1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 198. Derek and the Dominos – Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

Having worked with John Mayall, then Cream, and then Blind Faith, Eric Clapton finds yet another iteration in his career, escaping to relative anonymity for a short while.
There’s more of the inevitable adult-oriented rock on display here, sometimes a little bit country (such as I Looked Away), sometimes a little bit R&B (as on Tell The Truth), and quite often just straight up blues rock (such as Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out or Have You Ever Loved A Woman).

Most tracks, however, although they may include little motifs from distinct musical genres, actually come across as something that is unmistakably rock, but hard to pin down. That Clapton’s voice sometimes sounds like Steve Winwood, with a bit of blues grit in it, means that tracks often sound a lot like the offerings from Traffic. And since Winwood and Clapton were band-mates in Blind Faith, that ought not to be a surprise.

Of course, the showstopper track has to be Layla, which, like Bat Out Of Hell, needs to be the full version and not the truncated radio version because to my mind the wandering, almost whine-like, guitar solo imparts much of the wistful pain of unrequited love that the track is about. As probably everyone knows, Clapton was infatuated with George Harrison’s then wife Pattie Boyd, but contrary to what I’d heard before, I don’t think this was ever reciprocated. Wierdly, Harrison and Clapton remained good friends, Harrison even helping with the Derek and the Dominos project. The cover painting, which carries to my mind a bit of a Georgia O’Keefe flowers ‘n’ vulvas feel to it, was bought by Clapton, who later gave it to Harrison and Boyd.

I think Layla has been played so often - its opening is another of those instantly recognizable rock guitar riffs - that it’s hard to judge. It’s still pretty good, if worn down. Elsewhere there’s a nice cover of Hendrix’s Little Wing, and of the many blues tracks the monster Key To The Highway is probably the best set of white-man blues guitar soloing. Tell The Truth, a little bit funky with fun soloing is good. Keyboardist Bobby Whitlock provides much of the harmonic vocals to good effect.

For me, there’s something still a bit “dad rock” about it. It may be that it’s because it’s music very much of my parents’ generation – music for Boomers – and even though me and my peers looked back to many Seventies artists like Pink Floyd, Bowie, and Queen, there were new musical forms (or new ways of old forms) growing during my teen years, the likes of Clapton becoming somewhat naff. And although I’m not averse to a lengthy guitar solo, which Clapton delivers in spades for this album, not all of them land for me.

Oh, and one final note. I don’t know if it’s because mostly for this project I’ve ended up listening to remastered versions and this one wasn’t, but there’s a strange fuzziness to the mix that makes it sound like you’re listening to it on vinyl with a build-up of fluff on the needle. Which actually enhanced the experience. I have some more musing specifically on the whole LP record experience, but it feels like this is already some lengthy maunderings.