[gmku]

Derek and the Dominos In Concert

My review:

The band is basically a stripped down version of the group that made Layla, with Eric Clapton taking something of a historic step on the occasion of these recordings (two nights in late October 1973 in the Filmore East in New York City) into his first real front man role in a live venue. He succeeds.

He leads a simple enough proposition. A four-man band: Clapton on guitar and vocals; Bobby Whitlock on keyboards and vocals; Carl Radle on bass; and Jim Gordon on drums. It's one of those simple propositions that can either hold together or fall dreadfully apart.

The glue that holds it all together is Clapton's journeyman guitar work. Clapton doesn't sound all that confident yet as a vocalist--Whitlock backs Clapton up with vocals that are not so much harmony parts as live overdubs of Clapton's melody line. And you could look at the extended instrumentals as ways the band filled in for the minimalist vocal approach. But as a player, Clapton is spectacular in solo after solo, venturing off into various styles and voices. There's none of the explosive freneticism of the Cream days; here, things are more laid back, although Clapton is still full of surprises, sharpening his attack on a number of songs and venturing into dark territory, slipping on his slide and worrying terse phrases in a nearly obsessive way.

There's some wah-wah-driven riffings, and even an extended drum solo, making this a quintessential early 1970s live album. Much as I enjoy the album, I do feel compelled to knock off a point for things running a tad too long. But hey, it was the seventies, and this was par for the course, so I'll give it that much.

It's too bad the Dominos had to end so soon. In spite of things sometimes meandering and getting lost in really long songs, the band shines on this two-hour release and show, and Clapton shows an improvisational edge and stylistic lyricism he only hints at in the studio with Layla.