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Derek and the Dominos — 540

ALBUM:  Layla and other assorted love songs (1970),

MVC Ranking: 5.0/$$$$

This is one of my all-time favorites, a true desert island album. I don’t know why this was so big an influence at about age 16. It was blues by a bunch of white guys who were  reportedly PUI (playing under the influence).

But they weren’t just any guys off the street. They were  Eric Clapton, whose transmogrification of black blues through his decidedly English filter earned him the nickname: God.

Then there was the 23-year-old guitar prodigy Duane Allman, already being whispered about in reverent terms whose time would end tragically a year or so later. The mythology was the he ran into the back of a truck hauling peaches. And that’s why the Allmans named the next album was entitled ‘Eat a Peach.’ The truth however was that he c

There also was the slightly obnoxious and opinionated Bobby Whitlock, a fine keyboardist, songwriter and singer. And carrying the bottom, drums and bass, were Jim Gordon and Carl Radle, among the best in the business. Clapton and Allman particularly were at a crossroads in their careers. Clapton zooming through the Yardbirds, Cream and Blind Faith. And Duane just getting ready for the spotlight in his familial band from Jacksonville, FL. and Macon, GA, the Allman Brothers.

They came together, looking for some kind of light. Clapton and Allman, who had never met, hit it off, personally and professionally.

The result a blues album of original material and some great classic blues like  Big Bill Broonzy’s ‘Key to the Highway,’ and Billy Myles’ ‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman’ (popularized by Freddie King). And a nice cover of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing,’ a relatively new song at the time.

‘Bell Bottom Blues’ ached. ‘Why Does Love Have to be So Sad’ whip-snapped stinging guitar over Whitlock’s and Clapton’s alternating shouts of anguish. ‘I Am Yours’ consoled.

And of course there was  Layla, a rocket launched by the twin guitars of Allman and Clapton, a  rocker of break-up love, the pain boiling over and anger surfacing.

I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down.
Like a fool, I fell in love with you,
Turned my whole world upside down.
Layla, you’ve got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging, darling please.

Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.

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Eric Clapton (Do I have too much?)

ALBUMS: History of Eric Clapton (1972 2-record compilation); EC Was Here (live)(1975); Backless (1979); Crossroads (6-record boxed set 1988)

MVC Ratings: Boxed 5.0/$$$$$; History 4.5/$$$$$; EC 3.5/$$$$; Backless 3.5/$$$$

Do I have too much Clapton?

Like an unbalanced 401/K plan do I need to liquidate some Eric Clapton. Should I re-rebalance my portfolio of 678 records (which I am writing about in this blog) by selling some Clapton.

For example, I could sell some Clapton for Albert King, a key Clapton influence whom I don’t have. But that would almost be like buying more Clapton, an artist steeped in blues music. Or, should I diversify and maybe buy some Django Reinhardt, a Gypsy jazz guitarist from yesteryear who was at least as influential as Clapton but had a totally different style, outside the realm of blues.

As you can see above, I only have four separate Clapton ‘products’ But as you can also see, one is a 6-record box set, and another is a  double record chronology.  Pretty comprehensive.

That’s 10 vinyl slices totaling about six or seven hours of Clapton. That doesn’t include my two Cream albums, my Yardbirds album and my Derek and the Dominos double album set, all of which have Clapton in the mix.  I will review separately when they come up in my alphabetical line-up. (I’m in the C’s so we’ll be doing Cream pretty soon).

I think I will hold off liquidating immediately.

If you are a Clapton fan, it is good to see the arc of his playing.

He is praised for his fluid improvisational guitar solos, mostly in a blues context. And he is cursed for his fluid improvisational guitar solos because they infiltrated rock and roll and pretty soon everybody and their brother-in-law’s cousin was strapping on a Fender Stratocaster aiming to be a lead guitarist.

As the low-solo 50’s melted away to the 1960’s, there was a nuclear arms race over how fast and long that guitar solo should be. Too many times the result was guitar for showmanship’s sake and not for song-sake. Granted these guitar jams tended to be used and abused more in the live concert setting, than in the studio.

In the studio you had a producer saying, ‘Uh, Jimi, I think we are good with that 37-minute version of the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’ You can flesh it out a little more on stage tonight if you want. I sure hope our flag is still there.’

Clapton can be accused of starting it. He and John  Mayall developed a cult following in London, immersing themselves in blues.

“‘Clapton is God’ graffiti began appearing around the city, defining  a central tenet of the Clapton mythology to this day,” wrote Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis in the Crossroad’s liner notes.

I don’t have ‘Tears in Heaven’ on any of these records. The soft rock tear-jerker about the tragic death of his child was one of his biggest hits but also fed into this view that he was going ‘commercial or soft as he got older, especially since he used to be such a purist.

Clapton himself said in the biography ‘Clapton!’: “I’m far too judgmental and in those days I was a complete purist. If it wasn’t black music, it was rubbish.”

Now we should give the man the benefit of the doubt on his sincerity behind ‘Tears’ given the subject matter.

But these softer songs and big hit covers like ‘Cocaine’ and ‘I Shot the Sheriff’,’ I think unfairly led to some in my generation and later generations to suggest he was overrated.

Um, no.

Listen to all six vinyl records in Crossroads. That includes his work with Mayall, the Yardbirds, Cream, Delaney and Bonnie, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes.

D&D the double record studio production with Duane Allman and Eric  trading licks on old school blues tunes and the ever-great title song is one of my desert island albums.

Sure he had some commercial schlock (full disclosure, I and mi esposa like ‘Wonderful Tonight’ as one of the soundtracks of our first dates in high school.) A critical observation may be’ look at what he hath wrought.’

But overrated? Don’t think so.

David  Fricke, a rock critic for Rolling Stone magazine, said this:

“Clapton’s economy of style, clarity of technique and improvisatory firepower are the standard by which nearly all electric guitarists, blues or otherwise, have been judged for over twenty years.”

Like I said, a curse and a blessing.