Through the history of rock music many artists have stepped away from an apparently established career path to explore different muscial territory. David Bowie and Neil Young did it constantly, Bruce Springsteen, after giving full-blown E-Street ensemble treatment to ‘The River‘ (1980), following up with the stripped-back, one-man-band effort that was ‘Nebraska‘ two years later.
In each of those instances the music from album to album may have been markedly different, but whichever the L.P. in question, the sleeve still bore the name of its creator.
But in regard to Eric Clapton it was more a case of seeking anonymity rather than switching styles when it came to a set of recordings that have come to be regarded as his high-water mark – Clapton and the cohorts with whom he would record the acclaimed double-set ‘LAYLA and OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS‘ (November 1970) hiding their identities behind the moniker Derek and the Dominoes.
As a reaction to his hallowed status as guitarist of incomparable stature, this reputation forged through the 1960s due to extraordinary work primarily with The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and then revered power trio Cream, through the summer of 1970 Clapton played a number of low-key U.K. gigs backed by Carl Radle (bass), Bobby Whitlock (keyboards) and Jim Gordon (drums).
Legend has it at one such date the stage announcer took at face value the frivolous name the group had bestowed on themselves, but it stuck – Clapton (born Surrey, England 30/3/1945), adopting the title when they assembled to begin cutting tracks at Criteria Studios, Miami, a few weeks later under the guidance of producer Tom Dowd.
Since the break-up of Cream in November 1968, (shortly before the split from bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker he became the first ‘outside’ musician to play on a Beatles track, contributing a guitar solo to the George Harrison-penned ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps‘), Clapton had experienced a varied, if hectic period. But all through his much-vaunted virtuosity was never once called into question.
After Cream he guested with John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival and formed the ill-fated ‘supergroup’ Blind Faith, whose line-up included Baker and Steve Winwood, the band producing one erratic album before falling apart at the end of a disastrous U.S. tour, all this before 1969 was out. While out on the road with Blind Faith, Clapton struck up a kinship with endearing soul/rock combo Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, to whom he then gravitated purely as a guitarist – the ‘friends’ of married couple headliners, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, including Radle, Whitlock and Gordon.
From sessions that switched between London and L.A. in late 1969 and early 1970 he would compile an encouraging, self-titled debut album (August 1970), Clapton backed on this project by the Bramlett couple, (husband Delaney taking the role of producer), Radle, Gordon and Whitlock, along with guest turns from Stephen Stills, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge and noted saxophonist Bobby Keys.
Later in 1970 he would return the favour to Stills and Russell by playing on albums of each, Clapton and his new found trio of co-players also appearing across the ‘All Things Must Pass‘ triple-set by Harrison as George made his first post-Beatle strides.
During the time spent working with Harrison (with whom he was a close personal friend), Eric and his fellow dynamos decided to form themselves into a bona fide unit, the quartet heading to Florida once the British club dates were completed.
From their time in England Clapton and Whitlock as a songwriting partnership had amassed enough material on which to base an album, but with the blues, country and Jimi Hendrix covers Clapton was keen to include it quickly became apparent a single record would not suffice. Upon taking the decision to make a double-album the pieces to an intricate, but compelling puzzle began to fit.
But if there was intent in the foreground to spread what they were about to create over four sides, the backdrop was an array of compulsive issues that in one way or another would impact on the music.
Since being beguiled by ‘Music from Big Pink‘ (1968) the debut album by The Band, Clapton yearned to make more grounded and melodic music than before, this in contrast to the barnstorming brute force Cream had been famed for. Keen to persue a more Southern-roots affected sound, to this end he received encouragement not only from Delaney & Bonnie, but also songwriting partner, Dallas-born Whitlock.
To sustain themselves through round the clock recording sessions, the band began using cocaine in abundance, while away from the studio there was a proliferation of whisky and heroin. But what most infused the lyrical subject matter was Clapton’s unrequited love for Patti Harrison, wife of George, that had grown from infatuation through the late-60s to full-blown obsession during the making of ‘All Things Must Pass.’
From a thematic perspective, the album about to be made amounts to a song-suite based on Eric’s impassioned desire to woo a woman who at this juncture was shunning his desirous overtures. Indeed, Clapton found his despair mirrored in a book entitled ‘The Story of Layla and Majnun‘ by 12th century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, involving a young man in love with a girl he cannot marry – Harrison cast as the central figure of the monumental title-track, the rest, for the most part, offering similar depictions of Clapton’s love-lorn condition, hence the title, ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.’
From a musical standpoint the level of accomplishment is raised even higher by input from slide guitar whizz Duane Allman, who joined the troupe after they had recorded three tracks, which as irony would have it would be sequenced as the trio that open the album.
When the mutual respect between Clapton and Allman (currently fronting Southern-rockers The Allman Brothers) was conveyed to the other through producer Dowd, an invitation was sent and duly accepted for Allman to hear what Derek and the Domonies were working on. Staying for the duration, his strident solos would subsequently give the material increased gravitas.
The portents for what Clapton wants to purvey are apparent on the first three tracks, all of which are written in conjunction with Whitlock. From the opening bars of ‘I Looked Away‘, the band immediately sound more Creedence than Cream, country-rock inflections framing an instantly engaging piece that makes no secret of the hurt and longing implanted in the heart of the singer:
‘She took my hand/And tried to make me understand/That she would always be there/But I looked away/And she ran away from me today/I’m such a lonely man.’
The pained nature of the lyric is accentuated by delicate guitar work and then a forceful solo, the sentiments of the second verse sung by Whitlock (‘And if it seemed a sin/To love another man’s woman/I guess I’ll keep on sinning/Loving her, Lord, to my very last day‘) as if too revealing for Clapton to sing at this stage of proceedings.
The next up ‘Bell Bottom Blues‘ is a moving continuation of his torment, the mournful hymn-like organ giving it the feel of a soulful torch ballad – this modern blues lament both fearful, ‘If I could choose a place to die/It would be in your arms’ and fatalistc ‘Once I was strong but I lost the fight/But you won’t find a better loser.’
Clapton and Whitlock also share lead vocals on ‘Keep on Growing‘ where swamp-rock overtones are again to the fore. The lyrics come with the merest hint that optimism may not, after all, be misplaced, ‘Someday, maybe/Who knows where or when, girl/Just you wait and see/We’ll be walking/Together hand in hand‘, the uptempo melody also serving as an effective prelude to the arrival of Allman – who straight away makes his presence felt on the atmospheric blues-rock of side one closer, ‘Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out’).
Written by long since deceased vaudeville performer Jimmy Cox and dating back to the early 1920s, lyrical couplets such as ‘Then I began to fall so low/Lost all my good friends/ I did not have nowhere to go‘, fit with the disconsolate mood, an anguished Clapton vocal having the emotive slide guitar runs of Allman for assistance in enhancing the sombre ambiance.
Side two opener ‘I Am Yours‘ with its mellow, almost beautific vibe is another to have its origins in the poetry of Nizami, Eric sportingly recognising as much in the Clapton-Nizami songwriting credit – this at a time when Led Zeppelin for example, were steadfastly refusing to acknowledge origination of the decades old material they were sourcing while claiming it to be original.
That said, the infleunce, not to say, inspriration of Mr and Mrs Harrison on the track is unmissable, George by virtue of melodic structure and Patti in terms of lyrical focus:
‘I am yours/However distant you may be/There blows no wind, but wafts your scent to me/There sings no bird, but calls your name to me/Each memory that has left its trace with me/Lingers forever as a part of me.’
One of the more assertive songs to emerge from the Clapton-Whitlock songwriting collective, ‘Anyday‘ finds the composers also sharing lead vocal responsibilities, Eric delivering the telling lines, ‘But if you believed in me/Like I believe in you/We could have a love so true/We would go on endlessly,‘ while to the left and right he and Allman trade fluent guitar licks.
Side two closes with the near ten-minute blues jam workout of ‘Key to the Highway‘ an ode to hitting the road when trouble comes calling. The track where Clapton and Allman fully assert themselves as the hallowed guitar-slingers they are, the song was written by seminal blues artists Charlie Sagar and Big Bill Broonzy. To the uninitiated it strays close to self-indulgence, those preferring more concise material happy to see it reduced to half the length so room could be made for the excellent Clapton-Whitlock effort ‘Roll It Over‘, a song assigned to the B-side of ‘Tell the Truth‘ when that track was issued as a single.
But for afficinados of electric guitar interplay, ‘Key to the Highway‘ is arguably the last word in overlapping solos, delvering on all the potential magic of putting two wizards together.
The three-song third side contains two Clapton/Whitlock originals and cover of ‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman?’ that was written by 50s bluesman Billy Myles. The immediacy of these lyrics (‘Have you ever loved a woman/So much you tremble in pain?/And all the time you know, yeah/She bears another man’s name’), make it pertinent to Clapton’s emotional state, the duelling guitars sending off sparks in all directions.
‘Tell the Truth‘ that opens side three is the clearest evidence yet of just how much Clapton had absorbed from The Band. He and Whitlock, who wrote most of the words, switch lead vocals in the manner of Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, while Allman fires out sinewing guitar breaks – this stomping slice of downhome Southern boogie a cautionary tale to a young man (‘There you sit, looking so cool/While the whole show is passing you by‘) being urged to sake off his lethargy.
The frenetic rock-funk that announces ‘Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?‘ ushers in another song dripping in desperation (‘Like a moth to the flame/Like a song without a name/I’ve never been the same since I met you‘). If the title is simple summation of the entire drama, then the spellbinding Clapton guitar solo encapsulates the supreme musical prowess on show.
Side Four opens with cover versions from the contrasting sources of guitarist extraordinaire Hendrix and 50s doowop artist Chuck Willis. Through the latter, a song called ‘It’s Too Late‘, a call and response vocal arrangement between Clapton and Whitlock works well, the piece made less a pop number and more exercise in self-reflection by heartfelt vocals and prestine slide guitar work.
What they do with the Hendrix-penned ‘Little Wing‘ is also effective, Clapton and Allman trading crisp lines through the most poetic lyric the composer ever wrote (‘And when I’m sad, she comes to me/A thousand smiles she gives to me free’). Originally appearing on his 1967 ‘Axis: Bold as Love‘ album, it was included here as a tribute from two great guitar players to another.
Sadly, the track turned into something of a eulogy, as nine days after the recording date of September 9 1970, Hendrix was found dead in his London flat without having heard what Clapton and Allman had put down in his honour.
Up to this point on the album it has been possible to imagine the desperation Clapton feels at his core, but with the title-track the listener is carried deep into the soul of the artist when the intense desire consuming him is finally laid bare.
From the dramatic, instantly striking opening guitar chords, this is rock at its most most heightened level of expressionism and while several artists have put their very being into a delivery of a song (‘Jungleland’ by Bruce Springsteen one that most quickly comes to mind), few if any, have matched Clapton for sheer intensity, the third verse in particular of ‘Layla‘ sung as if his life depends on it:
‘Let’s make the best of the situation/Before I finally go insane/Please don’t say we’ll never find a way/And tell me all my love’s in vain.’
Following four minutes of raw, tormented emotion, the song segues into a serene piano coda written by Gordon. According to first hand accounts, it was the basis of a song for a solo project he had started, Clapton miffed the drummer was using group studio time to work on his own material. Offered the compromise of incorporating the refrain into ‘Layla’ in order to extend the song (the track in its entirity credited to Clapton/Gordon), guitarists Allman and Clapton then play solos of astonishing resonance over the keyboard motif composed by Gordon.
After nigh-on eight minutes of the most heart-rending slice of popular music yet recorded, the album closes amid the gentle tones of ‘Thorn Tree in the Garden‘, an acoustic guitar ballad written solely by Whitlock.
Fittingly, the yearning for a relationship that is out of reach remains, (‘And if I never see her face again/I never hold her hand/And if she’s in somebody’s arms/I know I’ll understand/But I miss that girl‘). The understated percussion and lightly strummed guitars provide the track with James Taylor connotations, the song serving well in cinematic terms as a finale while the credits roll, particularly in following the big scene climax that precedes it.
Such was his compulsion with Patti, Clapton even made the album cover (which omits the group name and title of the work) subject of the passion he felt for her, choosing the painting ‘La Fille au Bouquet‘ (‘Girl with the Bouquet’) by French artist Theodore Frandsen de Shomberg, on seeing a resemblence between Harrison and the woman created by Frandsen.
The initial response to ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs‘ was one of uncertainty. While climbing to number 16 in the United States, it failed to chart in the U.K. the cause not helped by unfamilarity with the group, their world-famous guitar player still insisting his star-billing profile remained in the shadows. As such, in Britain at least, it was a release completely overshadowed by ‘All Things Must Pass‘, ‘Plastic Ono Band‘ (John Lennon) and the self-titled debut of Stephen Stills that all appeared within three weeks of ‘Layla’ arriving in the shops.
The critical reaction was also a mixed bag. ‘Saturday Review‘ magazine harshly described it as ‘Pointless and boring, a basketcase of an album,’ while at the opposite end of the spectrum esteemed New York rock scribe Robert Christgau bestowed an almost unprecedented A+ from his A-D rating system, thus flouting the belief he reserved such grading for only The Band and Bob Dylan.
In time it would be the appraisal of Christgau and others on similar lines that would carry the day, as early as the mid-70s ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs‘ having a regular spot in any ‘Top Twenty Albums of All-Time‘ list coming into circulation.
But for the figure at the centre of things, the most anticipated feedback was that of Mrs. Harrison who while apparently flattered by the painstaking poignancy of Clapton, remained, for the moment, committed to her marriage. His emotional outpourings not having the desired effect, the artist succumbed to a heroin-induced tailspin, a proposed follow-up album by Derek and the Dominoes, for which studio time was booked, falling apart due to the drug dependency of all four members.
In October 1971 the plug was literally and metaphorically pulled on a second L.P. when they were shattered by news that Allman had been killed in a Georgia motorcycle accident at the age of just 24.
Demoralised by the death of Allman, Clapton retreated further into the darkness, staying out of the public eye until Pete Townshend coaxed him into performing a London ‘comeback’ concert in January 1973. Who-man Townshend continued to be a supportive figure, ensuring Clapton received a part in the 1975 film adaptation of the rock opera ‘Tommy‘ (playing ‘The Preacher‘), the drug rehabilitation process already underway when he released the well-received ‘461 Ocean Boulevard‘ album in July 1974.
While Clapton would overcome his heroin addiction it would be replaced by a descent into alcoholism, this choatic period also marked by him and Patti finally becoming a couple, (they would marry in 1979 and divorce ten years later), although in truth they had been an item even before the Harrison’s divorced in 1977.
In effect ‘Layla‘ had eventually become his – Patti taking the name Clapton long after the Derek and the Dominoes record she inspired had camoflauged it.
DEREK and the DOMINOES – LAYLA and OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS (Released November 9 1970):
I Looked Away/Bell Bottom Blues/Keep on Growing/Nobody Knows You (When Your’re Down and Out)/I Am Yours/Anyday/Key to the Highway/Tell the Truth/Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?/Have You Ever Loved a Woman?/Little Wing/It’s Too Late/Layla/Thorn Tree in the Garden;
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