Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

music sucks but he fucked george harrison's wife. 4 stars

there was an hour and a quarter of this shit. we know Clapton is a massive bell end but that is some serious self love to release over an hour of you wanking off on your guitar just to get all the middle aged white blokes in stonewashed jeans to get a moist crotch from feeling like they know 'the blues'. it takes a cunt of claptons proportions to take the blues and switch it from heartfelt songs of woe and turn it into an excuse to make everyone look at how good you are on the guitar. that bit form goodfellas is good though.

Oh the irony of someone that is openly racist building a career on piss poor blues rip-offs. Fuck racist, rapist, anti-vax Clapton.

If someone asked me for the most generic piece of classic rock music I could think of, I now know where to point them to.

“Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” by Derek and the Dominos (1970) It will be hard to focus on this as an album, since it contains one of the best rock songs of all time, “Layla”. Another thing that makes this a challenge is that it features two of the top rock/blues guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman (d. 1971). Indeed, the music of this album is best heard as an electric guitar duet between these two. The serious listener may thus be distracted by the temptation to spend too much attention to distinguishing their contributions on each song. And rock aficionados may be surprised that many of the dominant guitar lines are performed not by Clapton (right channel dominant, with heavy fretted bends) but by Allman (usually hanging out on the left channel, and recognized by ultra high slide). Also, on “Keep On Growing” and “Thorn Tree in the Garden”, the lead vocal is not Clapton, but Bobby Whitlock. The lyrics are beautiful expressions of love, found (“Keep on Growing”), lost (“I Looked Away”), requited (“Little Wing”) or not (“Layla”). Love, longing, pain, passion. No politics. No philosophy. No pretense. Musically, the compositions are exquisite, experimental (This is 1970), and performed with technical excellence and soul. A classic fusion of rock and blues, with the most fitting acoustic final track ever. Clapton’s dominant voice (admittedly strained) is helped by quality backing vocals. Solid rhythm section, but listen, listen, listen to the guitars. This a great album. No argument. 5/5

Uninspired trash over basic blues backing. If I wanted to listen to this, I can go to a local dive bar on a Tuesday evening show with a bunch of aging rockers who believe in conservative fiscal policy.

I get the feeling that the only reason this is on this list is because of the hit song Layla.

My two year old son died in the same way Eric Clapton's son died. For inspiration.

A classic, but some of these songs go on a bit long. I like Clapton but there's a bit too much noodling for me at certain points

A few decent songs. Plenty of bland twaddle. And Clapton is a racist piece of shit, so I won't listen again

I need a slowed-down, soul-free version of Little Wing like I need another hole in my head. Diet blues.

Look. You know why this album is on the list, I know why the album is on the list. Just give it a 3 and move on

The title sums this album up perfectly. Competent music, but for a collection of love songs it feels cold and perfunctory. Perhaps Clapton would have been better suited to a collection of assorted hate songs? 2/5

I'll be honest, I find Clapton's solo stuff massively overrated, but I often like him when he's constrained by a band around him, so curious to see how this lands. The first song is actually alright. And Bell Bottom Blues is good too. I'm gonna credit Duane Allman. Kind of gets a bit boring for a while after that....Yeah, okay this has fallen off into the worst of Clapton-y endless blues noodling. Even the version of Little Wing, a usually amazing song, isn't totally doing it for me. Okay, but Layla is a banger, no denying Kinda digging One More Chance

I deeply hate Eric Clapton, both as a person and as a musician. I did not want to listen to this album. However, l decided that I should at least give it a go considering that I still hold a lot of Kanye West's music very close to my heart and I should probably extend the same courtesy that I expect from some of the more Kanye-averse users on this site giving his music a fair shot to Clapton. That being said, this album was pretty dull, but of course Layla is an unimpeachable track.

My first ever one star for this overrated, racist old bore. Pedestrian songs and one hour 16 minutes. He can shove his dominos up his arse.

Tedious blues rock wankery. Some songs are tolerable, helped by the raw sound, others are precisely the chugging shit I've grown to hate. Fuck "Layla". And Derek's a turd. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, it's time for: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "New Rule! Every time one of these 1001 supposedly world's greatest albums turns out to be just another minute variation on [or channeling] USUK '65-'80s rock the generator has served me many dozens of times before, I will give you a different album you could be listening to today. For instance:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ☞ Blumfeld - L’Etat Et Moi (1994) ☜ An absolute landmark of German rock music. No, not like Rammstein, you numpty. Jesus Christ. No. Blumfeld have rather been likened to Pavement, who they had a joint tour with. Not so sure about that comparison; underneath the angular noise, Blumfeld lean much more into singer/songwriter territory but it's an alright genre descriptor, I guess. To me, THE best album written in my mother tongue ever. Go listen.

The cover of Little Wing is unlistenable, especially the grating refrain they added. I never want to hear this album again.

What a great sound, fast paced songs and howling guitars, every song has class - what's not to like?

The blues numbers are great, but I can't ignore his many flaws as a human being (a racist anti-vaxxer) so won't listen to his music any more.

bleck

Eric Clapton absolutely sucks

Slow hand does not disappoint. I had forgotten how much more than Layla they were. Great stuff

There's a lot of foreplay, some pleasurable some not, before Layla opens her legs for the good stuff. Oh, and Clapton is a cunt.

Goes on too long. First concert I went to was Clapton in the Albert Hall, as my dad is a fan back from the Yardbirds’s day. I might’ve only been 10, and was impressed as I was meant to be, but I remember feeling impatient for the big riffs, which seemed rare. My favourite song was “Sunshine of Your Love”, and I probably wondered why he didn’t play more of stuff that sounded like that, rather than the plod plod woo-hoo-yeah material that I let my legs dangle back and forth to. Later, the album “Journeyman” came out, which my dad got on tape, and I remember him rushing into a bedroom we kids had congregated in to play a segment of the song “No Alibis”, specifically a two second segment of a solo, which he happily described as classic Clapton. Even then, I felt this was poignant. Two seconds out of a 57 minute album! On heroin addiction, William Burroughs wrote that the addict could spend a whole day staring at the corner of his shoe. He might have added “or inconclusively guitar solo to “Key To The Highway”. Everything is clear and glints, all the many elements painstakingly balanced against each other. The back and forth between guitarists is evident, even if the subject of the conversation is mundane. How many of these songs are about nicking George’s wife? “Layla etc” is “No Alibi”’s dad, a shiny artifact that’s more soft than rock, but the rock that’s there is worth a linger if you like truck stops. But it is so long that a second listen through almost took me to the office sick bay for a lie-down during “Tell the Truth”. It has been a long year. (I ended up just sitting on the couch outside it, writing some of this review.) “Layla” is often said to be Clapton’s best song, but the riff is Duane Allman’s invention and the piano part is, allegedly, Rita Coolidge’s, pinched by her abusive drummer boyfriend Jim Gordon (he’d later murder his mum and spend most of his life in jail before his death this year). What I am getting to is that back then Clapton still had some good compositional taste! Far too long. Just now, I took out a headphone bud with an audible gasp of Jesus Christ. I am giving this 3, as it is an archetype, the platonic ideal of a kind of music that I find irredeemably lame, but with which I am sentimentally entangled. Having not heard it in decades, the intro to their cover of “Little Wing” stilled me. I prefer it to the original. Super epic. Followed by the dishwater blues of “It’s too late”. Can’t believe I’ve listened to this twice today. Am betting my partner in this endeavour will remedy this review with two lines and a score perhaps half that number. What was that song you taught me back in labs? “My old man said be an Arsenal fan…”

Eric Clapton, Patron Saint of Blues Lawyers. This album is an inspiration for every middle-aged white guy who wishes he could wail on blues guitar, sleep with witchy women, do heroin and ride a motorcycle. I know quite a few aging finance guys who have bought themselves an expensive guitar and a motorcycle to try to live out the dream (they may also be popping opiate pills in secret, but they don't brag about that quite so much). Most of this album is filler and indulgence and cultural appropriation. I find it boring and forgettable, just like most amateur "blues" bands made up of middle-class white accountants and dentists, with the exception of the title song. And that is the reason we are all here, really. Its legacy was really cemented because the coda featured in 'Goodfellas', which is, admittedly, an awesome cinematic moment. But I put that down more to Scorsese's terrific marriage of visuals with this well-chosen needle-drop than the inherent value of the song itself (props also to Thelma Schoonmaker, editor supreme). I always secretly felt that Duane Allman's much-revered slide solos were all a bit out of tune. Awesome, but out of tune. And let us not forget that the whole coda was stolen from Rita Coolidge. Fuck you, Eric Clapton, for being a malign influence on music. You and all your druggie mates.

the soundtrack to a mid life crisis, I want to go out and buy a motorbike and have an affair* *not actually have an affair in case my lovely wife reads this.

Not even the slide-god Duane Allman can rescue Eric Clapton from his native bland blues-dad territory. Layla is a good song I never need to hear again, but otherwise the best tracks on here are like filler on an 80s ABB album - big broad major-key southern rock chord progressions, mildly funky basslines, and mostly aimless noodle. The best bits are the harmonized gual guitar leads and Duane's slide solos/fills. Clapton's vocals are flat and soulless and, Cream aside, I've never understood the hype around him as a guitar legend - he's just a technically proficient but very mechanical Buddy Guy/BB King impersonator with nothing special about his phrasing, tone, or anything. There are so many licks on here some are bound to be good, so every couple songs there's something ear-catching like a cool descending run, a minor pentatonic->mixolydian transition, or a big melodic line. It's all very mid, but hey, there's a lot of it - real discount bin stuff...

Back when there were musicians.

I hate myself for giving this one 5 stars… Clapton is a huge wanker but man this is a good record… anything Duane Allman touched was gold I guess

Wow! This is one great guitar album! I thought “Layla” was the only song I knew from this. When “Bell Bottom Blues” came on I had a shock of recognition… I loved this song once long, long ago in a forgotten past… Hearing it now was quite startling. “Layla” is a masterpiece and it is not surprising this song is embedded into the vernacular of rock. But the rest is very, very strong and worthy of accompanying such a legendary song. I almost feel embarrassed that I have never listened to this before. Eric Clapton as a person provokes mixed emotions in me today. Still, I find it difficult to imagine how one might dismiss the quality of the playing on this album if listened to with any objectivity at all. This album is packed with incredible guitar work. Phenomenal!

One of the greatest albums ever created, Eric Clapton at his absolute best. Leaving behind the psychedelia of Cream and the 60’s, Clapton puts together a blues rock masterpiece. The guitar playing on this album is mind blowing, with Clapton’s legendary guitar playing aided by the signature slide licks of Duane Allman. Everyone knows about Layla, one of the greatest rock and roll masterpieces ever composed, but every song on the album is a classic. “It’s too late” may be my favorite song of all time, and this may be my favorite album of all time. It’s that good.

I've been really looking forward to this one since I first saw it on the History list a week ago (I'm a bit behind, OK?). Layla is a guitar classic masterpiece and I've had other songs off this album popping up on my Spotify playlists now and then. Eric Clapton's guitar-playing is at its absolute best on this album, with the backing band providing a great framework for it. Clapton's vocals could certainly be improved on, but that's not what we came here for. In the end it's all about the impeccable guitars. Admittedly, the album is on the long side and there is certainly some filler on here. It would be tighter and better as a whole by dropping the snoozers I Am Yours and It's Not Too Late and maybe 1 or 2 more as well as by shortening Key To The Highway, which seems to ramble. Nonetheless, most of the album is of such high quality, that its length and the few sleepy parts can be forgiven. Highlights: Layla, Little Wing

That was really really good. I’m surprised. I mean, Layla is a banger but there was so much good stuff on this album!

I wasn't expecting much, but this blew me out of the water.

No review of Eric Clapton is complete without a reminder that he is a horrible racist. That being said, good album.

This has a couple of favs and a classic 70s sound. Bell Bottom Blues❤️

Layla song is a straight ten out of ten. The complexity of these songs is great and I find it brings me happiness listening to this

One of the all-time classics which I've spun a number of times, and it's certainly good, but there's a long way between the grandiosity of the album's title track and the B-sides. Layla is a true 5 star song; one or two others come in at 4, but the majority of the album tracks are more in the 2-3 range, leaving it overall at a 3. Seriously though, Layla's piano outro is one of THE ultimate moments in rock music.

It was fine, Clapton and all....

Went into this knowing nothing about the album except for Layla which obviously fucks. I don’t really care about jam bands unless I’m watching live - sue me. Doesn’t make for a great album experience. Aside from Layla the rest is straight ahead Beatles-y rock and blues jams which gives Clapton the stage to shred for an hour. Nothing wrong with that. Taking with me: Layla, I Am Yours, Little Wing

Not terribly exciting, surprised I found this album a lot more 'meh' then I thought I would, it's good and I appreciate Eric Clapton's guitar work it was just not entirely the kind of blues rock I get overly excited about ⭐⭐⭐

It's just alright until you hit Layla then it becomes amazing for a bit then goes back to just alright.

Title track is a masterpiece, fiery guitar riffs galore and a young Eric singing his goddamn heart out for his mate's missus. He had a turn later, and found out the grass ain't that much greener. Still, prior to that sad domestic disillusion, he was drinkin' and smokin' and cokin' himself right silly, and he had the forethought to get that shit down on tape. Lo and behold, this album. Bell Bottom Blues is another great track, and his crack at Little Wing is alright too (no outdoing Sir Jimi though). Years later, Stevie Ray would demonstrate what a cover of Little Wing could be. I've listened to this album of bunch of times before - last time was about 3 weeks ago while grocery shopping. I forgot I was even listening to the music until it reached the title track and my ears zoomed back in on the sound coming through my headphones. This may be a sign that, while I appreciate the album's status as a classic, it's not some kind of Top Ten (hell, Top 100) album for me.

Ok, like I get it, the songs are solid enough and the guitar playing is obviously masterful, but my god. Somewhere halfway through Key to the Highway I had my fill and we were halfway through. Album slowly lost me as it went, and Layla did not get me back.

Well it's right there in the album name, Layla...and other side pieces of songs. Crying on the floor? Check. In love with his best friend's woman? Check. Reading about Clapton's troubled life made more sense after listening to this. I like Little Wing, but found out later it's a cover of a Jimi Hendrix song. It's still a good lead up to the iconic Layla. I felt like I had to wade through a lot to get to Layla, but by that time I was too broken, I was almost on my knees. The Layla guitar intro is so hype/Clapton's guitar work is great and almost picked me up though (hence a higher than 1 rating). This album would have been way more enjoyable as a transient live blues bar jam show.

Heard the radio hits but never the album tracks before. After one listen I'm ready to call this my favorite Clapton record. Duane Allman rips this apart and seems to inspire EC, too. Key To The Highway was probably my favorite because Duane really stretches out and seems to drive EC to new heights as they trade solos. The cover of Hendrix's Little Wing severely bummed me out - they sound like they're trying to do something monumental but it comes across as heavy handed and hysterical where Jimi was light and loving. Guys, it's LITTLE wing, not gigantic wing. Their wing is enormous and leaden and there's no way it could ever catch air. And they were very smart to put Thorn Tree In The Garden last. It is truly terrible. I'm rooting for his ex-lover to come back and thorn him to death. On the other hand, it is aptly titled because the sweet relief when it finally ends is reminiscent of removing a splinter.

Great material for one of those blues dad cover bands that meet up once a week to drink mediocre beer and ward off their incoming midlife crises. The music is well played, but it’s not really my thing and it doesn’t convince me to explore it further. However, it still has a certain vibe. Most tracks are very forgettable, and the album lacks cohesion. Notable tracks: "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" "Little Wing" "Layla" Favorite track: "Little Wing"

In the spirit of “separating the art from the artist”, I’d just like to say that this is decent record by a talented band that happened to be fronted by a massive douchebag. (Seriously, do yourself a favor and google “Eric Clapton $11 Lawsuit”)

You know, when I first listened to this album I thought, "Guitar, guitar guitar guitarguitar, but guitar with guitar is guitartar." Then after a while, I found myself really soaking in and saying, "Guitarguitar on gui- guitar is guitar tar tar tar gui targuitar guitar!" And now after having heard it all the way through, I can confidently say, "Layla."

"Layla" the most known and best song on the album. Bluesy/Eric Clapton type music. 5/10.

I mean Layla is pretty good but Eric Clapton is a despicable little worm so I didn't really feel compelled to listen to this entire thing or be fair and impartial. So.

Uggghhhh, starting my morning by rolling Clapton on this one is not how I want to enter the day. Let's try to stay unbiased, despite my long running opinion of "fuck that guy". Jesus, this album is over an hour long? Cocaine really does make folks think ALL of their ideas are great ones, doesn't it? OK OK, hitting play... I feel like there has to be a correlation between the popularity of this album and the amount of lead paint in homes in America at the time. What an absolutely boring turd of a record. If this is one of the 1001 records I need to hear before I die, now that I've slogged through this I welcome the cold embrace of death. (Fine, credit where due, the song "Layla" is a ripper, albeit one that could've been edited down by like a full two minutes)

A great accompaniment to this hot weather. Really wore me out

boring boomer music

Fuck Eric "Keep Britain white" Clapton.

The racist wanker ruins this for me. No thank you.

Christ, this was shit. Any hope I had faded when I saw the running time of 1 hour and 16 minutes. How many Atlantic soul singles could I fit into this timeframe? ALL winners, unlike the crap from the silly old racist doing his guitar shite on this album. I know, I'll wait until Layla, I thought. I could probably just about stomach this in a non-ironic Partridge strumming style. But it was the penultimate track. Even the Spotify ads for CEX were better than this shit. Bailed three songs in. Ahh - here comes Wilson Pickett. That's better.

Clapton is such an emotionally expressive soloist, but often the songs that are bolted onto them just aren't entertaining or original enough all the way through. It was only during the course of listening to this album that I discovered he was a racist and an Enoch Powell supporter. So fuck this guy. I can't listen to a double album through twice without that in the back of my mind all the time.

This is so boring. This album has no right being over an hour long. There's so much pointless noodling it makes me want to bash my head against a wall. The vocals are bad too. Why Does Love Gotta Be So Sad is a pretty good song though. I think if the songs ended sooner it would be a much better album.

Boring blues-rock that I've heard a million times by now. While Clapton is clearly talented, I can't stand this type of music. I understand he was a pioneer in his field, but even then, these songs were old by the time he stole them. 'Layla' has also aged terribly, dude's simping over someone else's wife. I guess Clapton could never be original in any facet in his life.

Fuck Eric Clapton.

Fantastic album. Great great blues rock

Aaron would like this album; Maybe Jared?

10/10 just for Layla, oh and other songs are great too

Those who say Clayton can’t play or is always dull never listened to this. Superb blues in 1970. Clapton hit these heights agin but rarely. The dominoes were superb. Layla is amazing, if tainted by the despicable miscrediting of the coda, which was written by carol bayer sager. Little Wing is majestic. Key to the highway is terrific. I do prefer the unplugged nobody knows you… but this is great. . In short, this album shows how white guys can do blues. It’s a pity so few others got the lesson.

Excellent album.

Amazing. Had no clue about their other work other than Layla

Eric Clapton is a beast of a blues guitarist, no different in Derek and The Domino. Aside from their live records this is their only album. It's a phenomenal album. Who can mistake "Layla", "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" and their rendition of "Little Wing" as anything but pure greatness? The ending track, "Thorn Tree In The Garden", is sublime.

Really good. Clapton is so damn good with that guitar. I think I like some of the acoustic version better, but this entire album is hit after hit.

Men will make a whole album about their friend's wife rather than go to therapy. This was perfect for a Friday afternoon. Love how the guitar is essentially the lead vocals on this with Clapton's voice turned way down.

was surprised i hadn't already listened to this all the way through. what an incredible record. little wing cover is mind blowing no other way to put it

OKAY, so... yes, Layla is their most popular song in this album, and yes, Bell Bottom Blue was very nice and jammy, but holeh moleh - this whole album was such a bop. I enjoyed listening to the whole thing, and it seems that they just had fun playing this whole thing as well, it wasn't forced as well. Overall, great songs, really nice stuff, and Eric Clapton absolutely destroyed that poor little guitar.

loved this

LOVE!! Austin's fav album too.

Banger! Instrumental is fantastic

Really enjoyed

A great blues album. In fact, I've always associated Layla with Erik Clapton. Nice to have learned something new here. I'll definitely enjoy listening to this again. 5/5

10

Layla is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. The rest of the album falls greatly short of that achievement, but is still pretty damn good. Eric Clapton is a piece of shit person with undeniable talent. The world isn't fair sometimes.

My dislike for Clapton aside, this gets 5*s for the last 4 minutes of Layla alone.

Lovely array of great tunes and lyrics - thx!

This gets an entirely biased 5 stars from me. I grew up on Layla, and the title song was one of my first favorites growing up. The album as a whole rocks for the entire 76 minutes. I have so many problems with Eric Clapton as a dude and even as a musician, and I should probably be listening to more black blues artists, but goddamn I cannot bring myself to not love this album. Sometimes you wanna fuck George Harrison's wife so bad that it makes you make the perfect album, idk

I love blues so this one was an album I knew I'd like. Of course I knew the title song as well as a few others... Bell Bottom Blues, Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out, Little Wing (a very different cover of that amazing Hendrix song). But I didn't realize it was a double album and it was filled with really great blues music. You could really hear the joy and feeling of freedom in Clapton's voice and guitar. I didn't realize that Duane Allman played along with him on list of the songs. They had just met and formed a bond that really came through on the album. Definitely a five star album for me!

Good. Kinda music I’m into often these days

This was good in the way that if my dad had it on I would let him play it cause I love my dad but IDK if I would be going out of my way to put this on a playlist to pump me up

Maybe the greatest rock album of all time. Combination of Clapton and Duane is unparalleled.

Clapton sucks personally, but this is great

Got it

Slowhand….blues….what more needs to be said Really liked this album

I knew Derek & The Dominos mainly from Layla and Bell Bottom Blues and never heard the rest of the album. Boy was I missing out - I was blown away by the rest of the songs. Standouts were ""I Am Yours", Anyday" and "Key to the Highway" but really I loved them all. I believe this is the best blues-rock I've heard. Also Duane Allman's guitar work was killer!

5/5 love the guitar and emotion

unfortunately this is exactly my kind of shit

very good listen, flowed super good.

Turned this on starting my drive to work, could’ve sworn I was in a movie. I plan on listening to this if I get dumped by my girlfriend

Whole album slaps. Sick guitar solos. Could definitely have 5 or 13 balcony brews to this. Most notable: Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out, Little Wing

Totally dig this album. Incredible guitar work and musicianship. Solid jamming rock and roll with a bit of a bluesy feel.

Drummer Jim Gordon also played on Pet Sounds and Classical Gas....he also killed his own mother in a pschizophrenic episode.

Awesome bluesy rock from the 70s. The album gets better and better and I actually prefer the second half. High 4 Low 5 but leaning towards 5. Great stuff.

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but Layla is the weakest song on this brilliant album. Maybe we all need a Patty to muse us into our artistic cosmos. I don't think Clapton is the best person, but this album is epic from beginning to end and I've only gone 5 for a couple of 1st listens, but this is one of them.