Eric Clapton Wrote Layla About His Best Friend George Harrison's Wife
The song was released in 1970.
Typically, one-hit wonders are pop songs repeatedly blasted on the Top 40 Radio for a year or so before becoming culturally irrelevant and largely forgotten. However, some one-hit wonders are released by rock bands, as evidenced by Collider‘s recent ranking of “The 10 Best Classic Rock One-Hit Wonders.”
The list, published on September 29, included classic rock songs like 1972’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest, “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners from 1982, and “Because the Night” by Patti Smith Group, released in 1978. Collider named the Jim Gordon and Eric Clapton-penned track “Layla,” off Derek and the Dominos‘ record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, the “best classic rock one-hit wonder.”
According to Collider, while “Layla” is a beloved classic rock tune, Derek and the Dominos didn’t put out another record after Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, their first and only album. As fans are aware, Derek and the Dominos split in 1971, just a year after the band was formed. Pattie Boyd Revealed How She Felt About ‘Layla’ in Her 2007 Book.
The romantic track, released in 1970, was inspired by Clapton’s eventual wife, model Pattie Boyd. However, Boyd was married to Clapton’s friend, George Harrison, for 11 years until 1977. Songfacts reported that Boyd, who wed Clapton in 1979, revealed her opinion about “Layla” while penning her memoir, Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, published in 2007.
Boyd wrote that Clapton had her listen to the track during a secret meeting “at a flat in South Kensington.”
“He switched on the tape machine, turned up the volume and played me the most powerful, moving song I had ever heard. It was ‘Layla,’ about a man who falls hopelessly in love with a woman who loves him but is unavailable. He played it to me two or three times, all the while watching my face intently for my reaction. My first thought was: ‘Oh God, everyone’s going to know this is about me,'” stated Boyd in Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, as reported by Songfacts.
Source:aol.com/Nicole Moore
