Writer: Eric Clapton
Producer: Glyn Johns
Recorded: Spring 1977 at Olympic Studios in London, England
Released: May 1977
| Players: | Eric Clapton — vocals, guitar Marcy Levy — vocals George Terry — guitar Dick Sims — keyboards Carl Radle — bass Jamie Oldaker — drums Mel Collins — saxophone |
| Album: | Slowhand (RSO, 1977) |
A popular album track from Eric Clapton's Slowhand album, “The Core” features an outstanding duet between the guitarist and Marcy Levy, his longtime backup singer and occasional songwriting partner.
The song also provides a prominent showcase for saxophonist Mel Collins, one of the few times a woodwind instrument has been featured on one of Clapton's songs.
After a handful of commercial disappointments, the Slowhand album was something of a comeback for Clapton. It reached Number 23 in the U.K. and rose to Number Two on the U.S. album chart, kept out of the top spot by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Despite the album's success, Clapton has gone on record as being unhappy with his vocal performance on the album. “Slowhand, to me, is a very nervous sung album, especially after 'No Reason To Cry.' Maybe it was because of the lack of material we had when we went in to cut it, or the difference in surroundings.”
Clapton also didn't feel that much of the material on Slowhand had the emotional heft he wanted: “It was lightweight, really lightweight. And the reason for that, I think, is partly due to the fact that some of the stuff we wanted to put on the record I wrote, say, six months before. We were on the road and we wrote some songs and got to the studio — and we couldn't get the studio early enough or we wanted a couple of weeks off or something like that — and by the time we got in there, everyone knew the song so well, we were so sort of limp about it that it was lazy.”
