ClaptonTest™ Vol. 3 – Eric and Friends

Duane Allman, Layla – In 1970, the elder Allman brother teamed up with Clapton and his band Derek And The Dominos.

Duane contributed to 11 of the 14 tracks on the album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) – the only studio LP released by Clapton’s short-lived band. Duane’s soaring “Layla” solos and his interplay with Eric make the song one of the greatest in rock history.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked “Layla” #27 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

Tales Of Brave Ulysses – The track is from Cream’s 1967 album, Disraeli Gears.

Jeff Beck – Beck (seen at far left in image above) replaced Clapton upon his departure from The Yardbirds in 1965.

Page, who was initially offered the job but declined, would eventually come back around and join the band in 1966. For a brief period, both Beck and Page (seen 2nd from left) were in The Yardbirds.

Marcy Levy, The Core – The duet is from Clapton’s 1977 album, Slowhand. Marcy served up backing vocals for many of Clapton’s songs over the years.

Warren Haynes, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad? – Clapton has performed as a guest many times with The Allman Brothers Band.

“Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?” originally appeared on Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) – a track that Duane Allman contributed to.

The audio above was recorded in 2013 at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival.

John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers – The track is called “Hideaway.” It’s an instrumental blues standard recorded by Freddy King in 1960.

Clapton would leave The Bluesbreakers in July of 1966. He then joined Ginger Baker’s new band, Cream.

Hey Jude (Wilson Pickett) – Clapton was blown away when he heard Duane’s work on Wilson Pickett’s cover of The Beatles’ classic “Hey Jude.” Eric said: “To this day, I’ve never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record. It’s the best.”

Of course, the rest is rock history. In 1970, Clapton would recruit Allman to play on his master work, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs.

Anyday, Susan Tedeschi – She’s known for her powerful smoky-blues vocals, and being married to guitar phenom Derek Trucks.

Tedeschi and Clapton are singing “Anyday” by Derek And The Dominos.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps, George Harrison – He didn’t write many songs with The Beatles, but the ones he did write were top shelf. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is no exception.

Harrison and Clapton were close friends, and George talked him into playing lead guitar on the track.

J.J. Cale – The late, great J.J. Cale was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is credited with creating the “Tulsa Sound,” which had a major influence on Eric’s style.

Cale wrote some of Clapton’s biggest hits, like “Cocaine” and “After Midnight.”

The audio above is from “After Midnight” off Clapton’s album, Live In San Diego, which was recorded in 2007 and released in 2016 after Cale’s death.