Originally, lead guitarist Duane Allman – who would go on to be a star guest on the LP – wasn’t part of the original recording plans but when Clapton checked out the guitarist’s live show nearby he was promptly invited to take part in the sessions (“The musical brother that I never had, but wished I did” explained Clapton). The material was honed on a short three-week summer tour in 1970 of small British clubs before the band travelled to Criteria Studios in Miami to lay down the album with producer Tom Dowd. Bluesy power ballad I Looked Away is lifted by delicate fills before catching fire in its final third with powerhouse soloing and the doubletracked guitars on the wracked Bell Bottom Blues impress, set against Clapton’s pain-wracked vocals.Ĭlapton penned the bulk of these songs in just a fortnight with Dominos’ keyboardist and former member of Delaney & Bonnie And Friends, Bobby Whitlock – six of the nine original on the album that feature alongside its five covers. Now, of course, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs is considered a classic rock staple even if the main body of the album lives slightly in the shadow of its imperious title track. At the time, Clapton was tortured by his infatuation with George Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd – this is essentially a concept album about that love triangle as Slowhand worked through his conflicted pain in public. The album’s backstory is equally legendary.
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Quite why the music papers of the day couldn’t get the message out to fans nevertheless remains a headscratcher. Clapton’s post-Cream and Blind Faith decision to bury himself in anonymity certainly didn’t aid its promotion as the identity of ‘Derek’ flew over the heads of vast swathes of 1970’s record-buying public. It’s rare that a legendary album starts life as an under-the-radar flop, but that’s just one of many remarkable factors about this record.
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This new boxset also includes a 12×12” book of sleevenotes taken from the 40 th anniversary edition.įor this 2020 incarnation, we have the original album, outtakes from the original sessions, performances on Johnny Cash’s TV show from 5 November 1970, their Phil Spector-helmed debut single and April/May 1971 works-in-progress for an aborted second album with producer Andy Johns. It’s always been a dense sonic mix – the album’s multi-tracked guitars the obvious highlight – and this new version by Miles Showell at Abbey Road brings the most clarity to date to its individual instrumentation. Having said that, Layla… is less well served on vinyl and this latest 4LP boxset tangibly has the edge on its predecessors. A 40 th anniversary deluxe edition in 2021 also rifled extensively through the album’s store cupboard.
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There have already been at least seven separate reboots of the album on CD including 1990’s The Layla Sessions: 20th Anniversary Edition, which expanded it to a 3CD set complete with two extra discs of unused, alternate and incomplete masters of the original songs plus studio jamming. Now returning in a new half-speed remastered form to mark its 50 th anniversary, the story of Derek And The Dominos’ debut album Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs keeps on growing with every incarnation.Īs a reissue project, we’re obviously not in unchartered waters here.