After being in several successful rock bands including The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith, Clapton recorded an album under his own name in
Clapton recorded some tracks in November 1969 at London’s Olympic Studios and went on to record more songs in 1970 in two sessions; one in January 1970 at the Village Recorders Studio in West Los Angeles and a second session in March the same year at Island Studios in London. A large number of musicians that worked with Clapton on the album had been working with the band Delaney & Bonnie, which previously opened the Blind Faith gigs. The musicians included the core of Derek & the Dominos, including co-creator and co-songwriter Bobby Whitlock, who can be heard on “Let It Rain”.
The song “Let it Rain” had originally been recorded with different lyrics as “She Rides”. Three mixes of the album were done, one by Delaney Bramlett, one by Tom Dowd and one by Clapton himself. The 11-track album, Dowd mix was the one used for the original release. Bramlett’s 10-track album mix without “Told You for the Last Time,” is included in the Deluxe Edition released on CD in 2006.
In an interview from 2006, promoting The Road to Escondido, Clapton recalled that he was very happy making this album and was pleased with the results of the recording sessions, but also noted that “the only thing he didn’t like about the album is his voice”, because it sounds so “high” and “young”, which Clapton disliked, because he “always wanted to sound like an old guy”.
Tracks
1 Slunky (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 03:33
2 Bad Boy (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 03:33
3 Lonesome And A Long Way From Home (Delaney Bramlett; Leon Russell) 03:29
4 After Midnight (JJ Cale) 02:50
5 Easy Now (Eric Clapton) 02:57
6 Blues Power (Eric Clapton; Leon Russell) 03:08
7 Bottle Of Red Wine (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 03:06
8 Lovin’ You Lovin’ Me (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 03:19
9 I’ve Told You For The Last Time (Delaney Bramlett; Steve Cropper) 02:30
10 Don’t Know Why (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 03:10
11 Let It Rain (Delaney Bramlett; Eric Clapton) 05:01
Bass - Carl Radle
Drums - Jim Gordon
Guitar - Eric Clapton
Guitar - Stephen Stills
Guitar - Delaney Bramlett
Percussion - John Simon
Piano - Leon Russell
Sax - Bobby Keys
Trumpet - Jim Price
Background Vocals - Bob Whitlock
Background Vocals - Bonnie Bramlett
Background Vocals - Delaney Bramlett
Background Vocals - Rita Coolidge
Background Vocals - Stephen Stills
Background Vocals - Jerry Allison
Background Vocals - Sonny Curtis
Vocals - Eric Clapton
Producer – Delaney Bramlett
Arranged By – Delaney Bramlett
Engineer – Bill Halverson
Photography, Design – Barry Feinstein, Tom Wilkes
Designed At Camouflage Productions
Mastered At Longwear Plating
Recorded At The Village Recorder
Copyright Atlantic Recording Corporation
