Eric Clapton in his personal life, which was troubled by romantic longings and drug and alcohol addiction. He became infatuated with Pattie Boyd, who at the time was married to close friend George Harrison, and withdrew from recording and touring to isolation in his Surrey residence as the band broke up. There he nursed a heroin addiction, which resulted in a lengthy career hiatus interrupted only by the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 (where he passed out on stage, was revived, and managed to finish his performance). In January 1973, the Who's Pete Townshend organised a comeback concert for Clapton at
Eric Clapton and members of the Rolling Stones, Winwood, Starr, and others. Despite the superstar line up, critic Cub Koda noted: "Even Eric Clapton, who usually welcomes any chance to play with one of his idols, has criticized this album repeatedly in interviews, which speaks volumes in and of itself." Other noted recordings from this period include Clapton's guitar work on "Go Back Home" from Stephen Stills' self-titled first solo album. With the intention of counteracting the "star" cult faction that had begun to form around him, Clapton assembled a new band composed of Delaney and Bonnie's former rhythm section, Bobby Whitlock