Layla
Encyclopedia
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton
and Jim Gordon
, originally released by their blues-rock
band, Derek and the Dominos
, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
(December 1970). It is considered one of rock music's definitive love song
s, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure
played by Eric Clapton
and Duane Allman
, and a piano coda
that comprises the second half of the song. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.
Inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love
for Pattie Boyd
, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison
, "Layla" was unsuccessful on its initial release. The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim, and is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time. Two versions have achieved chart success, the first in 1972 and the second twenty years later as an acoustic "Unplugged
" performance. In 2004 it was ranked #27 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
", and the acoustic version won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
.
married Pattie Boyd
, a model he met during the filming of A Hard Day's Night
. During the late 1960s, Clapton and Harrison became close friends. Clapton contributed uncredited guitar work on Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps
" on The Beatles
' White Album, and Harrison co-wrote and played guitar pseudonym
ously (as L'Angelo Misterioso) on Cream
's "Badge
" from Goodbye. However, trouble was brewing for Clapton. Between his tenures in Cream and Blind Faith
, in his words, "something else quite unexpected was happening: I was falling in love with Pattie."
The title, "Layla," was inspired by The Story of Layla / Layla and Majnun
(ليلى و مجنون), by the 12th-century Persian
poet Nizami Ganjavi of the Ganja
(present day Azerbaijan
) Seljuq empire. It is based on the true story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح) from the northern Arabian Peninsula
, in the Umayyad Caliphate during the 7th century. When he wrote "Layla," Clapton had been told the story by his friend Ian Dallas, who was in the process of converting to Islam
. Nizami's tale, about a moon princess who was married off by her father to someone other than the one who was desperately in love with her, resulting in Majnun's madness (A name, مجنون, which translates to "madman" in Arabic), struck a deep chord with Clapton.
According to Boyd, Clapton played the song for her at a party, and later that same evening confessed to George that he was in love with his wife. The revelation caused no small upset among the three of them, but Pattie and George remained married for several more years, and Harrison and Clapton retained their close friendship with no apparent signs of damage.
Boyd divorced Harrison in 1974 and married Clapton in 1979 during a concert stop in Tucson, Arizona
. Harrison was not bitter about the divorce and attended Clapton's wedding party with Ringo Starr
and Paul McCartney
. During their relationship, Clapton wrote another love ballad for Pattie called "Wonderful Tonight
" (1977). Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 after several years of separation.
, Clapton tried his hand with several groups, including Blind Faith
and the husband-and-wife duo Delaney and Bonnie. In the spring of 1970, he was told that Delaney and Bonnie's backup band, consisting of bassist Carl Radle
, drummer Jim Gordon
, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock
, was leaving the group. Seizing the opportunity, Clapton formed a new group, which became Derek and the Dominos.
In mid-to-late 1970, Duane Allman
joined Clapton's fledgling band as a guest. Clapton and Allman, already mutual fans, were introduced at an Allman Brothers concert by Tom Dowd
. The two hit it off well and soon became good friends. Dowd said of their guitar-playing chemistry: "There had to be some sort of telepathy going on because I've never seen spontaneous inspiration happen at that rate and level. One of them would play something, and the other reacted instantaneously. Never once did either of them have to say, 'Could you play that again, please?' It was like two hands in a glove. And they got tremendously off on playing with each other." Dowd was already famous for a variety of work 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. For the making of his biographical film Tom Dowd and the Language of Music, he remixed the original master tapes of "Layla," saying, "There are my principles, in one form or another."
Clapton originally wrote "Layla" as a ballad, with lyrics describing his unrequited love
for Pattie Boyd, but the song became a "rocker" when Allman reportedly helped compose the song's signature riff
. With the band assembled and Dowd producing, "Layla" was recorded in its original form. The recording consisted of six guitar tracks: a rhythm track by Clapton, three tracks of harmonies played by Clapton against the main riff, a track of slide guitar
by Allman, and one track with both Allman and Clapton playing duplicate solos.
Shortly afterward, Clapton returned to the studio, where he heard Gordon playing a piano piece he had composed separately. Clapton, impressed by the piece, convinced Gordon to allow it to be used as part of the song. "Layla's" second movement was recorded roughly a week after the first, with Gordon playing his piano part, Clapton playing acoustic guitar
and slide guitar, and Allman playing electric and bottleneck slide guitar. After Dowd spliced the two movements together, "Layla" was complete.
Due to the circumstances of its composition, "Layla" is defined by two movements
, each marked by a riff. The first movement, which was recorded in the key
of D minor
for choruses and E major
for verses, is centred around the "signature riff", a guitar piece utilising hammer-on
s, pull-off
s, and power chord
s. The second part of the riff is commonly believed to have originated from Allman, an adaptation of the vocal melody from Albert King
's "As the Years Go Passing By" from 1967's album Born Under a Bad Sign
. The first section contains the overdub
-heavy guitar solo, a duet of sorts between Allman's slide guitar and Clapton's bent notes. By placing his slide at points beyond the end of the fretboard, Allman was able to play notes at a higher pitch than could be played with standard technique. Dowd referred to this as "notes that aren't on the instrument!"
The second movement, Jim Gordon's contribution, is commonly referred to as the "piano coda
." Originally played in C major
, the tape speed of the coda was increased during mixing. The resulting pitch is somewhere between C and C sharp. The piano interlude
at the end of the song is augmented by an acoustic guitar, and is also the accompaniment to the outro-solo. The same melody is played on Allman's slide guitar, albeit one octave higher. Gordon does not improvise or deviate from the piano part; Clapton and Allman are the ones who improvise the melody. The song ends with Allman playing his signature high-pitched "bird call" on his slide guitar.
As Clapton commented on his signature song:
Or, as his inspiration, Pattie Boyd, once said, "I think that he was amazingly raw at the time... He's such an incredible musician that he's able to put his emotions into music in such a way that the audience can feel it instinctively. It goes right through you."
(US). It peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100
.
When "Layla" was re-released on the 1972 compilation The History of Eric Clapton
and then released as a single, it charted at #7 in the UK and #10 in the US. In 1982 "Layla" was re-released as a single in the UK, and peaked at #4. This time the whole 7 minute single charted, containing the trailing two-thirds which is instrumental
only.
Critical opinion since has been overwhelmingly positive. Dave Marsh
, in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, wrote that "there are few moments in the repertoire of recorded rock where a singer or writer has reached so deeply into himself that the effect of hearing them is akin to witnessing a murder or a suicide... to me 'Layla' is the greatest of them." Marsh listed "Layla" at #156 in his The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.
In May 1980 it was covered by the London Symphony Orchestra
, but without the lyrics, being recorded at EMI
Studio One, Abbey Road
, London. A similar version has been performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
.
On 20 September 1983 a benefit show called the ARMS Charity Concert
for Multiple Sclerosis at the Royal Albert Hall
in London featured a jam with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck
, and Jimmy Page
performing "Layla" and "Tulsa Time". Clapton, Beck, and Page were the Yardbirds
' successive lead guitarists from 1963 to 1968.
In 1992 Clapton was invited to play for the MTV Unplugged
series. His subsequent album, Unplugged
, featured a number of blues standards and his new "Tears in Heaven
." It also featured an "unplugged" version of "Layla". The new arrangement slowed down and reworked the original riff and dispensed with the piano coda. Clapton introduced this version to the unsuspecting live audience by stating "See if you can spot this one." This version climbed to #12 on the US pop chart, but failed to chart in Britain. In 1992 it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
, beating out "Smells Like Teen Spirit
" by Nirvana
, one of the ten biggest upsets in Grammy history, according to Entertainment Weekly
.
In 2003 the Allman Brothers Band began playing the song in concert. Warren Haynes
sang the vocal, Gregg Allman played the piano part, and Derek Trucks
played Duane Allman's guitar parts during the coda. The performances were seen as a tribute not only to Allman, but also to producer Tom Dowd, who had died the previous year.
as one of their "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", and Rolling Stone ranked the song at #27 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
". "Layla" was ranked #16 on VH1
's "100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll", while Clapton's and Allman's guitar solos earned "Layla" a spot on Guitar World
s list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" at #14. The song's familiar guitar riff was featured on a series of British TV
adverts for Vauxhall
cars, while the extended piano coda was featured prominently in Martin Scorsese
's film Goodfellas
. Covers have been fairly rare, including John Fahey
's cover on his 1984 album Let Go
, a cover by session musician and smooth jazz guitarist Larry Carlton
, a cover by Les Fradkin
on his "Hyper MIDI Guitar" album in 2010, and a cover by Impulsia from their debut album Expressions in 2009. Part of the song was included in a remix by American shred guitarist Michael Angelo Batio
called "Clapton Is God" in his 2009 album Hands Without Shadows 2 – Voices.
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, 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...
and Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon (musician)
James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
, originally released by their blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
band, Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos were a blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon, who had all played with Clapton in Delaney, Bonnie & Friends...
, as the thirteenth track from their album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
(December 1970). It is considered one of rock music's definitive love song
Love song
A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...
s, featuring an unmistakable guitar figure
Figure (music)
A musical figure is the shortest idea in music, a short succession of notes, often recurring. It may have melodic pitch, harmonic progression and rhythmic . The 1964 Grove's Dictionary defines the figure as "the exact counterpart of the German 'motiv' and the French 'motif'": it produces a "single...
played by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, 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...
and Duane Allman
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
, and a piano coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
that comprises the second half of the song. Its famously contrasting movements were composed separately by Clapton and Gordon.
Inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love
Unrequited love
Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...
for Pattie Boyd
Pattie Boyd
Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd is an English model and photographer, and the former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton...
, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, "Layla" was unsuccessful on its initial release. The song has since experienced great critical and popular acclaim, and is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time. Two versions have achieved chart success, the first in 1972 and the second twenty years later as an acoustic "Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
" performance. In 2004 it was ranked #27 on Rolling Stones list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
", and the acoustic version won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
.
Background
In 1966 George HarrisonGeorge Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
married Pattie Boyd
Pattie Boyd
Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd is an English model and photographer, and the former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton...
, a model he met during the filming of A Hard Day's Night
A Hard Day's Night (film)
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
. During the late 1960s, Clapton and Harrison became close friends. Clapton contributed uncredited guitar work on Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song by George Harrison, first recorded by The Beatles in 1968 for their eponymous double album...
" on The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' White Album, and Harrison co-wrote and played guitar pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
ously (as L'Angelo Misterioso) on Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
's "Badge
Badge (song)
"Badge" is a song performed by Cream, written by Eric Clapton and George Harrison. It was included as a track on Cream's final album, Goodbye. Peaking at number 60 on Billboard's Hot 100, "Badge" was a minor hit after its release as a single in April 1969...
" from Goodbye. However, trouble was brewing for Clapton. Between his tenures in Cream and Blind Faith
Blind Faith
Blind Faith were an English blues-rock band that consisted of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. The band, which was one of the first "super-groups", released their only album, Blind Faith, in August 1969...
, in his words, "something else quite unexpected was happening: I was falling in love with Pattie."
The title, "Layla," was inspired by The Story of Layla / Layla and Majnun
Layla and Majnun
Layla and Majnun, also known as The Madman and Layla – in Arabic مجنون ليلى or قيس وليلى , in , Leyli və Məcnun in Azeri, Leyla ile Mecnun in Turkish, in Urdu and Hindi – is a classical Arab story, popularized by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi's...
(ليلى و مجنون), by the 12th-century Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
poet Nizami Ganjavi of the Ganja
Ganja
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
(present day Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
) Seljuq empire. It is based on the true story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح) from the northern Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
, in the Umayyad Caliphate during the 7th century. When he wrote "Layla," Clapton had been told the story by his friend Ian Dallas, who was in the process of converting to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Nizami's tale, about a moon princess who was married off by her father to someone other than the one who was desperately in love with her, resulting in Majnun's madness (A name, مجنون, which translates to "madman" in Arabic), struck a deep chord with Clapton.
According to Boyd, Clapton played the song for her at a party, and later that same evening confessed to George that he was in love with his wife. The revelation caused no small upset among the three of them, but Pattie and George remained married for several more years, and Harrison and Clapton retained their close friendship with no apparent signs of damage.
Boyd divorced Harrison in 1974 and married Clapton in 1979 during a concert stop in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. Harrison was not bitter about the divorce and attended Clapton's wedding party with Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. During their relationship, Clapton wrote another love ballad for Pattie called "Wonderful Tonight
Wonderful Tonight
"Wonderful Tonight" is a song written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand and released as a single the following year. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, and it is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me...
" (1977). Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989 after several years of separation.
Writing and recording
After the breakup of CreamCream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Clapton tried his hand with several groups, including Blind Faith
Blind Faith
Blind Faith were an English blues-rock band that consisted of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. The band, which was one of the first "super-groups", released their only album, Blind Faith, in August 1969...
and the husband-and-wife duo Delaney and Bonnie. In the spring of 1970, he was told that Delaney and Bonnie's backup band, consisting of bassist Carl Radle
Carl Radle
Carl Dean Radle was a bass guitarist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s...
, drummer Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon (musician)
James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock
Bobby Whitlock
Robert Stanley 'Bobby' Whitlock is a songwriter and performer, best known as a member of Derek and the Dominos.- Biography :...
, was leaving the group. Seizing the opportunity, Clapton formed a new group, which became Derek and the Dominos.
In mid-to-late 1970, Duane Allman
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
joined Clapton's fledgling band as a guest. Clapton and Allman, already mutual fans, were introduced at an Allman Brothers concert by Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
. The two hit it off well and soon became good friends. Dowd said of their guitar-playing chemistry: "There had to be some sort of telepathy going on because I've never seen spontaneous inspiration happen at that rate and level. One of them would play something, and the other reacted instantaneously. Never once did either of them have to say, 'Could you play that again, please?' It was like two hands in a glove. And they got tremendously off on playing with each other." Dowd was already famous for a variety of work 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. For the making of his biographical film Tom Dowd and the Language of Music, he remixed the original master tapes of "Layla," saying, "There are my principles, in one form or another."
Clapton originally wrote "Layla" as a ballad, with lyrics describing his unrequited love
Unrequited love
Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...
for Pattie Boyd, but the song became a "rocker" when Allman reportedly helped compose the song's signature riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
. With the band assembled and Dowd producing, "Layla" was recorded in its original form. The recording consisted of six guitar tracks: a rhythm track by Clapton, three tracks of harmonies played by Clapton against the main riff, a track of slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
by Allman, and one track with both Allman and Clapton playing duplicate solos.
Shortly afterward, Clapton returned to the studio, where he heard Gordon playing a piano piece he had composed separately. Clapton, impressed by the piece, convinced Gordon to allow it to be used as part of the song. "Layla's" second movement was recorded roughly a week after the first, with Gordon playing his piano part, Clapton playing acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and slide guitar, and Allman playing electric and bottleneck slide guitar. After Dowd spliced the two movements together, "Layla" was complete.
Due to the circumstances of its composition, "Layla" is defined by two movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
, each marked by a riff. The first movement, which was recorded in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
for choruses and E major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
for verses, is centred around the "signature riff", a guitar piece utilising hammer-on
Hammer-on
Hammer-on is a stringed instrument playing technique performed by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off...
s, pull-off
Pull-off
A pull-off is a stringed instrument technique performed by plucking a string by "pulling" the string off the fingerboard with one of the fingers being used to fret the note.-Performance and effect:...
s, and power chord
Power chord
In music, a power chord is a chord consisting of only the root note of the chord and the fifth interval, usually played on electric guitar, and typically through an amplification process that imparts distortion...
s. The second part of the riff is commonly believed to have originated from Allman, an adaptation of the vocal melody from Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
's "As the Years Go Passing By" from 1967's album Born Under a Bad Sign
Born Under a Bad Sign
-Album reissues:In 1998 Sundazed Records reissued the album with two additional bonus tracks, namely the rare mono single sides "Funk-Shun" and "Overall Junction", both written by Albert King...
. The first section contains the overdub
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
-heavy guitar solo, a duet of sorts between Allman's slide guitar and Clapton's bent notes. By placing his slide at points beyond the end of the fretboard, Allman was able to play notes at a higher pitch than could be played with standard technique. Dowd referred to this as "notes that aren't on the instrument!"
The second movement, Jim Gordon's contribution, is commonly referred to as the "piano coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
." Originally played in C major
C major
C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....
, the tape speed of the coda was increased during mixing. The resulting pitch is somewhere between C and C sharp. The piano interlude
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....
at the end of the song is augmented by an acoustic guitar, and is also the accompaniment to the outro-solo. The same melody is played on Allman's slide guitar, albeit one octave higher. Gordon does not improvise or deviate from the piano part; Clapton and Allman are the ones who improvise the melody. The song ends with Allman playing his signature high-pitched "bird call" on his slide guitar.
As Clapton commented on his signature song:
Or, as his inspiration, Pattie Boyd, once said, "I think that he was amazingly raw at the time... He's such an incredible musician that he's able to put his emotions into music in such a way that the audience can feel it instinctively. It goes right through you."
Personnel
- Duane AllmanDuane AllmanHoward Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
– slideSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, 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...
– lead guitar, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, slide guitar, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, lead vocals - Jim GordonJim Gordon (musician)James Beck "Jim" Gordon is an American recording artist, musician and songwriter. The Grammy Award winner was one of the most requested session drummers in the late 1960s and 1970s, recording albums with many well-known musicians of the time, and was the drummer in the blues-rock supergroup Derek...
– drums, percussion, piano - Carl RadleCarl RadleCarl Dean Radle was a bass guitarist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Bobby WhitlockBobby WhitlockRobert Stanley 'Bobby' Whitlock is a songwriter and performer, best known as a member of Derek and the Dominos.- Biography :...
– organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, background vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
Beyond the original album
The album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs opened to lacklustre sales (the album never reached the charts in Britain), possibly in part because Clapton's name was found only on the back cover. In addition, the song's length proved prohibitive for radio airplay; as a result an edited version of the song, trimmed to 2:43, was released as a single in March 1971 by Atco RecordsAtco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
(US). It peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
When "Layla" was re-released on the 1972 compilation The History of Eric Clapton
The History of Eric Clapton
The History of Eric Clapton is a compilation double LP, released in 1972 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom, and Atco Records in the United States. It features Eric Clapton performing in various bands between 1964 and 1970, including The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos...
and then released as a single, it charted at #7 in the UK and #10 in the US. In 1982 "Layla" was re-released as a single in the UK, and peaked at #4. This time the whole 7 minute single charted, containing the trailing two-thirds which is instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
only.
Critical opinion since has been overwhelmingly positive. Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
, in The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, wrote that "there are few moments in the repertoire of recorded rock where a singer or writer has reached so deeply into himself that the effect of hearing them is akin to witnessing a murder or a suicide... to me 'Layla' is the greatest of them." Marsh listed "Layla" at #156 in his The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.
In May 1980 it was covered by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, but without the lyrics, being recorded at EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
Studio One, Abbey Road
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London. A similar version has been performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
.
On 20 September 1983 a benefit show called the ARMS Charity Concert
ARMS Charity Concert
The ARMS Charity Concerts were a series of charitable rock concerts in support of Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis in 1983. The first event took place at the Royal Albert Hall on September 21, 1983, with subsequent dates occurring in the United States, with slightly different lineups of...
for Multiple Sclerosis at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in London featured a jam with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, and Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
performing "Layla" and "Tulsa Time". Clapton, Beck, and Page were the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
' successive lead guitarists from 1963 to 1968.
In 1992 Clapton was invited to play for the MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
series. His subsequent album, Unplugged
Unplugged (Eric Clapton album)
Unplugged is a live album by Eric Clapton released in 1992. It was recorded live in England for the MTV Unplugged series and includes both the hit single "Tears in Heaven" and a heavily reworked acoustic version of "Layla"....
, featured a number of blues standards and his new "Tears in Heaven
Tears in Heaven
"Tears in Heaven" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings about the pain and loss Clapton felt following the death of his four-year-old son, Conor. Conor fell from a window of the 53rd-floor New York apartment of his mother's friend on March 20, 1991. Clapton, who arrived at the...
." It also featured an "unplugged" version of "Layla". The new arrangement slowed down and reworked the original riff and dispensed with the piano coda. Clapton introduced this version to the unsuspecting live audience by stating "See if you can spot this one." This version climbed to #12 on the US pop chart, but failed to chart in Britain. In 1992 it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
, beating out "Smells Like Teen Spirit
Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American grunge band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind , released on DGC Records...
" by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, one of the ten biggest upsets in Grammy history, according to Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
.
In 2003 the Allman Brothers Band began playing the song in concert. Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
sang the vocal, Gregg Allman played the piano part, and Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
played Duane Allman's guitar parts during the coda. The performances were seen as a tribute not only to Allman, but also to producer Tom Dowd, who had died the previous year.
Personnel (Unplugged version)
- Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, 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...
– acoustic lead guitar, lead vocals - Ray CooperRay CooperRay Cooper is an English musician. He is a session and road-tour percussionist, and occasional actor, who has worked with several musically diverse bands and artists including George Harrison, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. Cooper is commonly regarded by music fans, critics and fellow...
– percussion - Nathan EastNathan EastNathan Harrell East is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego...
– acoustic bass guitar, background vocals - Andy Fairweather-LowAndy Fairweather-LowAndrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band, Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.-Early career:Fairweather Low first found fame as a...
– acoustic rhythm guitar - Steve FerroneSteve FerroneSteven "Steve" Ferrone is a British drummer.He was a member of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Scritti Politti...
– drums - Katie KissoonMac and Katie KissoonMac and Katie Kissoon is a male / female vocal duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon and Katie Kissoon...
– background vocals - Chuck LeavellChuck LeavellChuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
– piano - Tessa NilesTessa NilesTessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of artists.-Early life and career:Born in Kent, Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979...
– background vocals
Legacy
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the song had become iconic, and it is featured on a number of "greatest ever" lists. The song was chosen by the Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
as one of their "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", and Rolling Stone ranked the song at #27 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
". "Layla" was ranked #16 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's "100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll", while Clapton's and Allman's guitar solos earned "Layla" a spot on Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
s list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" at #14. The song's familiar guitar riff was featured on a series of British TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
adverts for Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
cars, while the extended piano coda was featured prominently in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's film Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
. Covers have been fairly rare, including John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
's cover on his 1984 album Let Go
Let Go (John Fahey album)
Let Go is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1984. It was his first release on the Varrick label after over 25 years on his own label Takoma, as well as a few releases on other labels.-History:...
, a cover by session musician and smooth jazz guitarist Larry Carlton
Larry Carlton
Larry Carlton is an American jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, pop, and rock guitarist and singer. He has divided his recording time between solo recordings and session appearances with various well-known bands...
, a cover by Les Fradkin
Les Fradkin
Les Fradkin is a guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known for being a member of the original cast of the hit Broadway show Beatlemania...
on his "Hyper MIDI Guitar" album in 2010, and a cover by Impulsia from their debut album Expressions in 2009. Part of the song was included in a remix by American shred guitarist Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Angelo Batio also known as Mike Batio or MAB, is a guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. His work has encompassed many genres, notably metal and its subgenres. Batio was voted the "No. 1 Shredder of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine in 2003...
called "Clapton Is God" in his 2009 album Hands Without Shadows 2 – Voices.
Chart performance
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 100 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 9 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Polish Singles Chart | 10 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
External links
- [ Allmusic's review of "Layla]
- Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel
- "Layla" lyrics
- "Reason to Rock" review