George Harrison said you can hear Derek and the Dominos jell as a band on his 'All Things Must Pass'

All Things Must Pass didn't just introduce George Harrison as a solo artist. It also introduced an emerging band, Derek and the Dominos. They were George's backing band and enjoyed working together so much that they formed their own group. You can hear Derek and the Dominos jell as a band on some of George's tracks.

George Harrison said 'All Things Must Pass' helped form Derek and the Dominos

Without George Harrison, Derek and the Dominos wouldn't have formed. During an interview with Billboard in 2000, George explained that Eric Clapton, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, and Bobby Whitlock appeared during the very first session for his 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass.

However, Clapton knew Radle, Gordon, and Whitlock before work began on George's album. He knew them through working with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. The group and Clapton's future bandmates appeared on his debut solo album, Eric Clapton.

Clapton and Whitlock eventually discussed starting a group and contacted Radle and Gordon. They learned that Gordon had signed on to work on All Things Must Pass. After reuniting in London for a session for P.P. Arnold, the four musicians started work on George's album.

George Harrison said Derek and the Dominos jelled as a band on 'All Things Must Pass'

During his interview with Billboard, George said there are tracks on All Things Must Pass where you can hear the future Derek and the Dominos jell as a band. "You’d have a break, somebody’d go to the toilet, they have a cigarette, and next minute you’d break into a jam session, and the engineer taped it on a 2-track," George said.

"When we were mixing the album and getting toward the end of it, I listened to that stuff, and I thought, 'It's got some fire in it,' particularly Eric. He plays some hot stuff on there!"

George lent his producer to Derek and the Dominos in return for their help on 'All Things Must Pass'

In Clapton's memoir, Clapton: The Autobiography, he revealed that in return for his and the rest of the future Dominos' help on All Things Must Pass, George agreed to get his co-producer, Phil Spector, to help the new band record some singles.

"We recorded two songs with him, 'Roll It Over' and 'Tell the Truth,' at Abbey Road Studios before turning ourselves over to George as his session musicians," Clapton said (per Ultimate Classic Rock).

Derek and the Dominos had a pretty remarkable formation. They went on to record some of the best classic rock songs of all time, including "Layla," which was about George's wife, Pattie Boyd. Still, we're glad George took a chance on the up-and-coming band. He paved the way for them to record their first singles and gave them a chance to jell as a band on All Things Must Pass.

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