Layla Acoustic

How “Layla” Came About

In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison became good friends. Harrison was married to model Patti Boyd and as Clapton’s bands (Blind Faith and Cream) were falling apart, Harrison and Boyd were having marriage issues. Patti Boyd went to Clapton for help during her crisis and he fell deeply in love with her.

“Layla” is inspired by The Story of Layla/Layla and Majnun by the poet Nezami. In the story, a princess is married off by her father to someone other than the man she knew was in love with her. The man slowly spiraled into insanity.

Patti Boyd divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979. Clapton wrote another love song for Boyd called “Wonderful Tonight”. But they too divorced in 1989 because of Clapton’s extra marital affair and worsening alcoholism. Out of a rocky marriage came two of music’s best known love song melodies.

A Hard Song to Play

According to Eric Clapton, any version of "Layla" is "a difficult one, because it’s a difficult song to perform live. You have to have a good complement of musicians to get all the ingredients going…” (Eric Clapton - The Mike Hrano Interview)

There are two “riffs” in the song. The first is the guitar piece which alternates between two keys, one for the verses and one for the choruses. The second riff is the piano portion which climbs between C and C#.

But despite being a hard song to play, you can hear Clapton’s complexity in "Layla's" acoustic version. Patti Boyd said about the song, “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." (CNN.com Patti Boyd Article)

Popular After the Fact

The 1970 album which included “Layla” didn’t sell very well. It didn’t chart in the UK and just seemed to be another album from another British band. The seven minute song was edited down to two-and-a-half minutes, but still didn’t hit higher than #51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Layla” was released in 1972 as a single with better success in Great Britain and the U.S. and hit an emotional chord with audiences to make it a song that is on almost every list about Rock-n-Roll ever compiled.

In 1992, Eric Clapton played on MTV’s Unplugged, creating "Layla's" acoustic version that was slower and got rid of the piano riff from the original. The “Layla” acoustic did fairly well in the U.S. (topping at #12), but didn’t fair so well in the UK, not charting at all. This version would win the Grammy for Best Rock Song, edging out “Smell’s Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.

"Layla's" Acoustic Version Today

“Layla” is hardly covered. John Fahey did it on his album Let Go, and jazz guitarist Larry Carlton did a cover of “Layla”. The Allman Brothers started play “Layla” in their concerts starting in 2003 and Bobby Whitlock, the previous keyboardist for Derek and the Dominoes, began performing the song in 2007. Eric Clapton continually plays “Layla” acoustically—the most popular version of his song--on his tours.

One of rock music’s greatest love songs thrives today because you can feel the emotion Clapton was exuding. The soft melodies to the guitar solo may make you fall in love with Patti Boyd like Clapton did. Listen to this song, watch him perform it, and realize why it was one of the songs to shape music for over 25 years.