The mid-1970s saw Eric return to the world stage as a solo act after a period of self-imposed isolation. In early 1973, he was still in seclusion and addicted to heroin. In an attempt to get Eric off heroin and back in the public eye, Lord Harlech (the father of Eric’s girlfriend) enlisted Eric’s friend, Pete Townshend (The Who), to help organize two concerts at London’s Rainbow Theater.
Townshend assembled a group of rock-star friends who performed on 23 January 1973 as THE PALPITATIONS. The two shows resulted in a live album, “Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert”. At the end of 1973, Eric kicked heroin for good. Before resuming his career, he took a small part in the Ken Russell film version of The Who’s “Tommy”.
For his “comeback” album, Eric put together ERIC CLAPTON AND HIS BAND I. This line-up stayed stable through most of the 70s. With this band Eric recorded “461 Ocean Boulevard”, “There’s One In Every Crowd”, “EC Was Here”, “No Reason To Cry”, “Slowhand”, and “Backless”. They also embarked on extensive world-wide tours. Following the 1979 American tour, Eric decided it was time for a change because he felt the band had become stale.
For ERIC CLAPTON AND HIS BAND II, Clapton hired only British musicians. In December 1979, the new line-up recorded the live album, “Just One Night” at Tokyo’s Budokan Hall. Adding Gary Brooker on keyboards a year later, they recorded the disastrous, “Turn Up Down” in March / April 1980. It remains unreleased although several songs were later re-recorded by Eric for later projects. A second attempt at recording an album was made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas with Tom Dowd as producer. These sessions, during July / August 1980, resulted in “Another Ticket”. In March 1981, the U.S. Tour to promote the album was canceled due to Eric’s hospitalization for ulcers.
In 1982, Clapton formed his own record label, Duck Records (distributed by Reprise). The musicians returned to Compass Point Studios in the fall of 1982. When the sessions went nowhere, Clapton fired the entire band — except for guitarist Albert Lee. Producer Tom Dowd then put together a band of top-notch session players to record “Money And Cigarettes”. Chris Stainton (keyboards) was the only musician brought back in from the previous lineup. Chris had written to Eric explaining that he understood the necessity for firing the band but that it had been “a bloody long audition.” Touched by his honesty, Eric rehired him. Roger Hawkins (drums) quit a few dates into the tour and was replaced by Jamie Oldaker. Oldaker had previously worked with Clapton from 1974 to 1979.
The band lineups and the dates of Clapton’s participation are as follows:
THE PALPITATIONS (13 January 1973)
Eric Clapton (guitar / vocals), Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion), Jim Capaldi (drums), Rick Grech (bass), Jim Karstein (drums), Pete Townshend (guitar / vocals), Steve Winwood (keyboards / vocals), and Ron Wood (guitar)
ERIC CLAPTON AND HIS BAND I (April 1974 - June 1979)
Eric Clapton (guitar/vocals), George Terry (guitar), Dick Sims (organ), Carl Radle (bass), Jamie Oldaker (drums), and Yvonne Elliman (vocals). Marcy Levy (vocals) was added to the line-up in September 1974. Yvonne Elliman left the band in June 1977. Marcy Levy and George Terry both quit in August 1978. Clapton hired Albert Lee (guitar /vocals) in January 1979.
ERIC CLAPTON AND HIS BAND II (September 1979 - October 1982)
Eric Clapton (guitar / vocals), Albert Lee (guitar / vocals), Chris Stainton (keyboards), Gary Brooker (keyboards), Henry Spinetti (drums), and Dave Markee (bass)
MONEY AND CIGARETTES STUDIO BAND (October - November 1982)
Eric Clapton (guitar / vocals), Ry Cooder (guitar), Albert Lee (guitar / keyboards), Donald “Duck” Dunn (bass), Roger Hawkins (drums), and Chris Stainton (keyboards)
