Famed guitarist Eric Clapton was a member of the short-lived band Derek and the Dominos, which lasted a year until 1971. The group released their arguably most famous tune, "Layla," off the record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, in 1970.
Uncut magazine reported that "Layla" wasn't a popular song until its re-release two years later. The song secured the number 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1972.
While speaking to the publication in 2006, Clapton noted that "Layla" depicted how he felt about his eventual wife, Pattie Boyd, whom he divorced in 1989 after 10 years of marriage. He referenced that Boyd was married to fellow musician George Harrison, who died in 2001 at the age of 58, when he penned "Layla."
"There seem to have been a series of crossroads in my life and ‘Layla’ came at one of them. I was standing there wondering which way to go and was paralysed with fear about making a decision," said Clapton, now 81, while speaking to UnCut. "It seemed there were all these choices, musically and emotionally. I was getting involved with this woman who was already married to my best friend, I had a new band and drugs were waiting in the wings. I was terrified by the decisions I was facing and I guess the drugs helped to anaesthetise me."
He also explained that he had befriended the former Beatle, who wed Boyd in 1966, following playing a show together. He went on to say "the relationship that developed devastated all three of [them]."
"But that was the spirit of the times. It didn’t even seem anything unusual. It was like one of those ’60s wife-swapping movies, like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. It got quite difficult at times, inevitably. But I think George and me always cared for one another in quite a profound way and, amazingly, everybody remained friends," continued Clapton during the interview.
Clapton also told the publication that while Derek and the Dominos's time as a group was brief, he is "very proud of the one album [they] made and that song."
"You never really get used to having ownership of something that powerful and it still knocks me out every time I play it," said Clapton in the 2006 interview.
Pattie Boyd Shared Her Thoughts About 'Layla'
In a 2013 interview on The Ronnie Wood Show, hosted by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, Boyd theorized how Clapton came up with "Layla." According to Boyd, she and Clapton had been given a copy of the 12th-century story, Layla and Majnun.
"It's a lovestory and it's basically about unrequited love. And Eric loved it. And at that time, he really wanted me to come away with him. Although I was most insistent that I was still in love with George, so it was really difficult. And anyway, he wrote that song," said the model during the interview.
She also said that she felt like she "was being pushed into leaving George and being with him" when she first heard "Layla."
"I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But it's a beautiful song," said Boyd in the 2012 interview.
While speaking to UnCut about the song in 2006, Boyd said she didn't hear "Layla" until after it was recorded.
"I remember when he came back from America, he played it to me before it was released. He put it on several times and the intensity was amazing. He’s such an incredible musician that he’s always been able to put his emotions into music in a way that goes right through you," said Boyd to UnCut. "Of course, it was particularly fascinating for me to hear the song in the circumstances we were in. You can imagine the effect it had on me. I was bowled over not just by the words but the whole song."
She clarified that she was "deeply flattered and honoured to be the subject of a song like that."
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