Derek and the Dominos | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Derek & the Dominos was a group formed by guitarist/singer Eric Clapton (born Eric Patrick Clapp, March 30, 1945, Ripley, Surrey, England) with other former members of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, in the spring of 1970. The rest of the lineup was Bobby Whitlock (b. 1948, Memphis, TN) (keyboards, vocals), Carl Radle (b. 1942, Oklahoma City, OK -- d. May 30, 1980) (bass), and Jim Gordon (b. 1945, Los Angeles) (drums). The group debuted at the Lyceum Ballroom in London on June 14 and undertook a summer tour of England. From late August to early October, they recorded the celebrated double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (November 1970) with guitarist Duane Allman sitting in. They then returned to touring in England and the U.S., playing their final date on December 6. The Layla album was successful in the U.S., where "Bell Bottom Blues" and the title song charted as singles in abbreviated versions, but it did not chart in the U.K. The Dominos reconvened to record a second album in May 1971, but split up without completing it. Clapton then retired from the music business, nursing a heroin addiction. In his absence, and in the wake of Allmans death in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, the Dominos and Layla gained in stature. Re-released as a single at its full, seven-minute length in connection with the compilation album History of Eric Clapton (Atco 803) (March 1972), "Layla" hit the Top Ten in the U.S. and the U.K. in the summer of 1972. (It would return to the U.K. Top Ten in 1982.) A live album, Derek and the Dominos in Concert (January 1973), taken from the 1970 U.S. tour, was also a strong seller. Time has only added to the renown of the group, which is now rated among Eric Claptons most outstanding achievements. The 1988 Eric Clapton box set retrospective Crossroads featured material from the abortive second album sessions. The Layla Sessions was a 1990 box set expanding that album across three CDs/cassettes. Live at the Fillmore (1994) offered an expanded version of the In Concert album. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 3 Title: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs Released: 1970-11 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:17:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 I Looked Away (03:06) 2 Bell Bottom Blues (05:03) 3 Keep On Growing (06:22) 4 Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out (05:00) 5 I Am Yours (03:36) 6 Anyday (06:37) 7 Key to the Highway (09:40) 1 Tell the Truth (06:40) 2 Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad? (04:44) 3 Have You Ever Loved a Woman (06:55) 4 Little Wing (05:36) 5 It’s Too Late (03:49) 6 Layla (07:07) 7 Thorn Tree in My Garden (02:53) |
| Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs : Allmusic album Review : Wishing to escape the superstar expectations that sank Blind Faith before it was launched, Eric Clapton retreated with several sidemen from Delaney & Bonnie to record the material that would form Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. From these meager beginnings grew his greatest album. Duane Allman joined the band shortly after recording began, and his spectacular slide guitar pushed Clapton to new heights. Then again, Clapton may have gotten there without him, considering the emotional turmoil he was in during the recording. He was in hopeless, unrequited love with Pattie Boyd, the wife of his best friend, George Harrison, and that pain surges throughout Layla, especially on its epic title track. But what really makes Layla such a powerful record is that Clapton, ignoring the traditions that occasionally painted him into a corner, simply tears through these songs with burning, intense emotion. He makes standards like "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" and "Nobody Knows You (When Youre Down and Out)" into his own, while his collaborations with Bobby Whitlock -- including "Any Day" and "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?" -- teem with passion. And, considering what a personal album Layla is, its somewhat ironic that the lovely coda "Thorn Tree in the Garden" is a solo performance by Whitlock, and that the song sums up the entire album as well as "Layla" itself. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 3 Title: In Concert Released: 1973-01 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:29:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad (09:35) 2 Got to Get Better in a Little While (13:50) 3 Let It Rain (17:49) 4 Presence of the Lord (06:08) 1 Tell the Truth (11:22) 2 Bottle of Red Wine (05:39) 3 Roll It Over (06:44) 4 Blues Power (10:29) 5 Have You Ever Loved a Woman (08:14) |
| In Concert : Allmusic album Review : The original nine-song double-LP In Concert was the first "new" Eric Clapton release in well over a year, and the first to show up in the wake of The History of Eric Clapton compilation (which, in turn, had helped transform the earlier Dominos album Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs into a belated hit). It was also, other than Eric Claptons Rainbow Concert -- which actually took place in the same month that this set was issued, and was issued eight months later -- the only new Clapton material that anyone would see for over a year, as the guitarist struggled through personal turmoil that included heroin addiction. No one who wasnt personally close to him knew that at the time -- this and the Rainbow Concert album were issued to keep his name before the public. And at the time, a lot of fans and critics were disappointed by this set -- the Layla album had already started to take on iconic status, with lots of listeners wearing out that albums grooves and reveling in its complexity, intensity, and seeming studio-generated perfection (plus the presence of Duane Allman). Comprised of live performances, In Concert never seemed as compelling: for starters, Allman hadnt been present for either of the shows that was recorded (and, in fact, only appeared at a tiny handful of Dominos performances), which made this a somewhat different band. And what we did get was a much more relaxed and often more soulful, involving body of music, starting with the opening track, "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad" and continuing with "Got to Get Better in a Little While"; there was also some disappointment in the sound quality, however, and with the song selection. Despite the fact that they were touring to support the album that carried its name, the group seldom ever performed their most recognizable song, "Layla"; and their repertory was filled out with material from past Clapton projects rather than more material off the Layla album; in effect, the Dominos had become the first Eric Clapton Band, which made this a little less than a live account of this bands work. Thus, it was the hardcore fans who fully embraced this record, mostly for its transcendent moments and the beautiful interplay of the musicians, especially on their own repertory. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 3 Title: Live at the Fillmore Released: 1994-02-22 Tracks: 13 Duration: 2:04:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Got to Get Better in a Little While (13:52) 2 Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad? (14:49) 3 Key to the Highway (06:25) 4 Blues Power (10:30) 5 Have You Ever Loved a Woman (08:16) 6 Bottle of Red Wine (05:34) 1 Tell the Truth (11:28) 2 Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out (05:33) 3 Roll It Over (06:40) 4 Presence of the Lord (06:16) 5 Little Wing (07:00) 6 Let It Rain (19:46) 7 Crossroads (08:30) |
| Live at the Fillmore : Allmusic album Review : In his liner notes, Anthony DeCurtis calls Live at the Fillmore "a digitally remixed and remastered version of the 1973 Derek and the Dominos double album In Concert, with five previously unreleased performances and two tracks that have only appeared on the four-CD Clapton retrospective, Crossroads." But this does not adequately describe the album. Live at the Fillmore is not exactly an expanded version of In Concert; it is a different album culled from the same concerts that were used to compile the earlier album. Live at the Fillmore contains six of the nine recordings originally released on In Concert, and three of its five previously unreleased performances are different recordings of songs also featured on In Concert -- "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?," "Tell the Truth," and "Let It Rain." The other two, "Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out" and "Little Wing," have not been heard before in any concert version. Even when the same recordings are used on Live at the Fillmore as on In Concert, they have, as noted, been remixed and, as not noted, re-edited. In either form, Derek and the Dominos October 1970 stand at the Fillmore East, a part of the groups only U.S. tour, finds them a looser aggregation than they seemed to be in the studio making their only album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. A trio backing Eric Clapton, the Dominos leave the guitarist considerable room to solo on extended numbers, five of which run over ten minutes each. Clapton doesnt show consistent invention, but his playing is always directed, and he plays more blues than you can hear on any other Clapton live recording. | ||