Produced by Phil Spector, this original, faster version of the song featured guitar contributions from Harrison and Dave Mason.
[4] "Tell the Truth" was recorded on 18 June 1970[5] as the first original song by what became Derek and the Dominos:[6] Clapton, Whitlock, drummer Jim Gordon and bassist Carl Radle.
[9][10] Four days before the session, Derek and the Dominos, with Dave Mason as second guitarist,[11] had played "Tell the Truth" at their debut concert, held at London's Lyceum Ballroom.
[12] The session for the song and for the Clapton–Whitlock collaboration "Roll It Over" took place at Apple Studio in central London, with the intention being to issue the tracks as the A- and B-sides of the group's first single.
In Spector's production, the lyrics and the voices of Clapton and Whitlock flew by in meaningless garble: the song lost its insight and sense of humor.
[18] With Allman's slide guitar providing a counterpoint to the melody played by Whitlock and Clapton, Dowd and the band were finally satisfied with the song.
Clapton subsequently called Robert Stigwood, record executive of RSO, and told him not to issue the original version of "Tell the Truth" as a single.
In the Live from Madison Square Garden concert of 2008, with Steve Winwood, there is no slide guitar but Clapton plays a longer solo than what was originally recorded in the studio.