At 79, Eric Clapton Finally BREAKS His SILENCE About Layla Story

At 79, Eric Clapton Finally BREAKS His Silence About Layla Story

Layla is a 1970 love song that was released as a part of the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by the band Derek and the Dominos. The song had many contrasting elements, displaying pain and longing in multiple forms, and has been mainly credited to Eric Clapton, a successful rock and blues artist who has been declared one of the most influential artists of all time. It has also been partially credited to Jim Gordon and, more controversially, his girlfriend Rita Coolidge. The lyricism in Layla paints a picture of a desperate lover, but there is more behind the song than just words and a melody—a painful and tragic tale that makes it all the more real and relatable because the best music comes from the heart. But how far was the reality from the themes depicted in the song? What dark secrets lay behind the scenes that inspired such pain and longing? It appears that Layla has a tragic history and aftermath—one far more rough and concerning than you think.

#ericclapton #layla #pattieboyd

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[moirapettifr]

Clapton should give credit to Rita Coolidge for her part.

[emanuelstanley]

Love is just a feeling, sometimes there is nothing behind it, sometimes it's just an error - most of us go through this experience.

[jamesmcguire]

Rita Coolidge never got a penny and not even credit

[zyzzyvacation]

Pattie was the inspiration behind Harrison's songs, "Something, " "I Need You, " "If I Needed Someone, " and "For You Blue." She also inspired Clapton's, "Layla, " "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight." She should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.

[arlynking]

So often it seems men and women talented and dynamic in many ways are also encumbered with a weakness or dark side. It's always the forbidden fruit that tantalizes them until they must have it and then the moment it's obtained the love thought to have existed slowly vanishes leaving yet more broken lives. This sad story has been lived by millions upon millions and still the page turns to yet another and another still.

[davidgraichen]

The same song whose Piano melody was created by Rita Cooledge, but Clapton told her to Sue him over, while he laughed at her!

[Quinton-zuhy]

I love the Tedshi, Trucks version of the song!

[dereks]

"it appeared Clapton had gone crazy, but not for the reasons anyone could sympathize with"

[headlesssoldier]

Also ripped off Rita Cooliges’ ending part

[cmkilcullen]

Sounds like you're breaking EC'S silence. I didn’t hear him say anything .

[cordeliaadams]

So sad, men destroy their own happiness (and other people’s) and become so vile when alcohol is in the equation.

[steveferry]

Don't know about all that, but you can credit Duane Allman with that opening riff.

[geoffwells]

Clapton stole the song from Rita Coolidge who was in Derek and the Dominos. She never was given the appropriate credit for it. Clapton never gave credit to Rita and her drummer boyfriend who helped write the song apparently

[ursulabornhauser]

Eric a brilliant guitarist love you for ever❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[connievino]

No George didn't attend the wedding.

[richardfederico]

Shit story
He’s spoken of this before
Harrison was leaving Boyd when EC starting dating her with George’s blessing

[danvelgtr]

Clapton nicked George Harrison's girlfriend and Rita Coolidge's song . What else did he nick ?

[steveswoodworking]

I think Eric Clapton is a jerk for stealing Rita Coolidge's song.

[danvelgtr]

Did Rita not copyright her song in the first place ?

[gmb]

Clapton admitted after his divorce from Patti that "the quest fulfilled sated the desire." Once obtained, the reality of their love and life didn't match up with his incensed longing for her. EC said that he thought himself to be "edgy" and "cheeky" to desire the wife of a Beatle, especially his very best friend.

Pattie and Eric married March 27, 1979 in Tucson Arizona.

Three of the Beatles attended, George, Paul and Ringo. John would have come but the staff had not sent him an invitation. After the ceremony the 3 Beatles jammed with EC marking the last time a possible reunion of the Beatles could have taken place. Lennon was disappointed that he missed it and it’s safe to say all the Beatles would have jammed at the reception of Eric and Pattie's wedding had he been there.

Eric was married but it didn't change his rockstar ways. It was drugs and alcohol and groupies all around. It soon became apparent that Pattie could not conceive children. Over the years they sought medical advice and help but she remained childless.

Meanwhile, Eric took up with Yvonne Kelly, a studio assistant that he had an affair with in Montserrat. From that union produced Eric's first daughter, Ruth. He hid Ruth's existence all through his divorce from Pattie five years later.

Still married to Pattie, Eric was also dealing with his strange and strained relationship with his birth mother Pat, who was in and out of his life leaving him confused. They had alcohol in common and Eric had drugs to go along with it.

Whatever passion exuded through the vibrations of "Layla" withered away as reality set in to Pattie as she watched the grotesque dance between a mother and an unwanted son.

Fans are all too familar with the story of the tragically short life and death of Conor Clapton and of Eric's relationship with Conor's mother Lory Del Santo. Originally Eric approached Pattie with the hairball idea that they could stay married and they both could parent Conor during Eric's annual custody period. That was the last straw for Pattie, frustrated by her own inability to conceive and asked to be a part time mom to another woman's son. She moved to end the marriage.

Knowing the backstory of events that occurred after the song's recording, "Layla" can be seen as a plea for love in the first section, and a mix of romance and ennui in the piano coda, of love's great potential and the inability for two flawed people to realize it fully. It is a very human song, stripped away from spiritual overtones and barren of the happiness that both good souls desperately desired.

After the success of "Unplugged" Eric played Layla only in his acoustic arrangement for years, going back to the simpler time of when he first wrote it, when it had the clearer message of love in it. An observer could guess that the singer was pouring salve into some old wounds to smooth out and soothe areas formerly tormented by his demons that had since been vanquished and vanished by years of sobriety.

The acoustic arrangement jettisoned the piano coda; its promise of romance and its reminder of a love's potential not realized. The song became what it started out to be; a plain song of love painted in the imagery of an ancient story of unrequited love.