176. Derek And The Dominos - Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)





















Track Listing

1. I Looked Away
2. Bell Bottom Blues
3. Keep on Growing
4. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
5. I Am Yours Listen
6. Anyday
7. Key to the Highway
8. Tell the Truth
9. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?
10. Have You Ever Loved a Woman
11. Little Wing
12. It's Too Late
13. Layla
14. Thorn Tree in the Garden

Review

Eric Clapton, here's a guy who has Stevie Wonder syndrome, going from really, really good to utter shite. Fortunately this album is still in his good phase, and it is a lovely album. It has got some truly painful songs about unrequited love and that is always a good thing.

This is a really long album, it's a double album which fortunately does not feel streched, none of the tracks is filler, they are all individually crafted tracks. Of course some of the tracks are better than others, but it is a generally good album. Bell Bottom Blues and Layla really do stand out, but the rest of the album is nothing to sniff at.

Eric Clapton is a brilliant guitar player and we've seen that here with John Mayall and Cream and in this album his charm as a solo artist shines bright. Derek and The Dominos is basically a ficticious band and in the end it is very much Clapton's effort which shines through, he has his session players as well, which are all excellent, including one of the Allman's, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but it does work here.

Unfortunately not all of the album shines as bright as it might, but it is always entertaining listening is nothing else. So you can stream it from Napster or buy it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. Layla
2. Bell Bottom Blues
3. Little Wing
4. Tell The Truth

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia


Here's the MTV Unplugged version of Layla:




From Wikipedia:

After a tour with Joe Cocker, some more of the personnel from Delaney and Bonnie joined up with Clapton; he attempted to avoid the limelight in a group dubbed Derek and the Dominos, and booked a British tour of small clubs. The group's name reportedly resulted from a gaffe made by the announcer at their first concert, who mispronounced the band's provisional name – "Eric & The Dynamos" – as "Derek & The Dominos".