Editing Layla (section)

==Writing and recording==
After the break-up of Cream, Clapton tried his hand with several groups, including [[Blind Faith]] and the husband-and-wife duo [[Delaney & Bonnie]]. In the spring of 1970, he was told that some members of Delaney & Bonnie's back-up band, including bassist [[Carl Radle]], drummer [[Jim Gordon (musician)|Jim Gordon]] and keyboardist [[Bobby Whitlock]], were leaving the group. Seizing the opportunity, Clapton formed a new group with Whitlock, Radle and Gordon.<ref name="uncut">{{cite web |last=Williamson |first=Nigel |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/eric_clapton/reviews/8542/ |title=Derek and The Dominos&nbsp;– Layla & Other Assorted ... |access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> Naming themselves Derek and the Dominos, the band "made our bones", according to Clapton, while backing Harrison on his first post-Beatles solo album, ''[[All Things Must Pass]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=White, Timothy|title=Rollin' & Tumblin'|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=March 1990|page=36}}</ref>

During the recording of the ''Layla'' album, [[Duane Allman]] joined Clapton's fledgling band as a guest. Clapton and Allman, already mutual fans, were introduced by [[Tom Dowd]] at an [[Allman Brothers]] concert at the [[Miami Beach Convention Center]] on 26 August 1970.<ref name="tomdowd">{{cite video|people=Moormann, Mark|date=2003|title=Tom Dowd & the Language of Music|publisher=Force Entertainment|location=New York|oclc=225191912}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whereseric.com/eric-clapton-news/303-eric-clapton-jams-allman-brothers-band |title=Eric Clapton Jams with the Allman Brothers Band! |date=20 March 2009 |access-date=17 April 2020}}</ref> The two hit it off well and soon became good friends. Dowd said of their guitar-playing chemistry: "There had to be some sort of telepathy going on because I've never seen spontaneous inspiration happen at that rate and level. One of them would play something, and the other reacted instantaneously. Never once did either of them have to say, 'Could you play that again, please?' It was like two hands in a glove. And they got tremendously off on playing with each other."<ref name="guitarworld">{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/article/100_greatest_guitar_solos_14_quotlaylaquot_eric_clapton_duane_allman |title=100 Greatest Guitar Solos: 14.) Layla (Eric Clapton, Duane Allman) |work=[[Guitar World]] |date=28 October 2008 |access-date=15 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831061616/http://www.guitarworld.com/article/100_greatest_guitar_solos_14_quotlaylaquot_eric_clapton_duane_allman |archive-date=31 August 2009 }}</ref> Dowd was already famous for a variety of work and had worked with Clapton in his Cream days (Clapton once called him "the ideal recording man"); his work on the album would be another achievement. For the making of his biographical film ''[[Tom Dowd & the Language of Music]]'', he remixed the original master tapes of "Layla",<ref>{{cite web |first=Halsey |last=Derek |url=http://gritz.net/features/tom_dowd.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210215136/http://gritz.net/features/tom_dowd.html |archive-date=10 February 2005 |title=Tom Dowd: The Legendary Producer Dies on 27 October 2002 |publisher=Gritz |access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> saying, "There are my principles, in one form or another."<ref name="tomdowd"/>{{time needed|date=June 2011}}

Clapton originally wrote "Layla" as a ballad, with lyrics describing his [[unrequited love]] for Boyd, but the song became a "rocker" when, according to Clapton, Allman composed the song's signature [[riff]].<ref name="guitarworld" />{{sfn|Schumacher|2003|p=151}} With the band assembled and Dowd producing, "Layla" was recorded in its rock form. The recording of the first section consisted of sixteen tracks of which six were guitar tracks: a rhythm part by Clapton, three tracks of harmonies played by Clapton (the main [[power chord]] riff on both channels and two harmonies against that main riff, one on the left channel and one on the right channel), a track of solos by Allman (fretted solos with bent notes during the verses and a slide solo during the outro<ref name="gp" />), and one track with both Allman and Clapton playing duplicate solos (the 7-note "signature" riff doubled in two octaves and the 12-note "signature" riff doubled in unison).<ref name="guitarworld" /><ref name="Orig Track Chart"/> According to Clapton, Allman played the first seven notes of the 12-note "signature" riff fretted and the last five notes on slide in standard tuning.<ref name="gp">''Guitar Player Magazine'', July 1985, pp. 71–72</ref> Each player used one input of the same two-input [[Fender Champ]] amplifier.<ref name="gp"/><ref name="tqr">''ToneQuest Report'', January–February 2010, Vol. 11, No. 3.</ref>

Shortly afterwards, Clapton returned to the studio, where he heard Jim Gordon playing a piano piece he had composed separately. Impressed by the piece, Clapton convinced Gordon to allow it to be used as part of the song.<ref name="uncut" /> Though only Gordon has been credited with this part, according to Whitlock, "Jim took that piano melody from his ex-girlfriend [[Rita Coolidge]]. I know because in the D&B days I lived in [[John Garfield]]'s old house in the [[Hollywood Hills]] and there was a guest house with an upright piano in it. Rita and Jim were up there in the guest house and invited me to join in on writing this song with them called 'Time' ... Her sister [[Priscilla Coolidge|Priscilla]] wound up recording it with [[Booker T. Jones]] ... Jim took the melody from Rita's song and didn't give her credit for writing it. Her boyfriend ripped her off."<ref name=whitlock>{{cite web|title=Layla's 40th: The Where's Eric! Interview With Bobby Whitlock|url=http://whereseric.com/eric-clapton-news/303-laylas-40th-wheres-eric-interview-bobby-whitlock}}</ref> "Time" ended up on the 1973 album ''Chronicles'' by Booker T. and Priscilla Jones. Whitlock's story was echoed by Coolidge herself in her 2016 autobiography. The claim is also repeated in [[Graham Nash]]'s 2014 autobiography ''Wild Tales''.

"Layla"'s second movement (the "Piano Exit") was recorded roughly a week after the first, with Gordon playing his piano part, Clapton playing [[acoustic guitar]] and slide guitar, and Allman playing electric and bottleneck slide guitar.<ref name="guitarworld" /><ref name="Orig Track Chart">Original Criteria studio Track Identification Chart</ref> After Dowd spliced the two movements together,<ref name="guitarworld" /> "Layla" was complete.

<score sound="1">
 \relative a' {
   \key f \major
   \time 4/4
r2 r8 a16 c16 d16 f16 (d16) c16 d1~ d2~ d8
a16 c16 d16 f16 (d16) c16 d1~ d2~ d8
a' 16 c16 d16 f16 d16 c16   
}
</score>

The opening five bars to the guitar part of "Layla"

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Due to the circumstances of its composition, "Layla" is defined by two [[Movement (music)|movements]], each marked by a riff. The first movement, which was recorded in the [[key (music)|key]] of [[D minor]] for choruses and [[C-sharp minor]] for verses,{{sfn|Perrin|Clapton|1996|p={{page needed|date=June 2020}}}} is centred on the "signature riff", a guitar piece using [[hammer-on]]s, [[pull-off]]s and [[power chord]]s. The first section contains the [[Overdubbing|overdub]]-heavy slide guitar solo, played by Allman. By placing his slide at points beyond the end of the [[fretboard]], Allman was able to play notes at a higher pitch than could be played with standard technique. Dowd referred to this as "notes that aren't on the instrument."<ref name="tomdowd"/>{{time needed|date=June 2011}}

The second movement is commonly referred to as the "Piano Exit".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/layla.shtml | title= Sold on Song Top 100: Layla|publisher=[[BBC Radio 2]] |access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> Originally played in [[C major]], the tape speed of the coda was increased slightly during mixing. The resulting pitch is somewhere between C and C sharp. The piano [[break (music)|interlude]] at the end of the song is augmented by an acoustic guitar, and is also the accompaniment to the [[outro-solo]]. The same melody is also played on Allman's slide guitar an octave higher. Gordon does not improvise or deviate from the piano part; Clapton and Allman are the ones who improvise the melody. The song ends with Allman playing his signature high-pitched "bird call" on his slide guitar.<ref name="guitarworld" /> This portion is featured prominently in the film ''[[Goodfellas]]''.

Clapton commented on the song:<ref>{{cite web|last=Hrano|first=Mike|url=http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/interviewsandarticles/reptileinterview.htm | title=Eric Clapton&nbsp;– The Mike Hrano Interview|access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|"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 of the ingredients going, but when you've got that ... It's difficult to do as a quartet, for instance, because there are some parts you have to play and sing completely opposing lines, which is almost impossible to do. If you've got a big band, which I will have on the tour, then it will be easy to do something like "Layla" – and I'm very proud of it. I love to hear it. It's almost like it's not me. It's like I'm listening to someone that I really like. Derek and The Dominos was a band I really liked – and it's almost like I wasn't in that band. It's just a band that I'm a fan of. Sometimes, my own music can be like that. When it's served its purpose to being good music, I don't associate myself with it any more. It's like someone else. It's easy to do those songs then.}}

Pattie Boyd later reflected: "I think that he was amazingly raw at the time ... 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. It goes right through you."<ref name="cnn">{{cite news|last=Leopold|first=Todd|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/03/pattie.boyd |title=Harrison, Clapton, and their muse|publisher=CNN|date=3 February 2005|access-date=14 June 2011}}</ref>