Layla

Derek and the Dominos, 1970. Solo by Eric Clapton & Duane Allman.

Clapton's riff, Allman's slide and a dozen overdubbed guitars. The piano coda has its own famous slide melody.

The first half of Layla is a dense weave of guitars: Clapton's riff in several harmony layers, Duane Allman's solo and a track where the two double lines an octave apart. Clapton used his Stratocaster 'Brownie' and Allman a Les Paul goldtop, reportedly both through a small Fender tweed Champ. Allman mixes fretted bends with slide in standard tuning, sometimes sliding past the end of the fretboard for pitches that seem to come from nowhere. Then the piano coda arrives and the song becomes something else, with Allman's bottleneck improvising over the fixed piano part. Listen for the very end of the track, where Allman's high slide cry floats over the fade like a bird call.

Layla by Derek and the Dominos is ranked #17 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Eric Clapton & Duane Allman and the song was released in 1970. It appears on 30 lists, placing as high as #7 (Gibson.com (via Georgia Straight)).

The story of Layla

"Layla" is Eric Clapton's confession of his hopeless love for Pattie Boyd, who was then married to his close friend George Harrison. His friend Ian Dallas had given him a copy of the Persian poet Nizami's "The Story of Layla and Majnun", about a young man driven mad by love for a woman he cannot have, and Clapton saw his own situation in it. Clapton and Boyd eventually married in 1979, after her divorce from Harrison, and she also inspired his later songs "Wonderful Tonight" and "Old Love".

Clapton formed Derek and the Dominos in 1970 with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. While they were recording in Miami, producer Tom Dowd took Clapton to an Allman Brothers Band show on 26 August 1970, where he met Duane Allman. The two guitarists hit it off instantly, and Allman joined the sessions. Clapton had conceived the song as a slower ballad, but the urgent signature riff, which Wikipedia credits to Allman and Songfacts traces to a sped-up phrase from Albert King's "As the Years Go Passing By", turned it into a hard-rock anthem.

The first movement was cut at Criteria Studios on 9 September 1970. Around a week later the band recorded the separate piano section credited to Gordon, and Dowd spliced the two halves together into a single seven-minute piece. Whitlock and Rita Coolidge have both said Gordon's piano melody came from "Time", a song Coolidge had written with him, a claim Coolidge repeated in her 2016 memoir.

The double album sold poorly at first, and a heavily edited 2:43 single stalled at No. 51 in the US in 1971. After Allman's death in October 1971, interest grew, and a full-length reissue in 1972 reached the US top 10 and the UK top 10. A 1982 reissue climbed to No. 4 in Britain. Two decades later, Clapton's reworked acoustic version on MTV Unplugged gave the song a second life, becoming the most-performed composition of 1992.

The solo

The first movement is a dense tapestry of guitars. Tom Dowd built it on sixteen tracks, six of them guitar: Clapton's rhythm part, three harmony layers of the main riff, Duane Allman's solo, and a track where both men double lines an octave apart. Guitar Player reports Clapton used his 1956 Fender Stratocaster "Brownie" and Allman a 1957 Gibson Les Paul goldtop, both sharing a small Fender tweed Champ amplifier. Allman mixes fretted bends with slide in standard tuning, sometimes sliding past the end of the fretboard to reach pitches Dowd called notes that are not on the instrument. In the piano coda, Clapton adds acoustic and slide guitar while Allman plays electric bottleneck, improvising melodies over Gordon's fixed piano part, and the track fades on Allman's high, bird-like slide cry.

Legacy

Once a commercial disappointment, "Layla" is now counted among the greatest rock recordings. Rolling Stone ranked it No. 27 on its 2004 list of the 500 greatest songs, and Dave Marsh called it the greatest example of a performer reaching painfully deep into himself. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lists it among the songs that shaped rock. Martin Scorsese used the piano coda in a memorable montage in Goodfellas, and Clapton's slowed-down 1992 Unplugged version won the Grammy for Best Rock Song. The name Layla itself surged in popularity afterwards.

Top 10 facts about Layla

Clapton took the song's title from Nizami's Persian poem 'The Story of Layla and Majnun', given to him by his friend Ian Dallas.
Wikipedia
Tom Dowd introduced Clapton to Duane Allman at an Allman Brothers concert in Miami Beach on 26 August 1970.
Wikipedia
The signature riff was based on a phrase from Albert King's 'As the Years Go Passing By', played considerably faster.
Songfacts
Clapton and Allman both played through a single two-input Fender Champ amplifier during the sessions.
Wikipedia
Clapton used his 1956 Fender Stratocaster 'Brownie', which sold at auction in 1999 for $450,000 to benefit his Crossroads treatment centre.
Guitar Player
Allman's 1957 Les Paul goldtop, played on the sessions, sold at auction in 2019 for $1.25 million.
Guitar Player
The coda's tape speed was nudged up in mixing, leaving its pitch somewhere between C and C-sharp.
Wikipedia
Bobby Whitlock and Rita Coolidge have said Jim Gordon's piano coda was based on 'Time', a song Coolidge wrote with him.
Wikipedia
Scorsese choreographed the Goodfellas scene showing the aftermath of the Lufthansa heist around the song, playing it on set.
Wikipedia
Clapton's 1992 MTV Unplugged version, played on a 1939 Martin 000-42, won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.
Wikipedia

Live versions

MTV Unplugged, Bray Studios (1992) Relaxed acoustic shuffle, sung an octave lower; a hit single and Grammy winner.
ARMS Charity Concert, Royal Albert Hall (1983) Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page played it together.
Live Aid (1985) Clapton performed the electric version with Phil Collins on drums.
Allman Brothers Band shows (2003) Derek Trucks took Duane Allman's parts, with Warren Haynes singing and Gregg Allman on piano.
Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton, Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz-inflected arrangement featuring trumpet, clarinet, trombone and banjo.

Notable covers

London Symphony Orchestra (1980) Instrumental orchestral arrangement recorded at Abbey Road.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Another orchestral rendition of the song.
DJ Khaled feat. Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby and DaBaby (2021) 'I Did It' sampled the Derek and the Dominos recording.

In our lists

One and Only — #1
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #27
Genre Champions — #3
The 25 Greatest Blues Rock Guitar Solos — #1
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #8
The 1970s — #9
Slide Guitar — #3
Twin Guitars & Harmonies — #3
Best of Eric Clapton — #3
Played on a Stratocaster — #7
Most Agreed-Upon — #16
Fans' Picks — #20

Sources

What guitar was used on the Layla solo?

A fender stratocaster through a Fender Champ amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Layla rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#17 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 30 of them.

Who played guitar on Layla?

Eric Clapton and Duane Allman; Allman added the famous slide parts and helped shape the main riff.

Who is Layla about?

Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's wife at the time, whom Clapton later married in 1979.

Who wrote the piano part in Layla?

Drummer Jim Gordon is credited, though Rita Coolidge and Bobby Whitlock say it came from Coolidge's song 'Time'.

What guitar did Clapton use on Layla?

His 1956 Fender Stratocaster known as 'Brownie'; Allman used a 1957 Gibson Les Paul goldtop.

What album is Layla on?

Derek and the Dominos' 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.