Editing Eric Clapton (section)

===Derek and the Dominos===
{{Main|Derek and the Dominos}}

With the intention of counteracting the "star" cult faction that had begun to form around him, Clapton assembled a new band composed of Delaney and Bonnie's former [[rhythm section]], [[Bobby Whitlock]] as keyboardist and vocalist, [[Carl Radle]] as the bassist, and drummer [[Jim Gordon (musician)|Jim Gordon]], with Clapton playing guitar. It was his intention to show that he need not fill a starring role, and functioned well as a member of an ensemble.<ref>''[[The Layla Sessions]]'' liner notes, page 4.</ref> During this period, Clapton was increasingly influenced by [[The Band]] and their 1968 album ''[[Music from Big Pink]]'', saying: "What I appreciated about the Band was that they were more concerned with songs and singing. They would have three- and four-part harmonies, and the guitar was put back into perspective as being accompaniment. That suited me well, because I had gotten so tired of the virtuosity – or ''pseudo''-virtuosity – thing of long, boring guitar solos just because they were expected. The Band brought things back into perspective. The priority was the song."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fox|first=Darrin|title=Eric Clapton: Right here, right now |magazine=Guitar Player |volume= 35 |issue= 377 |date=June 2001|page=108}}</ref>

[[File:Derek and the Dominos.png|thumb|left|Clapton (right) with Derek and the Dominos]]
The band was originally called "Eric Clapton and Friends". The eventual name was a fluke that occurred when the band's provisional name of "Del and the Dynamos" was misread as Derek and the Dominos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artistfacts.com/detail.php?id=100|work=Artistfacts|title=Derek And The Dominoes|access-date=17 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202112652/http://www.artistfacts.com/detail.php?id=100|archive-date=2 February 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Clapton's biography states that Tony Ashton of [[Ashton, Gardner and Dyke]] told Clapton to call the band "Del and the Dominos", since "Del" was his nickname for Eric Clapton. Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos".<ref name = "nxfddy">Schumacher, Michael (1992)</ref>

Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife, [[Pattie Boyd]], with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album ''[[Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs]]'' (1970). Heavily blues-influenced, the album features the twin lead guitars of Clapton and Duane Allman, with Allman's [[slide guitar]] as a key ingredient of the sound. Working at [[Criteria Studios]] in Miami with [[Atlantic Records]] producer [[Tom Dowd]], who had worked with Clapton on Cream's ''Disraeli Gears'', the band recorded a double album.

The album contained the hit love song "[[Layla]]", inspired by the classical poet of [[Persian literature]], [[Nizami Ganjavi]]'s ''[[Layla and Majnun|The Story of Layla and Majnun]]'', a copy of which [[Ian Dallas]] had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and went crazy because he could not marry her.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William |last=McKeen |title=Rock and roll is here to stay: an anthology |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2000 |page=127 |quote=Clapton poured all he had into Layla's title track, which was inspired by the Persian love story he had read, the story of Layla and Majnun.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Gene |last=Santoro |title=Dancing in Your Head: Jazz, Blues, Rock, and Beyond |publisher=Oxford University Press US |year=1995 |page=62 |quote=At the time, he started to read ''The story of Layla and Majnun'' by the Persian poet [[Nizami Ganjavi]]}}</ref> The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down a few weeks later, drummer Jim Gordon played the piano part for the melody, which he claimed to have written (though Bobby Whitlock stated that Rita Coolidge wrote it).<ref name="nxfddy"/>

The ''Layla'' LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist [[Duane Allman]] of [[the Allman Brothers Band]]. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd – who was also producing the Allmans – invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first on stage, then played all night in the studio, and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "[[Tell the Truth (Derek and the Dominos song)|Tell the Truth]]" and "[[Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out]]". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "[[Key to the Highway]]", "[[Have You Ever Loved a Woman]]" (a [[blues standard]] popularised by [[Freddie King]] and others) and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad?" In September, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "[[Bell Bottom Blues (Derek and the Dominos song)|Bell Bottom Blues]]" and "Keep on Growing". Allman returned to record "I Am Yours", "[[Anyday (Derek and the Dominos song)|Anyday]]" and "It's Too Late". On 9 September, they recorded Hendrix's "[[Little Wing]]" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "It's Too Late", was recorded.<ref>"[[The Layla Sessions]]" CD liner notes.</ref>

[[File:Eric "slowhand" Clapton.jpg|thumb|right|Eric Clapton in Barcelona, 1974]]
Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a cover of "Little Wing" as a tribute. On {{nowrap|17 September}} 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a [[left-handed]] [[Fender Stratocaster]] that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, ''Layla'' received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a US tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amid a blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the live double album ''[[In Concert (Derek and the Dominos album)|In Concert]]''.<ref>''[[The Layla Sessions]]'' liner notes, page 12.</ref>

Recording of a second Dominos studio album was underway when a clash of egos took place and Clapton walked out, thus disbanding the group. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on {{nowrap|29 October}} 1971. Clapton wrote later in his autobiography that he and Allman were inseparable during the ''Layla'' sessions in Florida; he talked about Allman as the "musical brother I'd never had but wished I did".<ref>Clapton, ''The Autobiography'', 128.</ref> Although Radle remained Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), it was not until 2003 that Clapton and Whitlock appeared together again; Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the ''[[Later with Jools Holland]]'' show. Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer [[Jim Gordon (musician)|Jim Gordon]], who had undiagnosed [[schizophrenia]] and years later murdered his mother during a [[psychotic episode]]. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remained for the rest of his life.<ref name="unuhsh"/>