Mad Dogs and Englishmen (song) Mad Dogs and Englishmen (song) "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is a song written by Noël Coward and first performed in "The Third Little Show" at the Music Box Theatre, New York, on 1 June 1931, by Beatrice Lillie. The following year it was used in the revue "Words and Music" and also released in a "studio version". It then became a signature feature in Coward's cabaret act. The song is especially known for the line "Only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun" with which most verses begin and end. According to Sheridan Morley, Coward wrote the
Derek and the Dominos Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour with Leon Russell, but Whitlock remained with the Bramletts for a short time. In April 1970, at the suggestion of his friend and mentor Steve Cropper, Whitlock travelled to England to visit Clapton.<ref name="Harris/Mojo p 70">Harris, p. 70.</ref> Whitlock subsequently lived in Hurtwood Edge, Clapton's house in Surrey, where the two musicians would jam and, on acoustic guitars, began writing the bulk of the Dominos' catalogue.<ref name="Sutcliffe/Mojo"> Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).</ref> Many of these songs reflected Clapton's growing infatuation with Pattie Boyd, the wife of his best friend, George Harrison,<ref name="Layla40/Goldmine"></ref> who