Beginnings
The seeds of Derek and the Dominos can be found in the band members' involvement with Delaney, Bonnie & Friends of which they were all members, including Duane Allman who had played with the act before Clapton. The members' departures from the group were caused by the constant infighting between Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Whitlock explains:
| “ | Delaney was a little James Brownish, real hard to work with, him and Bonnie fighting all the time and carrying on. Everyone got disenchanted with the situation. | ” |
Gordon and Radle left D&B to play on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour with Leon Russell, but Whitlock remained on with the Bramletts for a short time.
Whitlock was looking for a gig, and Steve Cropper suggested he visit Clapton in England; Whitlock would subsequently live in Clapton's house and during that period the two would jam, hang out and write the bulk of the Dominos' catalogue.
Soon after, they called the rest of their former Delaney and Bonnie musicians, Dave Mason, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon and together the quintet became the backing band for George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass. Gordon was not the first choice as drummer; rather, it was Jim Keltner who, like Radle, was from Tulsa and had also been involved with Russell and Cocker.
The origin of the name "Derek and the Dominos" has had attached to it a variety of stories over the years. According to Jeff Dexter (compere on the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends Tour and a close friend of Clapton's), a name had yet to be chosen by the night of the group's 14 June 1970 official debut at London's Lyceum Theatre, where they had been billed simply as "Eric Clapton and Friends" (for what would prove Mason's lone appearance). According to Dexter, he'd asked Eric whether they couldn't give the band a proper name “instead of his (Dexter's) going out front and introducing yet another round of And Friends?" To this Clapton and George Harrison quickly agreed, resulting in a mad rush by everyone to remember and name past favourites. In the course of this process were included Two-Tone Special, and Fats Domino, and the whole thing was brought to a conclusion with Dexter's cry of "that's it: Derek and the Dominoes it's classic!" (Clapton having been previously nicknamed at the start of the "Delaney & Bonnie and Friends" tour Derek by Tony Ashton). While the rest of the band—all of them Americans—felt convinced they would be mistaken for a doo-wop act, the two Brits were instantly for it, and were introduced to the packed Lyceum audience to polite, if respectful applause accorded unknowns. After a few moments, however, the audience caught wise to the diversion and the hall erupted in pandemonium. In Dexter's telling he'd introduced Ashton to Clapton just before boarding the tour bus heading for Bristol, and a nervous Ashton, instead of saying "pleased to meet you, Eric," called him Derek instead, causing everyone to fall about laughing and resulting in Clapton's being called "Derek" for the remainder of the tour.
According to Bobby Whitlock, however, upon leaving the stage at the close of his set, Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke had simply mispronounced their provisional name of "Eric and the Dynamos," calling them instead Derek and the Dominos. Yet another version emerges from Clapton's biography in which the guitarist maintains that it was Ashton that suggested to Clapton the name "Del and the Dominos" ("Del" being his nickname for Clapton). Del and Eric were combined and the final name became "Derek and the Dominos." Either way, the band took up the new name and embarked on a summer tour of small clubs in England where Clapton chose to play anonymously, still weary from the fame and high-profile chaos that he had felt plagued Cream and Blind Faith. An article about the band in Hit Parader magazine suggested the band's contracts with halls that booked their live performances included clauses stating Clapton's name was not to be used as a crowd-puller. Dexter’s account of the facts appears somewhat more plausible at least than Whitlock's, as Ashton, Gardener and Dyke were never on the “Eric Clapton and Friends" tour.
From late August to early October 1970, working at Criteria Studios in Miami under the guidance of Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, the band recorded Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, a double album now regarded by many critics as Clapton's masterpiece. Most of the material, including Layla (which later became an FM radio staple) was inspired by Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, who was married to his best friend George Harrison. It was not until several years later that Pattie would consent to an affair and later move in with Clapton in 1974, and marry him in 1979. They separated in 1985 when Clapton started a relationship with Lori Del Santo, and they divorced in 1988. Whitlock reminiscing would later say:
| “ | The basic concept of Derek and the Dominos was that we didn't want any horns, we didn't want no chicks, we wanted a rock 'n' roll band. But my vocal concept was that we approach singing like Sam and Dave did: he sings a line, I sing a line, we sing together | ” |
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