Derek & the Dominos, "In Concert" (Polydor, 1973)

By the early '80s, finding your favorite music from the late '60s through mid-'70s was getting kind of difficult.

Back in the age of vinyl, LPs that went of out print tended to stay out of print, available only if you got lucky enough to find it in a used record store. No one foresaw a day when baby boomers would purchase anything and everything from their childhood; the record companies and the stores that carried their products tended to focus on whatever was being released at the time, figuring that would be the best bet for significant sales.

By 1983, for example, most of Frank Zappa's catalog was available nowhere, as his former labels (two of which he sued) weren't printing any of his LPs anymore. I remember scrambling around trying to complete my collection, figuring I'd never see them new again.

Around that time, I heard a copy of "In Concert," the live album made by Eric Clapton and his short-lived group Derek & the Dominos after recording the landmark "Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs." For whatever reason, Polydor kept "In Concert" in print for just a short period after its 1973 release, even though the two-record set hit the Top 20.

I kept an eye out for my own copy for several years, until I finally saw it in a store. By then, of course, it was a two-CD set, and cost quite a bit more than the old double albums. But I plunked down my money, gave a listen and wondered why such good music hadn't been widely available for all those years.

One knock against "In Concert" has been that it lacked the synergy created between Clapton and Duane Allman, who guested on the "Layla" album. True, you don't get those dual-guitar acrobatics with the live material. But EC on a good night is well worth listening to on his own.

But that's another knock: Eric apparently was kind of bent out of shape about George Harrison's wife, and he wasn't taking the best care of himself. So the playing on "In Concert" probably doesn't represent the pinnacle of his fretwork.

Plus the songs are long, just nine of them stretched out over the two discs. Clapton caught flak for not knowing when to stop with Cream; he apparently hadn't learned his lesson with his later band.

Forget all that. Clapton does nothing to embarrass himself on "In Concert," as the Dominos - keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bass player Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon - carry him through some jams that stand up as some of his most enjoyable work, as far as some fans are concerned.

The material, recorded at the Fillmore East in the fall of 1970, draws mainly from "Layla" (which had yet to be released) and the solo debut "Eric Clapton," which had reached No. 13. Also included is a stunning version of "Presence of the Lord" from Blind Faith's one and only album.

Some of the highlights, though, are two songs that otherwise didn't see the light of day for nearly two decades.

"Roll It Over" was supposed to be the B-side of Derek & the Dominos' first single, paired with a speeded-up version of "Tell the Truth," but the record was withdrawn. Both songs finally appeared on "Crossroads," the four-CD Clapton anthology that paved the way for boxed sets as viable for massive sales. "Roll It Over" features a down-and-dirty riff that serves as a good hook for the down-and-dirty subject matter of the lyrics, which seem to suggest trying something a little different in the bedroom.

"Got to Get Better in a Little While" is 13 minutes of Clapton laying it all on the line, from referencing Sly Stone to urging prayer to uttering the optimstic line: "The sun's got to shine on my guitar someday." His guitar certainly shines throughout, although Radle (who died in 1980) seems to lose his place for a few measures along the way. (A different version of the song appears on an expanded/resequenced/remastered version of "In Concert" released in 1994, called "Live at the Fillmore" - and relegating the original album to out-of-print status once more.)

"In Concert" does sag a bit during an otherwise stellar version of "Let It Rain," when Gordon suddely takes an extended solo in the middle. At least when Ginger Baker did that with Cream, you knew it would be during the last 15 minutes of "Toad," and you can plan accordingly.

As for Derek & the Dominos, the band fell apart while working on tracks for a second album, and Clapton went into a seclusion that finally ended in 1974 when he came up with the brilliant "461 Ocean Boulevard" album and the No. 1 cover version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." Since then, he's straddled the line between his blues roots and an easier-listening approach, alternately thrilling and frustrating longtime fans.

"In Concert" probably will do the same, to some degree. But if you're a fan of Eric Clapton's guitar work and the blues-oriented material he was performing at the dawn of the '70s, give it a whirl. If you can find it.