Derek and the Dominos

Derek and the Dominos

Derek and the Dominos is a blues rock group active from 1970 to 1971. The band forms in spring 1970 around Eric Clapton, who sings and plays guitar, with Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon, all of whom have previously played with him in Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Dave Mason is also listed among the group’s members. The group’s origin is London and the United States, and its sound sits across blues, blues rock, jam band and rock.

Formation and name

The band makes its live debut at the Lyceum Theatre in London on 14 June 1970. During that show, the announcer mispronounces the provisional name “Eric and the Dynamos” as “Derek and the Dominos,” and the band adopts the new name. It then tours England in the summer.

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

From late August to early October 1970, the group records Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd. The double album becomes the band’s best-known recording and is widely regarded as one of Clapton’s signature works. Much of its material, including “Layla,” is inspired by Clapton’s unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, who is married to George Harrison at the time and later becomes Clapton’s partner. The title track becomes a staple of FM radio.

The recording of “Layla” is split into two parts, with the opening guitar section recorded first and the second section added months later. That second section is a piano passage composed and played by Jim Gordon, who initially objects to it being included before eventually agreeing. The album is recorded by a five-piece version of the band after Duane Allman joins during the sessions.

Duane Allman and the studio sound

Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band joins early in the recording of the first album after Clapton meets him backstage at an outdoor Allman Brothers concert in Miami. The two guitarists had known each other mainly by reputation before that meeting. They jam in the studio, the session is taped, and Allman is invited to become the fifth member of the group. When he joins, the band has already recorded “I Looked Away,” “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Keep On Growing”; Allman plays first on “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” His slide guitar and the twin-guitar interplay with Clapton are central to the album’s sound.

Style and legacy

The group is known for heavy blues influence, strong guitar work and the contribution of Whitlock, whose songs and soul-influenced voice add to the album. Clapton records much of the album while lying on the floor and is heavily affected by drugs during the sessions, though he later feels this does not damage the recording process. The studio jams with Allman and Clapton are later issued on the 20th-anniversary edition of the album in a three-CD set.