with the guitarist on more of an emotional level.
Clapton was born in Ripley and started playing guitar at a young age, initially achieving fame as the guitarist for The Yardbirds, a band he played in for just two years. Despite enjoying it, he opted to leave because the creative direction the band was going in didn’t align with his own. Instead, he became a part of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, who had a much more blues-infused sound that followed his tastes better. He also helped with forming the bands Cream and Blind Faith, an achievement that can not be understated.
All of these bands have a powerful sound in how their songs are put together, the emotion with which they’re performed and the heavy-hitting riffs. However, none of them are the group that Clapton considers the most consequential.
Clapton had become a household name by 1970 and was widely considered one of the greatest guitarists in the world. He had a formula that worked when it came to attracting fans, but he wanted to try something different, which would eventually see him create Derek & The Dominos, the English-American Blues band. They wrote and recorded the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which people believed was a brand-new band with nothing to do with Clapton.
It was Derek & The Dominos that Clapton refers to as one of the most powerful bands he was ever a part of. This was partly because of the quality portrayed in the band and the secrecy with which they performed. “What I really loved about that album was nobody knew who we were. We even did a tour of England playing little clubs and there would be nobody there,” he said.
Adding: “Because nobody knew who we were so they didn’t come! And yet there was this quartet that was one of the most powerful bands I’ve ever been anywhere near. And I was in it!”
Clapton looks back fondly on the band because of how he was able to convey messages without exposing himself to the public. His previous success had planted him firmly in the public eye, so his ability to operate under the radar was massively appealing. “The stuff that was going on,” he said, “I was a bachelor when I made that album, really. I had various optimisms about becoming embroiled with Pattie – Pattie Harrison. But we weren’t at that moment in a relationship. It was just something I was trying to write on the wall. And so Layla was that – a proclamation. But it was as anonymous as can be, so she was Layla, I was Derek”.
It’s sweet that Clapton sees power in what music can convey instead of just the literal sound. He is a performer who lives from the energy music can provide and the sound itself, clearly reflected in the fact that a tour nobody went to and a song nobody understood mean the most to him.
