Layla: Eric Clapton's Forbidden Love 

@Belle George was a chill guy, he almost never got mad, especially in the post beatle days

@Belle 1. Yeah fair enough but george was a super chill guy 2. She didnt divorce george cuz of this song

@Belle yeah

Belle lmao George was kinda had an affair with Ringo’s wife so he couldn’t say much

simp

"Should'na took more than you gave" - Traffic.

@@morganfisherart i don't need to run over you - crosstown traffic

there was so much more collaboration in the past

That's inspiration for you Masterpieces arnt made on creating new forms of art but perfecting well respected ones.

Actually it's not a meth the poet qais lived and we learned his poems in high school(i'm an arab) and yes eric clapton took this story because a friend told him about it and he saw how he is similar with qais(the poet) so he wrote it to george harrison wife

A true muse

Yep Layla, Something and You look wonderful tonight and probably more

This leads to one of my favorite nerd jokes: Q: What is a "millihelen"? A: The amount of beauty required to launch exactly one ship

Courtney Love: ROOKIE NUMBERS!!

Didn't George write 'Something' about Patti as well Now Meghan may have scored a Prince, but ain't no one gonna write her 2 or 3 influential songs

I think, Harrison wrote some more songs about her: Love you to for example

Wonderful tonight.

Something is not about Pattie

@@firmanchristiansianturi4794 Are you actually dumb

@@ReubenHillier George said it himself. The song is about love, not especifically her.

Brilliant!!!!!

Jim Gordon is quite a tragic figure.

Jose Del Carmen This is such a great comment.

he oughta be watching his daughter better

Been looking for this comment on all the Layla vids. Finally someone says it! lol!

This should be in the script for the video

​@@kianyt5804 Thank you for the comment. It is the highest compliment I can receive. Eric's struggles unfolded publicly after Conor's death. He opened his soul to us during the taping of the "Unplugged" video in 1992. From that, we learned of his fractured childhood, his dysfunctional relationship with his mother, and his abuse and excess of many vices. Had he not opened up to show us his identity, his story would have ended there and we could have packed it away as "just another wasted rockstar." But for Eric, the story continued and had a happy turn. He had cleaned up, acknowledged a Higher Power, and began on his Road to Redemption. He had a child with Melia McEnery but thought he could fit them into his life as he had Ruth and Conor. Fortunately for him Melia's parents had a functional and loving family. Baby Boomers like Eric, they weren't impressed with his fame or his fortune. They were concerned about their daughter and the young baby girl that Eric had helped conceive into this world. They questioned Eric like prosecutors in court about his responsibilities to the child and to the emotional hurt to Melia caused by Eric's hands off behavior. Challenged by the questions of what it took to be a father, Eric examined his life and decided that, with the help of the clarity of sobriety, maybe the untold promise of a loving family might be within his grasp. He cleared his calendar and spent a month in Melia's parents home in Columbus, Ohio with the task of convincing them that he would meet his responsibilities as a father. Eric "stepped up" and embraced domesticity. He dropped his lifestyle for his girlfriend and infant daughter. They married Jan 1, 2002 at the St. Mary Magdalen Church in Eric's hometown of Ripley, England, where he has lived all his life. It was a surprise ceremony, as the small group of good friends thought they were there for the christening of both the new daughter Julie Rose and Eric's older daughter Ruth. After the christening rituals, Eric and Melia stepped up for the priest to perform the marriage ceremony. After the ceremony, Eric and Melia went outside the churchyard and paid an emotional visit to the gravesite where Conor is buried. Eric Clapton had come to the Crossroads, personally and professionally. Instead of meeting Robert Johnson's Devil who bought Johnson's soul, Eric met a God of Mercy and Compassion for a wandering troubadour who had no lasting family roots. As we know, Eric and Melia were blessed with two more daughters and the family unit lives intact today as the Claptons approach their 18th Anniversary. Eric Clapton's long pilgrimage, a hell raising and guitar screeching blaze through the universe, from the tormented loneliness and loss of unrequited love and passion of 'Layla', found his way to a place of love, acceptance, care and respect that never entered his mind as a young man. The change of heart, the change of mind, and the reason why are found in the lyrics of a song he wrote that many fans may never have heard: BACK HOME I've been on the road too long Moving in the wrong direction I don't know where I belong I don't know what I will do If I can't get back home Troubles I got on my own They don't fit no other person The memories keep rollin' on And I don't know what I will do If I can't get back home I don't fit but I don't give a damn I won't quit 'cause I know who I am And I'll admit and I've been on the lam Bit by bit, I'll review my plan This is it, do the best I can Trust and understand 'Cause I know that I am loved 'Cause I'll be on my way Got no need to stay 'round here 'Cause I been on this road too long Going in the wrong direction And I don't know where I come from All I know is I will die If I don't get back home The story of Eric Clapton is not of his origins but of his destination, a journey of Hope and a thirst for Love that found a place of Refuge. It is his singular story yet it touches many aspects of human life that don't often appear in such a pronounced way. We can wonder if Majnun's life would have taken a similar turn if Layla's parents had challenged him. We're left with the knowledge that unlike Eric, Majnun was still a madman and hadn't begun on a Road to Redemption. Perhaps the real story of the poems about Layla and the song about Layla is about their authors' fate and not the unrequited love that drove them to despair. Majnun perished in the lifeless desert. Eric found his way Back Home.

You can write.

@@gmb858 you should put this in a blog post or article ! I want to share your writing so bad

This is very well written! Thank you for posting

Do you have a recording of your version? I have listened to so many versions over the years. It never get old. My youngest was named after this awesome song. It's cool to know there is something even deeper than what I already knew about the song's history.

Nice.

Clapton has gone through heartbreaks throughout his life. Him coming out of all those is truly magnificent.

As an aspiring filmmaker, i doubt there'll ever be a half decent movie about it. I myself could probably make a decent one, but i will just never have the interest to do it. This is what almost nobody gets, and why there are no actually good videogame movies for example. You gotta take in count why would a good artist want to make something based on what you're talking about.

Yeah, it's amazing. I always forget about it till I hear it again and it leaves me SHOOK every time.

Drummer Jim Gordon wrote it. mileswmathis.com/gordon.pdf

@@IAm-qf2xb actually I think I read he stole it from his girlfriend lol

@Bonifacio Salinas I've actually done a fair share of research on this, and hate to say it but the coda's origin belongs to Jim Gordon; not Rita Coolidge. She added a few parts to it, but Jim wrote the piece. Also, if you consider Jim to be a thief for not crediting Rita, then Rita is also a thief. She gave the song to Booker T. in 1973, and the song doesn't credit Gordon. Here's an in-depth look at the situation: The two people who back Rita's story are Bobby Whitlock (whose well known for twisting the truth and he certainly twists the truth in this situation) and Graham Nash (a man whose band-CSN-is extremely famous for having petty quarrels) don’t have credible stories to back up her claim. Just a side note, the second track on David Crosby’s 1971 album, If Only I Could Remember My Name, is a song that is a warning to the others in the group about Rita Coolidge, as there had been a lot of drama concerning her, Nash and Stills. Crosby even blames Coolidge for being one of the reasons why CSN broke up (although there were plenty of rifts in the group before, but Coolidge certainly didn’t help). Nash also is never mentioned in pieces on The Dominos and isn’t known for being around when the group first was originating back in the days with Delaney and Bonnie. So he really isn’t a reliable source. He most likely is someone who is just backing up Coolidge only because Coolidge told him. I highly doubt he was present when the song was being composed. CSN&Y were busy touring and playing festivals in the summer to late ’69, while the song was first being composed. Also take note that Graham Nash was heavily involved with Joni Mitchell in 1969 and 1970, not with Rita Coolidge. Coolidge and Nash weren’t together until late 1970 and early 1971. So Nash isn’t a reliable source. So onto Bobby Whitlock claims that Gordon stole the whole melody from Coolidge, which obviously isn’t true. Coolidge even doesn’t go this far in her claim. She recognizes that the tune has its origin with Gordon and without him the song/coda wouldn’t have existed. However, Whitlock twisted the truth about it (most likely out of jealousy). If one does enough research on Whitlock, they will find that he enjoys to diminish the roles of Gordon and Radle in the Dominos in order to make himself appear more important than he was. Furthermore, in discussing the famous piano coda to “Layla,” Whitlock is quoted as saying, “I hated it. I hated it. I couldn’t stand it.” Whitlock’s hatred of the coda only further evidences his jealousy. So it’s safe to say he isn’t a credible source, and I haven’t even gone into other lies he spewed. Coolidge also has gone back and forth with details, specifically concerning Jim Gordon’s ability on piano and organ. In an interview with Dean Budnick for Relix (published on October 26, 2016), she is quoted as saying, “He [Gordon] was not a great piano player, barely even competent.” However, then in her 2016 memoir, she writes, “he was… a capable pianist, and because he was exposed to so many styles of music, he had a well-developed sense of melody and structure” (Coolidge). So Coolidge, within the same year (2016), goes from saying Gordon was “barely even competent” on the piano to being “a capable pianist.” Clearly she isn’t staying consistent with the details. Also, one should factor in that Jim Gordon actually did session work as an organ/piano player for artists, such as Jackson Browne (on his ’72 debut), Delaney and Bonnie, and Renee Armand (The Rain Book). So if he’s clearly competent enough to be called in by a producer or an artist to play keys, he certainly is a capable piano and organ player. Another detail that Coolidge screwed up is when she said her and Gordon showed Clapton the piece “Time.” Coolidge claims that they first showed Clapton at a session for Delaney and Bonnie in 1970 at Olympic Studios in London. The two left a cassette of the piece “hoping… that he [Clapton] might cover it.” The idea that Coolidge was hoping that Clapton would cover the piece is in reference to Clapton mustering up material for his first solo LP. The first sessions for Clapton’s debut were at Olympic, but took place in November of 1969, not in 1970. These first session were in the midst of touring with Delaney and Bonnie, which produced the album, On Tour with Eric Clapton (recorded December 7, 1969). Coolidge wasn’t a participant for Delaney and Bonnie in 1970, mainly due to the fact that the majority of D&B’s backing band left to participate for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. They were recruited by Leon Russel on March 13, 1970. Some of the Mad Dog backing band consisted of D&B veterans: Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Rita Coolidge, Bobby Keys, and Jim Price. Before venturing onto the Mad Dogs tour, these D&B musicians were busy recording for Clapton’s debut and Dave Mason’s debut LP (Alone Together). Coolidge not being a participant for Delaney and Bonnie is evidenced by her absence on their 1970 LP, To Bonnie from Delaney, which only features Bobby Whitlock from the ’69 touring act. This displays that their 1970 LP was recorded during the Mad Dogs album, since it was released in September 1970. However, the biggest fact from the last paragraph is that Clapton wasn’t interested in the piece when Coolidge played it for Clapton. But Clapton was interested when he heard Gordon play the piece during the recording sessions for Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs in August/September 1970. Clapton’s disinterest in “Time” helps to display that Coolidge’s contribution (her largest contribution to the piece were the lyrics) weren’t satisfactory. So the piece is better without a prominent presence by Coolidge and there obviously is a big difference between Coolidge’s vision for the piece and the piece that ended up on “Layla.” Also, let’s not act like she’s an innocent girl who’s done nothing wrong. Because in 1973, with the release of this album, Chronicles, Coolidge took the Law of Retaliation approach (also known as “an eye for an eye”), since she took the tune that she helped to write with Gordon (“Time”) and didn’t give Gordon credit. The Law of Retaliation is about getting even and that’s exactly what Coolidge did. So if it's true Coolidge did write that part, then she got even by letting "Time" be published without giving credit to Gordon. However, she clearly is mad because “Time” didn’t make nearly as much as “Layla.” I wonder if she mentioned she also ripped off Gordon in her memoir. Probably not. One shouldn’t pick and choose which facts to incorporate when telling a story, because “Time” also has a father, which is Jim Gordon. Link to the album Chronicles, which Coolidge didn't credit Gordon: www.discogs.com/Booker-T-Priscilla-Jones-Chronicles/release/4959914 Coolidge not crediting Gordon for the song on Booker T.'s record is just the cherry on top of a bunch of hazy and questionable details. All the information in my comment can be backed by articles written by journalists, linear notes of albums, autobiographies, and interviews of the musicians. You just need to take the time to investigate them.

Mark Turner Read the pdf, he did not kill his mother, he is/was not incarcerated, all a rich kid ruse. mileswmathis.com/gordon.pdf mileswmathis.com/clap.pdf

But like, the irony is, Clapton is a white supremacist and probably hates us middle easterners lol.

garge7676 this comment made me make popcorn

Your comment to that comment made me make popcorn

Your comment to his comment to the comment made me get popcorn

IDIOT , think of something new you fckign moron

@@aksekhiddelll8900 ..you need some popcorn to go with your cheese balls.

Geez. The internet is rough.

You must have forgotten that Harrison wrote Something about his wife, and released All Things Must Pass less than a month after Layla came out.

Actually when in quotes, and you need to use another set of quotes, use this icon " ' " Example: "Paul was always nice to his subordinates. He once said and I quote 'I like my friends.' What a nice guy...."

wow, I would've told Clapton to get out of my face.

I'm not being chauvinistic or something, but the folk tale is actually arab : Layla lived in the modern day Saudi Arabia in the 7th century CE (see Wikipedia). The persian poet is one of many that did a retelling of the story and this version stuck the most with the western world for reasons I guess...

@@aliifliss114 that’s what I’ve been trying to say

BagOfNickels Well it’s bs. mileswmathis.com/clap.pdf

Jimmy Johnston what is bs, the received fairy tale, or the pdf?

Yousef Ghaneemah Nizami Ganjavi, Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī, was a 12th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet. Nezāmi is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. Wikipedia

@dbltrplx the ending of a song is called outro

@dbltrplx Would "coda" be a more accurate term?

Pucci?

yeah didn't know that was still the same song. i always hated that piece of music. sounds like old people

@Jorrun And you could hear it all the way to Maine. It wasn't half bad, either.

What are you referencing?

I thought that was "for he's a jolly good fellow"?

Nancy Smoke true love this song since 8 yrs now both versions of it the rock & acoustic version

Never heard of the dude til a VW ad featuring "Pink Moon" caught my ear. What a loss! I'd love to know more!!

He absolutely would. Great idea.

I met an older guy many many years ago that had all 3 of his albums. This would have been in the early 80’s and I’m sure he has long past away or is to old to even know he is sitting on a gold mine.

Read the book: White Bicycle.

He was a reclusive guy who made lowkey acoustic folk songs with very poetic lyrics. This guy would've thrived today on youtube.

Armin Mobarak Abadi He also pronounces Majnun wrong. It's Majnün not Majnen.

But the video is great anyways.

I know I was like that doesn’t look like Arabic

Meh must have been just a typo lol

Armin Mobarak Abadi thats one of the slight struggles that we have as persians and arabs (pakistan too) when using those letters. cus non lingual speakers end up just copy pasting the letters onto a software that doesnt support it

Duane Dibley?

Blue Nidalee my father wanted to name me layla after the song but my mom said it was like a dog name hahaha :( i rlly want to be named layla

@@ayami3067 you have the power to change your name if you'd really be more comfortable with it! I did and it's been one of my best decisions.

Blue Nidalee Try "Dwayne Stomp public service announcement" for something hysterical, a rock station back my way used to play it all the time.

That explains a lot, Cocaine.

If he could bring lennon..

@@timverdickt280 Lennon would beat his wife from the dead

@@DonkeyBoyVids too soon? I guess not

Lol nah he cool

Actually, Harrison loved the music, and he knew his one song, “Something”, was forgotten, after an entire album dedicated to Patty. She did end up going back to Harrison, and Clapton nearly killed himself with cocaine and heroin. Then Harrison realized she wasn’t worth all that drama anymore, and ended up with his true partner, Olivia.

He had to cuz of the copyright. This video was taken down for months and just got reuploaded thankfully.

Have you got a link to the missing audio?

@@pallasathena1555 he just talks about the outro to Layla and how the last few seconds have that high pitched slide guitar sound that one of the members called the "Crying Bird". You can just go find the song and listen to those last few seconds yourself.

I thought my headset broke lmao

If I'm not mistaken, the dude that did the piano solo, Jim Gordon, killed his mother with a hammer.

@@drgwhatsthetruth3783 yep, hit her a hammer and stabbed her to death. Too bad he was schizophrenic and delusional, he was a great musician

Definitely one of the best. Also the best gangster movie ever. Imo, better the. The Godfather 1 or 2.

Johnny Roast beef never had the makings of a varsity athlete.

Full circle adultery.

And the riff wasn't his either lmao. Oh well, I guess the lyrics were original. wait...

George Harrison accepted it. And you can't "steal someone's wife" since a wife is not a possession. She had a will of her own. You should never attempt to keep those with you who are not willing.

Right and neither were that good 😂

Eaty McEatison harrison ex wife actually admitted that she missed being with George while dating clapton

mr. smash96 Definitely agree with you.

i think the live aid version with phil collins is the best

Yesss

My personal favourite is this one from hyde park 96 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O7J8SqZMD0g.html

Debatable. I enjoy the slide guitar parts of that song the most, so the Duane Allman's collaboration is essential for me.

Does make one wonder...

Yeah, it couldn't have just been her beauty. There were many beautiful women for them to have. She must've been hella charismatic and just overall nice.

That's epic...🤣

Couldn't have kids is a start, beautiful, smart.