But it's not about reviews and awards when it comes to music. Everyone knows this. It's about what a song makes you feel. That's what's going to make your decision. And when I listen to this album, I feel everything. I feel it in my gut and heart, still to this day. I've listened to it so many times now that I'm at the point where I find myself anticipating the little nuances in each song. The things that bring you back to a time of true recording. You feel like your in the room with the group, there's atmosphere. Even listen to the harmonies over the chorus in this track. There's something so beautifully unrefined and real about it. And that's not saying it's at all less than perfect.
Eric Clapton (Derek) is best remembered as the face of this group, and many of the songs are often attributed to him. But keyboardist Bobby Whitlock helped write the majority of the album, and there were a couple covers on there too. In total, Clapton only wrote two of the fourteen songs by himself. Other Joe Cocker / Delaney & Bonnie outcasts were of course Jim Gordon (drums) and Carle Radle (bass). Duane Allman was invited to play when the sessions were not taking off as they planned in the beginning. He contributed slide guitar on 11 tracks of the album, including this one, and was an essential piece of the five-spot.
The cosmic joke of it all, is that they only gave us one album. They only gave me, one album. And although that one masterpiece seals the positive reputation of the group, it also relates to their failure. After less than a year, drugs, relationships and death had broken down one of the best blues supergroups of all time. Everyone in the group must have known to some degree that it wouldn't last. The name itself was an amalgamation of falsehoods, and Eric Clapton was quite possibly hiding behind it. After all, he was in love with his friend and fellow musician George Harrison's wife, and had no way to overtly say it. "Derek," gave him the opportunity to circumvent that head on collision with his mate, and "Layla" was the perfect guise for Patti Boyd.
I guess the optimist in me is thankful that somehow this group came together, and in six weeks recorded this supercharged blues album. But there's a piece of my heart that still aches for more from the group that set my standard for blues rock.
Eric Clapton (Derek) is best remembered as the face of this group, and many of the songs are often attributed to him. But keyboardist Bobby Whitlock helped write the majority of the album, and there were a couple covers on there too. In total, Clapton only wrote two of the fourteen songs by himself. Other Joe Cocker / Delaney & Bonnie outcasts were of course Jim Gordon (drums) and Carle Radle (bass). Duane Allman was invited to play when the sessions were not taking off as they planned in the beginning. He contributed slide guitar on 11 tracks of the album, including this one, and was an essential piece of the five-spot.
The cosmic joke of it all, is that they only gave us one album. They only gave me, one album. And although that one masterpiece seals the positive reputation of the group, it also relates to their failure. After less than a year, drugs, relationships and death had broken down one of the best blues supergroups of all time. Everyone in the group must have known to some degree that it wouldn't last. The name itself was an amalgamation of falsehoods, and Eric Clapton was quite possibly hiding behind it. After all, he was in love with his friend and fellow musician George Harrison's wife, and had no way to overtly say it. "Derek," gave him the opportunity to circumvent that head on collision with his mate, and "Layla" was the perfect guise for Patti Boyd.
I guess the optimist in me is thankful that somehow this group came together, and in six weeks recorded this supercharged blues album. But there's a piece of my heart that still aches for more from the group that set my standard for blues rock.
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