23 January

Eric continued recording his first solo album through the end of the month at Village Recorders in Los Angeles. While there, he also played on sessions for King Curtis and The Crickets

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2 February

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends with Eric started their North American Tour at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. The tour ended on 22 February with a concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California. The band appeared on The Dick Cavett Show on ABC-TV in New York City on the 5th

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March - April

Eric spent the time in London mixing his first solo album and playing on recording sessions for Stephen Stills, Ashton Gardner & Dyke, Jonathan Kelly, and Jesse Ed Davis

In early May, EC, along with Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood and Bill Wyman played on a series of sessions for Howlin' Wolf at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. The album, London Howlin Wolf Sessions, was released in August 1971. He also went to Oxford to jam with Steve Winwood and the reformed Traffic at St. Catherine’s College. In late May, George Harrison began recording first solo album and rock history’s first triple album, All Things Must Pass and invited Eric's new band, Derek and The Dominos to back him at recording sessions. The initial sessions took place in May and June at EMI Abbey Road Studios with overdubs at Trident Studios from late August through mid-October. During the sessions, the band recorded their first single. In June and July, Eric also played on London sessions for PP Arnold and Dr. John, with Mick Jagger. The band would also tour the UK, relocate to Miami, Florida to record their legendary album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, as well as kick off their US Tour in October

10 June

Eric and the rest of the Dominos started playing on sessions for PP Arnold’s debut album at IBC Studios in London. The sessions continued through 26 July and also featured Doris Troy, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

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14 June

Derek and the Dominos made their live concert debut at the Lyceum Ballroom in London with two charity shows for Dr Spock’s Civil Liberties Fund

Derek and the Dominos recorded their first single, "Tell The Truth / Roll It Over," at EMI Abbey Road Studios in London

EC, along with Mick Jagger, members of the Dominos and PP Arnold, started three days of recording sessions for Dr. John at Trident Studios in London for his album The Sun, Moon and Herbs

Derek and the Dominos' launched their UK Tour with a gig at the Dagenham Roundhouse in Dagenham, London

Eric's first solo studio album, Eric Clapton, was released

Derek and the Dominos' UK Tour stopped at the Van Dike Club in Plymouth, Devon. It was the last show before the band headed to the US to record their album. They were back on tour in England by 20 September. The UK Tour ended on 11 October at The Lyceum in London

Derek and the Dominos began recording Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida. Sessions continued through 2 October. Duane Allman joined the sessions on 27 August

22 September

Eric made a guest appearance with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells during their support slot for the Rolling Stones at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France

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15 October

Derek and the Dominos kicked off their US Tour with early and late shows at the Alumni Gymnasium on the campus of Rider College in Trenton, New Jersey

Derek and the Dominos played two consecutive nights at the Fillmore East in New York, their only US Tour. The band played early and late shows each night and all were recorded and later released

While playing a gig in Florida with the Dominos, Eric also played on sessions for Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Play The Blues at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami and on “The Judgement” for James Luther Dickinson

Derek and the Dominos were on an episode of the Johnny Cash Show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Carl Perkins was also a guest

Derek and The Dominos' double-album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs was released

Eric played on a two-day recording session for John Mayall's album, Back To The Roots at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles, California

Duane Allman joined Derek and the Dominos on stage at Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium in Syracuse, New York. Elton John was one of the support acts in Syracuse

Derek and the Dominos' final live performances took place at Brookhaven Gymnasium at Suffolk Community College in Selden, New York. The band played early and late shows. During the tour, BB King, Neal Schon, Jesse Ed Davis, Delaney Bramlett and Duane Allman all sat in at various gigs around the US

Eric joined the Rolling Stones at Olympic studios in Barnes, London to record a version of "Brown Sugar." This alternate version was released in 2015 on deluxe editions of Sticky Fingers

Eric played on sessions for Bobby Whitlock, his bandmate in Derek and the Dominos, at Olympic Sound Studios in London who was recording a solo album. George Harrison and the rest of the Dominos also joined in. Eric also played on sessions for John Mayall at IBC Studios

Derek and the Dominos began recording their second album at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. The album was never completed and the band quickly disintegrated by early May

Eric took part in the first large-scale rock benefit concert, "The Concert for Bangladesh,” in two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City organized by his friend, George Harrison, and Ravi Shankar. Rehearsals took place at the venue the day before

Eric made a guest appearance with Leon Russell and The Shelter People at the Rainbow Theatre

12 February

Eric played on an unreleased studio session for Stevie Wonder at AIR Studios, London

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August

George Harrison recruited Eric to play on unreleased sessions for a Cilla Black album. Other old friends from the sixties, Pete Townshend, spent time helping Eric at his home studio working on the unfinished material from the Dominos’ second album

The Rainbow Concerts. Two shows heralding Eric's  "comeback" and celebrating Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community took place at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London. Organized by Pete Townshend, Eric's  supporting band featured Townshend, Steve Winwood, Ron Wood, Ric Grech, Jim Capadi, Jimmy Karstein and Rebop Kwaku Baah

Eric's  ‘comeback’ began when he flew to Miami, Florida to record his second solo album, 461 Ocean Boulevard, at Criteria Recording Studios through mid-May

Eric filmed the “Eyesight To The Blind" sequence for the movie, Tommy at St. Andrew's Church in Henderson Road with Pete Townshend and John Entwhistle. Eric also played on the official film soundtrack

The warm-up concerts for Eric's  first solo tour supporting 461 Ocean Boulevard took place at Tivoli Gardens in Stockholm and KB Hallen in Copenhagen

Eric kicked off the first leg of his US Tour at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut performing 28 concerts through 4 August

461 Ocean Boulevard was released. It reached #1 on the US Billboard Chart in August

5 August 

Eric played on sessions for Freddie King at Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Florida

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19 August

Eric started recording sessions for There's One in Every Crowd at Dynamic Sound Studios, Kingston, Jamaica through mid-September

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14 September

Eric's cover of Bob Marley’s "I Shot The Sheriff" topped the charts in America. Five days later, on 19 September, the single received a Gold Record Award from the RIAA (US)

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28 September

Eric was back in North America touring in support of 461 Ocean Boulevard. The tour ended on 6 October in Philadelphia

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31 October

Opening night of Eric's first tour of Japan - the gig was at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan and was the first of three nights at the venue. On 21 April 2023, Eric became the first foreign artist to appear 100 times at the Budokan. The 5 date tour ended in Osaka on 6 November

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26 November 

The 9-date European leg of Eric's 461 Ocean Boulevard Tour opened with a gig at the Kongresszentrum in Hamburg, Germany. It wrapped in December at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Both shows were recorded

Eric's  3rd studio album, There's One In Every Crowd was released

Eric's  There's One In Every Crowd Tour started with the first of two consecutive nights at the HIC Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii.  The tour kept Eric on the road for much of the year before it ended at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on 2 November

Following a concert in Florida, Eric headed to Criteria Studios in Miami on 16 June to record a new single, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” On the 25th, he recorded the B-side, “Someone Like You,” at New York City’s Electric Lady Studios

Eric recorded his next album, No Reason To Cry at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California. During this same period, he played on sessions for The Pencils, Rick Danko, Kinky Friedman and Joe Cocker at the studios

May - June

Eric headed back to California to select tracks for No Reason To Cry. While there, he played on sessions for Van Morrisson, Stephen Bishop and Ringo Starr at various studios in the Los Angeles area

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29 July

Eric's  UK Tour supporting No Reason To Cry opened at The Pavilion in Hemel Hempstead.

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31 July

Freddie King, Larry Coryell, Lewis Stephens and Ronnie Wood made guest appearances with Eric at the Garden Party IX at Crystal Palace Bowl in London

Eric's  4th solo studio album, No Reason To Cry, was released. It peaked at #8 on the UK albums chart and was certified platinum

Eric wrote "Wonderful Tonight" while waiting for Pattie Boyd to get ready to go to Paul and Linda McCartney's Buddy Holly Week Luncheon. The song was recorded for Eric’s 1977 album, Slowhand

Eric started his fifteen-date US Tour at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida

Eric was a guest artist at The Last Waltz, The Band's final concert at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California. It was filmed and recorded

20 April

Eric started his 1977 Tour at DeMontfort Hall in Leicester.  He was on the road through mid-October with concerts across the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Hawaii and Japan. Eric had an extended break in May for the recording of his next album

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2 May

Eric started working on Slowhand at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London. "Wonderful Tonight" and "Next Time You See Her" were recorded at this session. He completed sessions for the album on the 25

Eric's  5th solo studio album, Slowhand, was released. It reached the Top 10 in 8 countries and become one of his most commercially and critically successful albums

1 February

Eric started his concerts for the year with a gig at the PNE Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada.  He was on tour for much of the year with dates across Canada, the US, Europe, and the UK with a break for recording his next album, Backless

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May - September

Between concert dates, Eric recorded Backless at Olympic Sound Studios in London

Eric's 7th solo studio album, Backless was released

Eric ended his touring for the year with a concert at the Civic Hall in Guildford, Surrey. Muddy Waters, George Harrison and Elton John made guest appearances

Eric started his 1979 tour with a gig at City Hall, Cork. The tour visited the US, Europe, the Mideast and Far East before it wrapped on 6 December at the Sangyo Kyoshin Kaikan in Sapporo, Japan

First of two consecutive nights at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan - both nights were recorded for Eric's  double-live album, Just One Night