![]() Dowd was already famous for a variety of work (including Aretha Franklin's cover of " Respect"), and had worked with Clapton in his Cream days (Clapton once called him "the ideal recording man") his work on the album would be another achievement. The two hit it off well and soon became good friends. Clapton and Allman, already mutual fans, were introduced at an Allman Brothers concert by Tom Dowd. ![]() In mid-to-late 1970 Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band joined Clapton's fledgling band as a guest. Seizing the opportunity, Clapton formed a new group, Derek and the Dominos. In the spring of 1970, he was told that Delaney and Bonnie's backup band ( bassist Carl Radle, drummer Jim Gordon, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock) was leaving the group. In an interview with Songfacts, Bobby Whitlock, who was a member of Derek and the Dominos and good friends with both Harrison and Clapton, explains the situation between Clapton and Pattie around the time he wrote Layla:Īfter the breakup of Cream, Clapton tried his hand with several artists, including Blind Faith and a husband and wife duo, Delaney and Bonnie. Boyd currently lives with the property developer Rod Weston. Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 after several years of separation. Their marriage later developed difficulties over Clapton's alcoholism and his extramarital affair with Yvonne Khan Kelly, and in 1985 he left Boyd altogether for Italian model Lori del Santo, with whom he had a child. During their marriage, Clapton wrote another love ballad for her, " Wonderful Tonight". Harrison was not bitter about the divorce and attended Clapton's wedding with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Nezami's tale, about a moon-princess who was married off by her father to someone other than the man who was desperately in love with her, resulting in his madness (in Persian, Majnun, مجنون, means "madman"), struck a deep chord with Clapton.īoyd divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979. When he wrote "Layla", Clapton had recently been given a copy of the story by a friend (reportedly Ian Dallas) who was in the process of converting to Islam. The title, "Layla", was inspired by a love story, The Story of Layla / Layla and Majnun (ليلى ومجنون), by the Persian classical poet Nezami. His supergroups Cream and Blind Faith had broken apart, his growing drug use would lead to a life-threatening heroin addiction, and, when Boyd came to Clapton for aid during marital troubles, Clapton fell desperately in love with her. However, trouble was brewing for Clapton. Clapton contributed guitar work on Harrison's song " While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on The Beatles's White Album, and Harrison played guitar pseudonymously on Cream's " Badge" from Goodbye. During the late 1960s, Clapton and Harrison, as two of the top English guitarists of the day, became firm friends. In 1966, George Harrison married Pattie Boyd, a model he met during the filming of A Hard Day's Night. Two versions have achieved chart success, first in 1972 and again twenty years later. The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim. Inspired by Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, "Layla" was unsuccessful on its initial release. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Jim Gordon. It is considered one of rock music's definitive love songs, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure, played by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, as lead-in. " Layla" is the title track on the Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, released in December 1970. (It was written, with Will Jennings, about Clapton’s pain and suffering after the death of his four-year-old son Conor.) Timeless means timeless.From the album Layla and Other Assorted Love SongsĬriteria Studios, Miami, August–September 1970 The acoustic reworking of “Layla” remains the centerpiece of the original disc, with “Tears in Heaven” (originally recorded for the Rush soundtrack) the emotionally resonant timepiece. ![]() ![]() This expands a great album, where there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. A cover of Big Maceo Merriweather’s “Worried Life Blues” and alternate takes of Jerry Lynn Williams’ “Running on Faith” and Robert Johnson’s “Walkin’ Blues” fill out the extras. Early versions of “Circus” and “My Father’s Eyes” (in two takes) precede their appearance on 1998’s Pilgrim. In 2013, Eric Clapton, touring in celebration of his 50th year as a professional musician, released a remastered version of Unplugged, including an essential deluxe version that adds six bonus tracks, rehearsals, and several songs not featured on the original album. 1992’s Unplugged sold more than 19 million copies worldwide and won six GRAMMY® Awards, including Record the Year and Album of the Year.
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