Derek & the Dominos

Cream 解散后，Eric Clapton在1970年5月组建了名为Derek and the Dominoes的乐队。在这支被后世誉为拥有“最豪华阵容”的乐队里，除了Clapton和他在原Bramlett乐队的三个朋友键盘手obby Whitlock，贝司手Carl Radle，鼓手Jim Gordon，更吸引了另一名顶级吉他手Duane Allman的加入。尤其是Clapton和Allman的碰撞，迸发出了乐队成员全部的激情和潜能，由此诞生了世上最为悲壮的情歌……
也许是辉煌耗去了乐队太多的能量。次年同期，Derek and the Dominoes宣告解散。其后，除了Whitlock外，所有成员都不得善终：5个月后Allman就在一次摩托车事故中丧生；Radle在1980年死于肾衰竭（据分析可能和吸毒过度有关）；ordon精神失常，在1983年杀害了他的母亲；而Clapton则身陷情迷和毒瘾两大囹圄，若不是好友 Pete Townshend关键时刻的援手，很可能Layla就会成为Clapton真正的绝命曲。
Derek & the Dominos was a group formed by guitarist/singer Eric Clapton (born Eric Patrick Clapp, March 30, 1945, Ripley, Surrey, England) with other former members of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, in the spring of 1970. The rest of the lineup was Bobby Whitlock (b. 1948, Memphis, TN) (keyboards, vocals), Carl Radle (b. 1942, Oklahoma City, OK — d. May 30, 1980) (bass), and Jim Gordon (b. 1945, Los Angeles) (drums). The group debuted at the Lyceum Ballroom in London on June 14 and undertook a summer tour of England. From late August to early October, they recorded the celebrated double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (November 1970) with guitarist Duane Allman sitting in. They then returned to touring in England and the U.S., playing their final date on December 6.
The Layla album was successful in the U.S., where Bell Bottom Blues and the title song charted as singles in abbreviated versions, but it did not chart in the U.K. The Dominos reconvened to record a second album in May 1971, but split up without completing it. Clapton then retired from the music business, nursing a heroin addiction.
In his absence, and in the wake of Allmans death in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971, the Dominos and Layla gained in stature. Re-released as a single at its full, seven-minute length in connection with the compilation album History of Eric Clapton (Atco 803) (March 1972), Layla hit the Top Ten in the U.S. and the U.K. in the summer of 1972. (It would return to the U.K. Top Ten in 1982.) A live album, Derek and the Dominos in Concert (January 1973), taken from the 1970 U.S. tour, was also a strong seller.
Time has only added to the renown of the group, which is now rated among Eric Claptons most outstanding achievements. The 1988 Eric Clapton box set retrospective Crossroads featured material from the abortive second album sessions. The Layla Sessions was a 1990 box set expanding that album across three CDs/cassettes. Live at the Fillmore (1994) offered an expanded version of the In Concert album.