Tour Operators (1991)

 Tour Operators

By Doug Vaughn

Newsday

September 23, 1991

    If you are thinking that there is any love lost between Eric Clapton and George Harrison, you are wrong. When Clapton stole Pattie Boyd away from Harrison and then married her, even the most jaded type shook their heads.

     Most people recall the story through Clapton's impassioned love plea in "Layla." Still, Clapton and Harrison have managed to be civil to each other and even plan to tour together in the near future. 

    When asked if this put a strain on their friendship, Clapton tells Jim Henke that indeed it has in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. "Unbelievable ... it's still there. It has something to do with the way we wind up each other. I mean, there's always a little barbed comment somewhere in any conversation. I mean, that's devastated all three of us. It was fun at the time. It really was like one of those movies where you see wife swapping... Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. But it took years, and it'll never go away. 

    "The way we think and feel about each other. I'll probably get my knuckles wrapped for talking about all this. I'll go home, and I'll see George, and he'll go, 'Oh, running off at the mouth again?'"

     So will Clapton play "Layla" when touring with Harrison? "Yeah, that's always been a bone of contention. Every time I play it, and he's in the audience, I've always wondered what the hell goes through his mind. But I don't know. We've got a sense of humor about it."