Derek & The Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

When Eric Clapton sought partial anonymity behind the nom de plume of Derek & The Dominoes in early 1970, his label retorted by distributing pin badges proudly stating that “Derek Is Eric”. Formed by Clapton after the dissolution of Blind Faith, and aided by the keyboards of Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle, drummer Jim Gordon, plus the inimitable guitar of the late Allman Brothers Band’s Duane Allman, ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs’ is the band’s sole studio release. A defining record in Clapton’s catalogue, it didn’t become a huge hit until ‘Layla’ was issued as a single two years later, entering the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.

Inspired by his then unrequited love for future wife Pattie Boyd Harrison (then wife of his friend George Harrison), it was a hit single when it was reissued in 1982. A staple of Clapton’s set to this day, both Rolling Stone and Q rightly described the album as a 5 star “Masterpiece”, where as Uncut felt that "Allman's promethean qualities totally transformed both the ambition and the execution of the record."

Side A

1. I Looked Away
2. Bell Bottom Blues
3. Keep on Growing
4. Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out)

Side A

1. I Am Yours
2. Anyday
3. Key to the Highway

Side C

1. Tell the Truth
2. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?
3. Have You Ever Loved a Woman

Side D

1. Little Wing
2. It's Too Late
3. Layla
4. Thorn Tree in the Garden