Derek And The Dominos’ ‘At The Fillmore’: Clapton’s Complicated Recording
Unravelling the ‘Derek And The Dominos In Concert’ album and its subsequent incarnations, culled from different shows, is a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle.
Unravelling the Derek And the Dominos In Concert album and its subsequent incarnations is a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle. The different versions, culled from different shows, make it extremely complicated to untangle. Add to this the fact that no one in the audience had yet heard Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, because it had not been released at the time of the Fillmore shows, and the story becomes even more tangled.
The Derek And The Dominos live recordings are from the Fillmore East in New York City on October 23 and 24, 1970, and capture the band in all their, at times, rampant glory and at others that laid back Southern soulfulness that Messrs Radle, Whitlock, and Gordon brought to the band.
Derek And The Dominos In Concert was originally released in 1973, nearly two and a half years after the band’s studio album originally had nine songs and running for an hour and a half. It entered the Billboard album chart on January 27, 1973, where it reached No.20, but could only manage a disappointing No. 36 in the UK, in its one week on the survey on March 24.
The concert was reissued as Live At The Fillmore on February 22, 1994 with a significantly different running order, and with the addition of four more tracks. In reality, six of the nine tracks released as In Concert, and three of its five previously unreleased performances, are different recordings of songs that featured on In Concert. In 2011, on the 40th anniversary super deluxe edition of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, the running order was back to the original In Concert edition plus the extra four tracks, while utilizing different versions of “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?,” “Let it Rain,” and “Tell The Truth” from Live At The Fillmore.
For whatever reason, the running order of these concerts were substantially changed. There were two performances on each date and for the late show on October 23 the concert ran as follows: “Got to Get Better in a Little While,” “Key to the Highway,” “Tell the Truth,” “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?,” “Blues Power,” “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” “Bottle of Red Wine,” “Presence of the Lord,” “Little Wing,” and “Let It Rain,”’ with “Crossroads” as an encore.
For the following night’s second show the set was: “Got to Get Better in a Little While,” “Tell the Truth,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?,” “Presence of the Lord,” “Blues Power,” “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” “Key to the Highway,” “Bottle of Red Wine,” “Roll It Over,” and “Let It Rain.” For the encore, there was no “Crossroads” but instead “Little Wing.”
Of the 13 tracks on that 40th-anniversary reissue of Layla, there were three tracks recorded on the first night: “Got to Get Better in a Little While,” “Little Wing,” and “Crossroads.” There is no “Layla” on the album because Duane Allman was not there to add his signature slide guitar.
The songs not on the band’s studio album but played in concert included “Got To Get Better In A Little While,” from their unreleased second album, which shows perfectly what a tight outfit they were on stage. “Let it Rain,” “Bottle of Red Wine,” and “Blues Power” all come from Eric’s self-titled solo album. Eric Clapton, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett wrote the first two songs, while the other is by Clapton and Leon Russell. “Presence of the Lord” was from the Blind Faith album. And then there’s “Crossroads,” a very different, more laid back approach than the more frenetic version by Cream, but one that is full of latent energy. Which do you prefer?
Derek And The Dominos Live At The Fillmore can be bought here.
Luke
November 16, 2014 at 8:44 pm
“For the following night’s second show the set was –
‘Got to Get Better in a Little While’, ‘Blues Power’, ‘Have You Ever Loved a Woman’, ‘Key to the Highway’, ‘Tell the Truth’, ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’, ‘Let It Rain’, ‘Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?’, ‘Presence of the Lord’, ‘Bottle of Red Wine’. For the encore there was no ‘Crossroads’ but instead, ‘Roll It Over’ and ‘Little Wing’.”
This is wrong. The bootlegs are in the wrong order.
1. Got To Get Better In A Little While (unreleased)
2. Tell The Truth (IC)
3. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out (LATF – edited)
4. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (IC)
5. Presence of the Lord (IC & LATF)
6. Blues Power (IC & LATF)
7. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (IC & LATF)
8. Key To The Highway (LATF & Crossroads)
9. Bottle of Red Wine (unreleased)
10. Roll It Over (IC & LATF)
11. Let It Rain (IC)
12. Little Wing (unreleased)
Mal
February 14, 2018 at 6:00 pm
The bootlegs are in the wrong order…….NOT ANYMORE!!!……coming in May…the ‘holy grail’ of the Fillmore shows..
Derek & The Dominos – Fillmore Concert – The Ace of Stratosphere (10/23 & 24 Both Late Shows/1970 Multi Track SB & Aud for each show)
This 8 CD Mega Rare Ltd & Numbered Box Set (200 Copies Only) with Obi features the World Debut of Multi Track Recordings for each show and the previously unreleased “Bottle Of Red Wine” long missing track from the 10/24 show. The set also features upgraded Audience sources for both shows! Each CD set is housed in special gate fold paper cases and is enclosed in an exquisite Ltd Ed box.
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 1:31 am
Good evening……. i have a copy of the Late Show 24th october 12:30 a.m.; that the track listing is precisely what you have posted here.The title of the show is The Ace Of Stratosphere.
uDiscover
November 16, 2014 at 9:17 pm
Luke, seems odd, given that Let It Rain was not typically played as an encore. Happy to be proved wrong, where’s the evidence?
Rex Felton
January 28, 2018 at 7:01 am
Yes, Let It Rain was the normal encore. It was sometimes traded off with Crossroads or switched. Sometimes Badge was the encore. Let It Rain received extensive radio airplay so the audience would have known it. Real dumb to play something nobody heard as The Fillmore wanted to sell out tickets. In spite of how great the rest of the players were nobody knew them. Leyla was played without Duane Allman, David Mason sometimes played backstage to cover the Allman parts.
Luke
November 16, 2014 at 9:38 pm
Let It Rain wasn’t the encore, it was the last song of the main set. As it was on the 23rd. Little Wing was the encore.
Evidence? Audience recording, tape boxes, and the mix tapes made for In Concert. The order on boot (which makes no sense) was based on the reel numbers of the mix tapes, which were not in any particular order. Whoever assembled the boot just knew that Got To Get Better was first and Little Wing was last, and based everything else on the reel numbers, incorrectly.
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 1:38 am
The last track played on the late show 10-23 was Crossroads on 10-24 the late show last track was Little Wing
uDiscover
November 16, 2014 at 10:39 pm
Luke, sounds convincing! 🙂 And duly changed in the article. Just goes to show how tricky it is piecing this stuff together.
Luke
November 16, 2014 at 10:57 pm
Also, FYI, the boots edit NKYWYDAO to match LATF, and Bottle of Red Wine is the 10/23 late performance repeated. The actual 10/24 performance of the latter has not been bootlegged for some reason. The boots also lose a fair amount of between song stuff.
Bhoy
February 26, 2015 at 1:36 am
Finally got round to comparing some different boots of these shows, in particular the “Double Night” set with the 3 tracks appearing on the Yellow Dog release “Layla And Other Assorted Unreleased Songs”.
Most of the commentary I seen suggests that 2 of these 3 (KTTH & NKYWYDAO) are from 23rd. Some say that all three were from the early shows. All agree that they don’t duplicate the official releases.
Having compared them, I think that in fact the Yellow Dog takes are all from 24th late show. That means that KTTH & NKYWYDAO are the same as the LATF ones (tho’ I’m not sure about the editing of KTTH). Little Wing is the Guitar Player version.
Anyone take a different view?
Luke
November 18, 2015 at 4:43 pm
It’s been a while since I’ve pulled out LAOAUS, but if memory serves, the only semi-unique Fillmore East track was NKYWYDAO. It’s from 10/24 late, but has an additional 8 bars of solo that were edited out from Live At The Fillmore and the various “complete” bootlegs. That said, it still doesn’t completely match the live performance, as a few notes were digitally copied and pasted in one spot. The live performance, as played/recorded/mixed, hasn’t been bootlegged or released, to my knowledge.
Offhand I don’t remember anything unique about the other 2 songs; I know they were from the late shows, and if you indicate they were from 10/24 late, that’s probably correct. I’d have to pull out the CD to verify.
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 1:36 am
The lasr track plated on the 10-24 late show was Little Wing
Gary word
November 17, 2014 at 3:12 am
I saw them in San Deigo on Friday, and in Pasadena on Sat. I honestly think they’re the best band I’ve ever heard, still to this day.
Timothy Hickey
January 8, 2015 at 6:38 pm
Gary, I’m envious. I was too young at the time to go to any concerts, but if I could go to one. it would be these guys.
garret
January 8, 2015 at 6:43 pm
The bottom of that band swung like hell. Radle and Gordon were as solid a bottom as ever played in any rock band.
Clapton has been with great players his whole career, but this band was just so special…there was a great chemistry.
You can tell how much they really loved playing with one another- at least for that magic couple of years.
mac smith
November 17, 2014 at 9:43 pm
I never worried about sorting out what song was where. I was just extremely fortunate to have been there to see such greatness. Also saw some of the Allman Brothers sessions at the Fillmore. Some of the best music history there is.
Mary Skogen
November 20, 2014 at 12:19 am
Gary Word ~ I agree with you whole-heartedly:-). I have actually come to tears while listening to some of this ~ it’s just so moving and beautiful. I really like the meaning behind “Presence of the Lord”. Thank God Eric got clean and sober… who knows what would be if he had not.
John Zane
November 26, 2014 at 8:51 am
My personal opinion is that the Derek & the Dominoes studio version of “Little Wing” is the best version I’ve ever heard, including the Hendrix original and Stevie Ray’s version as well as many others who have covered this amaing song over the decades.
John E Hall
December 26, 2014 at 1:43 pm
Saw their first concert at Lyceum in London. They also had Dave Mason playing acoustic guitar, Great night except is was the night England were knocked out of World Cup by Germany!!!
Rex Felton
January 28, 2018 at 7:08 am
George Harrison was hiding on the first show which was acoustic. Whitlock, Mason, Clapton, Harrison on acoustic guitars, Radle on a acoustic bass, and God on on snare with brushes. The stage was so small it was hard to see. Cannot recall exactly where in U K it happened.
Matthew North
January 9, 2015 at 12:31 am
Little Wing live was release on a flexi in 1988 with guitar player magazine.
Pete
November 18, 2015 at 8:45 pm
I have most or all of the dominoes boots except the 4 cd audience recording of the fillmore shows. That set might be the one that plays it as it really was
JD smith
November 19, 2015 at 9:43 pm
Why can’t anybody mention the pictures that were taken on the actual night of the concert? There are roughly 20 available online but none are shown on the actual legitimate releases.I was at the late show on the 23rd and it was the best concert I ever saw. Anyone can check out my review in the magazine where’s Eric.
S
January 27, 2018 at 10:13 pm
Love the Layla LP! One of my all time favorites and also love all of the live LP and later CD releases!
Mal
February 14, 2018 at 5:57 pm
The bootlegs are in the wrong order……..Not anymore!!!……coming in May…
Derek & The Dominos – Fillmore Concert – The Ace of Stratosphere (10/23 & 24 Both Late Shows/1970 Multi Track SB & Aud for each show)
This 8 CD Mega Rare Ltd & Numbered Box Set (200 Copies Only) with Obi features the World Debut of Multi Track Recordings for each show and the previously unreleased “Bottle Of Red Wine” long missing track from the 10/24 show. The set also features upgraded Audience sources for both shows! Each CD set is housed in special gate fold paper cases and is enclosed in an exquisite Ltd Ed box.
Mircea Hugyecz
February 22, 2018 at 8:50 pm
why only 200 copies ?
Tom
February 25, 2018 at 3:33 pm
I agree why 200 copies? What’s up with that?
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 1:49 am
The quality of The Ace Of Stratosphere is superb.
A beautiful box set with some nice photos as well. Four cds of the late shows 10-23 and 10-24 (four total cds) as well as four cds of the audience recordings.
As to whether the sound quality is any better than Mid Valley’s three cd set; i really can’t say.
The set on Paddington sounds great as well.
I have a difficult time differentiating the soundboards on any of the aforementioned.
I am listening to them through Klipsch; maybe someone has a good idea of which recordings sound the best? I don’t.
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 2:01 am
Look up the Ace Of Stratosphere for sale on ebay.
I guess Mid Valley (states Empress Valley Supreme Disc on the back of the box)
figured they wanted to keep it very rare or the price would scare most away; just my opinion.
Chris Neake
February 22, 2018 at 7:15 pm
I recon the 9 minute cut of Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad (bad on the record label!) is the best recorded piece of guitar playing ever recorded by anyone! I never tire of it!
Per Jørgensen
February 22, 2018 at 8:57 pm
@Chris: I totally agree!
Phil R
March 24, 2018 at 11:11 am
One interesting thing as far as I can tell from what I have read, the picture of the band on the cover isn’t from the Fillmore. It is from the near by Capitol Theater in Port Chester NY.
Michael
February 22, 2019 at 1:53 am
The pictures on the inside of the ace of stratosphere are the correct ones; eric had no beard at the fillmore shows one show he is wearing what appears to be a sweatshirt with a rooster on it. You are correct on the photos of the port arthur show.
DAVID SUMMERLIN
November 30, 2019 at 11:05 am
hey ya’ll~!! you’ve heard the old quote “a little byrdie told me?” well, folks git ill @ me, cause i got 3 of them(can’t tell who or where?)GEORGIA,TENNESSEE & TEXXAS…and i keep comin up with, some damn good stories & postum on my FACEBOOK timeline? i heard the original, from BOBBY WHITLOCK, when i lived in MACON, GA.!! it wasn’t near, as good as this? somebody whooped a “TOM DOWD” on it*** believe me, it’s much preciated, i got 2,781 FB FRYNDS, that can vouch to that~!!…and they come from me spendin 40+yrs.DBA; STAGE LEFT PROMOTIONS**(man,i luvit when shtt gits real?)thankyou folks! DAVID
jmac
February 22, 2022 at 7:23 pm
ask Bobby Whitlock at his youtube channel to confirm what was what…i think he’ll remember as he was there and co-wrote many of those songs with clapton lol