oh, i would have to go with #3...
To be fair, by '73, and since Dreadnut mentioned Clapton, the whole world was goin' a little crazy:
Al, I write the songs that make the whole world sing...
imagine, having that arrogance when you wake up in the morning
Hey it's hard to be humble when you're all over television 24/7:
"...he began work as a commercial jingle writer, which continued well into the 1970s. Many of the TV jingles he wrote and/or composed he would also perform, including State Farm Insurance ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") or Band-Aid ("I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me!"), for which he adopted a childlike voice and wrote the music (Donald B Wood wrote the lyrics). His singing-only credits include commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, and Dr Pepper.[16] Manilow won two Clio Awards in 1976 for his work for Tab and Band-Aid"
By age 18, Duane was a studio musician in Atlanta. The rest is history. In my humble opinion, Duane Allman was even better than Eric Clapton, and he only lived to be 23 years old.
Dread, dumb question maybe, but you
are aware that Clapton might very well have felt that way too?:
From Wiki's
"Layla" page:
"A serendipitous event brought Clapton and guitarist Duane Allman together shortly after the Dominos had begun recording at Criteria Studios in August 1970. Veteran producer Tom Dowd was working on the Allman Brothers second album, Idlewild South, when the studio received a phone call that Clapton was bringing the Dominos to Miami to record. Upon hearing this, Allman indicated that he would love to drop by and watch, if Clapton approved.
Allman later called Dowd to let him know that his band was in town to perform a benefit concert on 26 August.
When Clapton learned of this from Dowd he insisted on going to see their show, saying, 'You mean that guy who plays on the back of (Wilson Pickett's) 'Hey Jude'? … I want to see him play … let's go.' Clapton and company managed to sit in front of the barricade separating the audience from the stage. When they sat down, Allman was playing a solo. As he turned around and opened his eyes and saw Clapton, he froze. Dickey Betts, the Allmans' other lead guitarist, took up where Allman left off, but when he followed Allman's eyes to Clapton, he had to turn his back to keep from freezing, himself.[6]
After the show, Allman asked if he could come by the studio to watch some recording sessions, but Clapton invited him there directly, saying: "Bring your guitar; you got to play!" Overnight, the two bonded; Dowd reported that they "were trading licks, they were swapping guitars, they were talking shop and information and having a ball – no holds barred, just admiration for each other's technique and facility."[7] Clapton wrote later in his autobiography that he and Allman were inseparable during the sessions in Florida; he talked about Allman as the 'musical brother I'd never had but wished I did'.[8]"