Carl Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was a bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. Radle was best known for his long association with Eric Clapton, starting in 1969 with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends and 1970 with Derek and the Dominos. In 1970 he took part in Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. He worked on all of Clapton’s solo projects from 1970 until 1979 and was a member of Clapton’s touring band from 1974 through 1979. Radle was instrumental in facilitating Clapton’s return to recording and touring in 1974. Radle served as more than a sideman, acting also as arranger on several songs, notably “Motherless Children”. Radle earned an associate producer’s credit on Clapton’s album No Reason to Cry. (More from Wikipedia)
Eric Clapton continued to keep a relatively low profile in order to counter the star worship that he was attracting. In 1970, Eric Clapton assembled another band consisting of the rhythm section from Delaney & Bonnie and Friends – Bobby Whitlock (keyboardist and vocals), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums) – plus Dave Mason on guitar. This quintet backed George Harrison on his monumental solo album, All Things Must Pass.
Eric Clapton was then interested in turning them into a proper band; he first suggested the name Eric Clapton and Friends, but that seemed too much like Delaney & Bonnie and Friends to suit others in the group. There are several stories as to how they took the name Derek and the Dominos, but “Derek” seems clearly derived from “Eric”, and Fats Domino might have inspired the band name. As it happened, Dave Mason was present only at their first concert in June 1970, before they even took that name.
(May 2014)
