Bell-bottoms are trousers that become wider from the knees downward. Related styles include flare, loon pants and boot-cut/leg trousers. Hip-huggers are bell-bottomed, flare, or boot-cut pants that are fitted tightly around the hips and thighs.

Bell-bottoms' precise origins are uncertain. In the early 19th century, very wide trousers ending in a bell began to be worn in the U.S. Navy; however, at this time clothing varied from ship to ship. In one of the first recorded descriptions of sailors' uniforms, Commodore Stephen Decatur wrote in 1813 that the men on the frigates United States and Macedonia were wearing "glazed canvas hats with stiff brims, decked with streamers of ribbon, blue jackets buttoned loosely over waistcoats and blue trousers with bell bottoms." Though the British Royal Navy usually was the leader in nautical fashion, bell-bottoms did not become regulation wear for the Royal Navy until the mid-19th century. These "bell-bottoms" were often just very wide-legged trousers, unlike modern versions cut with a distinct bell. While many reasons to explain sailors' wearing of this style have been cited over the years, most theories have little credibility because there is no reliable documentation.

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

Robert Stanley 'Bobby' Whitlock (born 18 March 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a songwriter and performer, best known as a member of Derek and the Dominos.

Most notably known for his involvement with "Derek & The Dominos" co-founder and co-writer of many of the songs that appear on "Layla and other Assorted Love Songs". Raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Whitlock began his musical career while still a teenager at Stax, his first recording was hand claps on Sam & Dave's "I Thank You." Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper were readying the very talented young Whitlock for pop success when Delaney & Bonnie, heard Whitlock perform at a club and invited him to join them in California and record on their record Home. in early 1970. His friendship with Clapton began when Whitlock was touring with Delaney & Bonnie, along with Carl Radle and Jim Gordon, whom Clapton admired greatly.

After the other band members left to join Mad Dogs and Englishmen with Joe Cocker, Whitlock collaborated with Eric Clapton in England. They played sessions together, most notably on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, where Whitlock and Clapton sang background (as the "O'Hara Smith Singers"). Whitlock remained uncredited on certain tracks of All Things Must Pass, where he played pump organ (Harmonium), Electric Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, tubular bells and piano on various songs.