Drummer Jim Gordon as well continued to engage in substance abuse, damaging his career with behavioral issues. Bassist Carl Radle recorded and played with Clapton later in the ’70s and died of a kidney infection, exacerbated by his alcohol and drug abuse, in 1980 (see our On This Day item on him here). Duane Allman, who played on most of Layla, was killed in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971. Although today Clapton reigns as the major domo of 1960s rock guitar heroes alongside being a pop star, after the band’s short flash as a working act, he descended into some three years of heroin adduction and seclusion. And the dedicated survivor of a star-crossed band if there ever was one. Now, five decades later, he is the keeper of the Dominos legacy. And Whitlock was a key part of the kinetic energy behind what’s considered a genuine landmark in not just Clapton’s career but the entire classic rock genre: the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, co-writing six of the double album’s 10 original songs (plus… read on), and bringing his soul-soaked Deep South keyboard skills to the musical mix, taking the vocal lead on two tracks and doubling/trading off with Clapton throughout the rest of the album. So in this case, the oft-overused flash of lightning description is right on the money. Then we did one failed attempt at a second album.” And all within about a year’s time in 1970. “We did one club tour, we did one photo session, then we did a tour of a bit larger venues.

“That thing was like lightning in a bottle,” begins our Bobby Whitlock interview of his short-lived band with Eric Clapton, Derek and the Dominos. Jimy Sohns, Shadows of Knight Singer (“Gloria”), Dead at 75.Little Feat’s Live ‘Waiting For Columbus’ Gets Super Deluxe Edition.1973: The Year in 50 Classic Rock Albums.Paul Anka Interview: So Square That He’s Hip.Daniel Radcliffe as ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in Biopic Trailer.Blondie Releasing ‘Against the Odds 1974-1982’ Box Set.Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings Play Brief 2022 Reunion Tour.Jerry Garcia: A 1976 Encounter with the Grateful Dead’s Figurehead.The Concert For Bangladesh: Gently Weeping.Starship’s ‘We Built This City’: Really The Worst?.Def Leppard: 10 Things You Might Not Know.New Janis Joplin Photo Book From Elliott Landy.‘The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver’ Book Coming.13 Best Rock Organists (& Their Most Killer Tracks).Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons Getting Massive Box Set.The Doobie Brothers’ ‘What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits’: The End of an Era.Radio Hits in August 1972: School’s Out.

Derek and the dominoes