Eric Clapton’s Behind the Sun: When the Layla Story Unravelled
If Layla captured the tortured beginning of Eric Clapton’s love affair with Pattie Boyd, Behind the Sun arrived as that story was beginning to unravel. Released in 1985, the album is often heard as a return to form, but it also marks the closing of one of the most famous romantic chapters in rock history.
The blues purist of the late 1960s had, by the 1980s, become a reflective and sometimes restless artist looking for a way back to a wider audience. Money and Cigarettes (1983), recorded in the aftermath of Clapton confronting his alcoholism, was a stripped-back, guitar-focused record that suggested a fresh start, but it did not fully revive his commercial fortunes. Behind the Sun would move in a different direction, bringing in synthesisers and a more energised mid-80s sound that would offer Clapton a new musical direction and success.
Eric Clapton Eighties Albums
A Caribbean Studio and a New Collaboration
Much of Behind the Sun was recorded at AIR Studios Montserrat, the Caribbean studio built by producer George Martin. By the early 1980s, the studio had become a prized retreat for artists looking to escape the pressures of London or Los Angeles and focus on making records in more tranquil surroundings. Like Elton John’s Too Low for Zero, which was also recorded there, Behind the Sun represented a return to form of sorts for Clapton, while also nudging him towards a brighter, more modern sound.
“I called Phil and told him I had a few new songs, and we decided to go and work on them in George Martin’s Air Studios in Montserrat, in the Caribbean. The idea was to jam a little, try out my songs, see if we could write something together and maybe do some covers. ”
Clapton arrived on Montserrat with a small group of musicians and a valuable ally in Phil Collins. By this point Collins was one of the biggest figures in pop, balancing his role as Genesis frontman with a solo career that had taken off after Face Value. Living near Clapton at Hurtwood Edge, he became a key part of the project as drummer, collaborator and producer, helping to wrap Clapton’s guitar playing in a more contemporary mid-eighties sound.
“It’s a great feeling being here in this paradise as producer for my mate and his band of legends.”
Those “legends” included bassist Nathan East, whose association with Clapton would prove far from fleeting. East went on to become one of the most important musicians in Clapton’s world, collaborating and touring with him for decades afterwards.
The sessions produced a set of songs that balanced Clapton’s familiar blues phrasing with the crisp, radio-friendly production style that dominated the mid-1980s.
Although Clapton’s time in the Caribbean coincided with a return to drinking, his stay on Montserrat would prove productive in more ways than one.
Songs from a Complicated Moment
The personal backdrop to the album was far from calm. Clapton’s marriage to Pattie Boyd—the relationship that had already inspired songs such as Layla and Wonderful Tonight—was beginning to unravel, and that tension seeps into several of the record’s strongest moments. The blistering opener, “She’s Waiting,” captures both emotional distance and a sense of frustration, not least at Clapton’s own behaviour. Framed by Phil Collins’ atmospheric drums and keyboards, the song wraps Clapton’s guitar in a polished mid-80s sound while remaining one of the album’s most personal statements. It would also become a memorable part of his Live Aid set in 1985.
The covers Eric was keen to recorded included a version of “Knock on Wood” that would showcase the vocal collaboration of Clapton and Collins.
Trouble in Paradise?
However the original tracks, delivered to the record label were not well received.
“... Warner Brothers had sent back he Montserrat tapes, saying the songs weren’t strong enough. There weren’t enough enough potential hit singles amongst them, and we could either re-record the album, removing some of the songs and adding new ones, or we could find another record company.”
The answer was a further round of recording in Los Angeles, with Clapton joined by musicians including Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro. From those sessions came some of the album’s biggest songs, most notably “Forever Man,” which reached number one on Billboard’s Top Rock Tracks chart and helped push sales beyond half a million copies.
My love has gone behind the sun…
There was one final track Clapton wanted to add to the album. He turned to his friend and producer Phil Collins, heading to Collins’ neighbouring home to record it in a homemade studio, alone with his guitar. The result was an introspective piece that seemed to capture exactly where Clapton found himself at that moment.
My love has gone behind the sun
Since she left, the darkness has begun
The smile that used to shine on me
Is nothing more than a memory
I see her face, I hear her voice
She made a move, I had no choice
But walk and cry, wipe tears with my hand
The one that carries a wedding band
And the clouds hang low
And the flowers that used to grow in my heart
Are dying now
Dying now
Dying now
That productivity extended beyond the studio. During his time on Montserrat, Clapton began an affair that would lead to the birth of his daughter, Ruth, in 1985.
Critical reaction to Behind the Sun was mixed. Some reviewers welcomed the stronger songwriting and polished production, while others felt the album leaned too heavily into contemporary studio trends. Rolling Stone didn’t hold back on their contempt for the new material.
Writing in Rolling Stone, Critical reaction to Behind the Sun was mixed. Some reviewers welcomed the stronger songwriting and polished production, while others felt the album leaned too heavily into contemporary studio trends.
“ One shudders to think of Clapton really going in the direction Behind the Sun is pointing him toward... Maybe that’s why he sounds so desperate and convincing, like a man who wants to jump not only out of his skin but right off the track, as he sings “Just Like a Prisoner.” For Clapton, there’s still time — and hope — for escape.”
Commercially, however, the record succeeded in restoring momentum to his career. The success of Forever Man in particular ensured that Clapton’s music was once again heard on mainstream radio and emerging platforms such as MTV.
The collaboration with Phil Collins also continued. The next album, August (1986), leaned even further into the glossy sound of the decade and produced several well-known singles. By that point Clapton had firmly entered a new phase of his career: less the fiery guitar hero of the 1960s, and more the seasoned artist navigating the changing landscape of popular music.