And he's here on youtube making relatively consistent videos on youtube with his wife CoCo telling stories about all the projects he was involved with back in the day! A really nice person.
64 years-old and never realized the album was a critical and commercial failure initially. As a tremendous Allman Brothers Band fan, I ordered the Tedescki Trucks' Layla Revisited CD sight unseen before its release and if you haven't heard it yet, by all means, you owe it yourself - Derek Trucks is perhaps the finest guitarist playing today. Thanks for sharing 😊
I didn't know that, and I didn't even know that Derek and the Dominoes was a real band! I first encountered the Layla album in 1978 and, in that era before the internet, pop knowledge was passed around by word of mouth, and the story I heard (and passed on) was that they just got together for one album and made up a "one off" name for the band to go with the album, and a self-deprecating name which downplayed their awesome talents. >> Thanks for sharing 😊 Ditto!
Thanks for posting, I certainly appreciate these 'backstage' stories about important but briefly-lived bands. Fantastic music & creativity emerged from some of these bands that came & went too quickly. I also appreciate your focus on Mr. Clapton, a guitarist who I never tire of reading about.
Very well done. I've always been a Clapton fan from The Yardbirds, John Mayall and onward. What a difficult, great, painful, etc. career he's had. Glad he's still with us. I've been a drummer since 1964. My High School was one mile from Criteria Recording Studio. Thanks for posting this interesting and educational history.
In an interview with Tom Dowd, which can be viewed in the documentary film about Tom Dowd's career, Dowd noticed two significant contrasts to the sessions he did for Cream. When recording Cream, the band brought large Marshall "stacks" (amplifiers and double cabinets) to the sessions. When the Dominos showed up to record, they brought smaller Fender amps, fitting for blues recordings. The other difference was in the kind of drugs and the quantities of drugs. For the Cream sessions, there was apparently some weed involved. For the Dominos sessions, there were quantities of harder drugs lying around. I remember reading in Rolling Stone magazine about the Dominos attempt to record a second album. I don't remember if it was a story about the band, or if it was in interview with Clapton. The effort was undermined by the fact that the band members were just too strung out to pull it off. There was an anecdote that Whitlock would show up at Clapton's house to rehearse, but was too terrified to get out of the car and knock on the door. The story goes that he just sat in the car and screamed for Eric to come out. Layla has been my favorite album over the years. Anyone who hasn't heard the guitar soloing in Have You Ever Loved a Woman needs to check it out. Talk about electricity!
Don't believe anything in rolling stone crap magazine. If they're not permitted the truth, they just make it up to their idea of what they believe will draw subscribers.
what happened? In a word: Smack. Heroin was a popular drug amongst English folk in those days and many artists got hooked on the heroin at a time when the government in Britain was practically giving it away. The Boy and the Girl. Cocaine and heroin were sometimes called the boy and the girl because they might be used in association with each other.
Thanks for the picture at 5:34. It’s from the band’s guest performance on ‘The Johnny Cash Show’ where they did “She’s Gone”. There’s also a great clip from that show with Clapton & Carl Perkins singing & picking together that’s worth tracking down. Brings back good and bad memories, the bad being the tragic events of Jim Gordon’s life. May we meet again where the soul of man never dies.
I was born in 1956 so I was only 14 when their double album came out but my older brother had a good job and bought all the latest records of the genre. Lucky me. My favorite track is their version of key to the highway which in my opinion remains the best. When I took a trip from my home in Tacoma to SO CAL I took the castal route and right as I got to mendicino that song came on the radio. It was perfect. I am amazed at the people I meet who weren't born when the domino's were around and are huge fans. That the album was a flop in the ratings is news to me. Wow I'm just now hearing of jim Gordons death. Im a news junkie. Why wasn't it publicized ?
If only Hendrix hadn't' of OD'd and Dwayne Allman haven't been killed in that motorcycle accident. There is no telling where popular music would be right now. Those two at least had 10 albums in them that were classics waiting to be played
Couldn't agree more. Duane's loss especially hurts. The Allman Brothers Band were approaching the top of their game and he had such a zeal for everything by all accounts. What music we never heard from him and all the giants of the time.
Lot of good information about Derek and the Dominos also Eric Clapton one of my favorite guitar players of all time it would be nice if you do a segment on one of my favorite 60s bands Quicksilver Messenger Service I thought these guys were great thank you for all the rock info
I’ve always been a bit confused abt this period in Claptons’ career, in terms of band members and musicians etc. Thx for the post. Imma big fan of 70s era Clapton-No Reason to Cry , Slowhand, Backless and my fav though is 461 Ocean Blvd…
Bobby Whitlock lived in Ireland for a few years, hung out with Donovan who also lives in Ireland, John Prine on his travels to Ireland would also hang out with them. They enjoyed the Guinness and the craic in Ireland.
I was one of only 3 white boys at Wilson Pickett's funeral - I opened the door for Little Richard when I saw his white limo pull up - I didn't realize what an honor it was or i would have told him so - it was a funeral so ...... Little Richard was epic during his eulogy - I'll never forget it
@@davidrice3337 Wow. Great experience. Where was the funeral? I like the story about how Duane would hangout with Wilson in the studio when all the other studio guys would go out for lunch. Apparently Duane’s hairy appearance wasn’t much appreciated by the locals.
I was listening to all that music I have the CDs from live Derek and the dominoes of course live cream volume one and two live cream volume one is Summer his best work ever this was a great compilation of the latter part of his great career after this when he went solo I’m sorry to say he lost his artistic vision those silly songs like wonderful tonight etc. made him a big star but as a guitarist he lost his vision and really his best work was when he had Jack Bruce pushing the envelope on base so that Clapton was able to develop solos that I had I just feel but not the jazz notes jazz notes are the other notes that rock avoids and the jazz rhythm that rock also avoid I went to a concert I think it was around 74 and I was very excited it was in New Jersey somewhere and I was right up front so I can watch him solo and I was very disappointed it was like he wasn’t thinking he just threw his fingers at the notes do you know an artist it’s not always on top of his game just like Michael Jordan can have a game where he misses Clapton has been my number one influence
IMHO, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is the greatest rock album of all time. I purchased it on vinyl when it first came out (which I still have), then on cassette, later on CD and ultimately from the Apple Store and other streaming platforms. Not sure why the comments are so negative on this chronology, which I found both accurate and reasonably complete. Clapton is an interesting guy with a quite tragic life, from his doomed love affair with George's wife, his subsequent heroin addiction, offering Stevie Ray one of his helicopters after a concert only for it to crash into a mountainside and, of course, the death of his child from a NYC apartment balcony. But his dedication to the blues is inspirational, with his leaving the Yardbirds at the peak of their popularity because they had strayed from the blues, suggesting the band hire a young Jimmy Page to replace him (who turned them down). My favorite anecdote, though, is Eric pleading with Jim Marshall to make a combo amp like Fender, because he was have trouble schlepping a Marshall head and 4x4 cabinet in his car. With Fender amps hard to find in Britain, Marshall prevailed, calling it the "Bluesbreaker", after Clapton's band with John Mayall. I would love to see Clapton tour with a new blues band.
Eric was heroin-sick when playing with Harrison for Bangladesh yet he played beautifully throughout the concert. George had Jesse Ed Davis, a brilliant blues guitar player from Taj Majal's band, doubling with Clapton in case Eric was too sick to play. Carl RAY-dle.
Actually it was a disappointing performance by all - All of those dudes were smacked out at the time - Glynn Johns recorded it and REFUSED to produce it because it was so bad -. PT and EC had to go back in the studio during production and fix some of their screw ups - No one is a bigger fan than I - I say this cause EC and Glyn J did an interview together recently and talked about it - just a little FYi
@@davidrice3337 - wow. I've only seen a couple of songs for that concert on film, I didn't know it was dubbed onto. I had the Bangladesh album - sounds pretty good - I know that Johns is a master (Eric varies). Thank you.
I feel that two things knocked Clapton off his cloud. Heroin and the emergence of Jimi Hendrix. After seeing and hearing Hendrix, Clapton crawled into his shell and changed his entire sound. Jimi simply blew him away!
Not really. The heroin for sure, but he often said other guitarists were better than he was. But his interests gradually shifted over to vocals. And if you think Clapton wasn't bogglingly good, check out D&Ds In Concert. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad has two amazing solos while Let It Rain has a towering 5-minute journey that is just stunning. At his best, Clapton's speed, fluidity, and emotional phrasing were untouched. There's a reason so many guitarists put him at or near the top of their influences.
Clapton first heard and saw Jimi Hendrix in 1966. He went through Cream, Blind Faith, and DATD before retreating from the public eye 2 years AFTER Hendrix died. I'm sure Jimi and Duane's deaths had an effect on him, but to say that he went from ripping it up on guitar to that laid-back country pop bullshit because of Hendrix is a real stretch.
@@WhizzingFish12 Derek & The Dominos Live is the most underrated album. Like you said, EC's guitar work on Let it Rain and especially Why Does Love Got to Be so Sad is exceptional. I've been listening to that album for 40 years! Stunning as you said.
Nicely done here. Really covered things. Fan since '68 with Cream and bought 'Layla' when i bought a Strat in '76. Album didn't appeal to me as much as it should have (UFO, YT, RT......:) Once Duane was gone it was over. Friend bought In Concert.....it to me was awful. Lucky to see EC, '07, last of the tour with Derek Trucks. It was like Duane was back.
The band was cursed. Layla should have been two separate albums, with real cover art. I can only conclude the band had terrible management - if it had any management.
I sent a comment to bobby whitlocks RU-vid site saying that Coolidge wrote the coda. Bobby himself answered it and said NO it was jim Gordon who wrote it. I got the feeling that he wasn't pleased with my comment. He didn't add the heart symbol like he had on other comments I had sent.
@@johnwright291 I think it was Wikipedia where I got that story. According to the story, Jim was Rita's boyfriend and she played that part on the piano for him. He recorded it and played it back for Clapton. She was a bit bummed that she wasn't given any credit for it. But Bobby would know about that.
@@dlittlester I have heard Rita herself talk about it and I believe her. I don't know if your aware that Jim gordon hit rita in the face and gave her a black eye. She said that it came out of the blue. They weren't arguing at the time. She never spoke to him again. It was probably his schizophrenic tendency that caused it.
Greatest lists are generally meaningless. Layla album is so exceptional and great its place in music history is unquestioned. It's Carl Radle, as in RAY DUL, not RADDLE.
Not mentioned here but, if you want to hear great guitar music, listen to the Clapton & Allman's 1970 Studio Jam Sessions. Recorded by Tom Dowd with Clapton & Duane Allman just jamming. My understanding was that there were about 18 hours of jamming and Dowd cut it down to a double album with six Jams. It is some of the best guitar work you will hear. It didn't sell well, except to devotees of guitars. Some of this double album is on RU-vid. It's worth a listen.
Whitlock is a real sweetheart. He wants the world to know that even if his Domino compadres are dead, he's still alive and well and has a fairly sharp mind and can still play if anyone is interested (Eric--are you listening?)
LOL That Layla would be ranked #89 or lower is absurd. An earlier RS Top 100 album had it at #2 below only the Stones Exile on Main Street. And Layla's much better.
@@docheine You thought Joe dum-dum believed he was at a Wendy's? I'm sorry I do not understand your joke, but I myself thought joe mistakenly thought this was his Assholes-Anonymous meeting.....
I went to school with Bonnie Bramley sister Connie they were from Mitchell Illinois. I used to drink beer with.bonnies brother Mike until he passed away a lot of famous mucistions came to his funeral.
@Russell E Simonetta - exactly! Whitlock hung around England/London as long as he could but Clapton was disengaged from EVERYTHING. He was AWOL from his own band - a real band - not just sidemen for a solo artist. I don’t think Clapton’s ever sung or played better than during the Dominos period - and, to me, his finest collaborator was Bobby Whitlock.
@@jrh11254 yeah Whitlock would be in Clapton,s drive way calling out to him to talk!! Clapton war really flaky in his youth! Walked on Mayall, walked the yardbirds, walked on cream ECT,ECT. Took Patty from George and lost interest in her too.
I'm starting to really dislike these pseudo-documentaries. Anybody can rattle off dates and events gleaned from publicly available sources such as Wikipedia and overdub a lot of pictures, without relating them in an interesting or engaging way. There's not enough in the way of behind the scenes information, and since Gordon killed his mother with a hammer what's with the knife? If it was a term paper I'd give it a C minus.
