Following the recording I did a couple of weeks ago, last night I started to fool around with Clapton’s song, Layla, in front of my computer. It didn’t take me much to want to record it to see how it sounds. Once that the first notes were recorded, of course, I wanted more. However, it was late, the acoustic guitar sounds kind of loud so I didn’t go too far.

However, something came out of it, a refreshing take, unplugged, a bit faster than the original recording (this is how I hear this song, by the way) based on the unplugged version. Maybe I could give it a bit more air in some parts, but if I will have the time, maybe I will clean it later.

Those of you familiar with the unplugged album will recognize probably parts of the unplugged solos, the tempo and the general feeling, I guess. It’s not a one on one take, since I haven’t listened that song in a while, so it’s just what I remembered, without trying to follow the exact structure of the song.

At the end I wanted to make a video out of it, to upload it on YouTube, but each time I compiled the movie, I don’t know why, some notes ended up scrambled, out of tempo, because of the compression, I guess. So, I stopped and I decided to put the song here as audio only.

So, here it is! Enjoy my personal version of Layla!

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Later edit: I managed to have a good quality video, so here it is on YouTube. Enjoy!

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Warning: This post may be a controversial one!

Yep! Since a few days I keep on thinking about difficult to play guitar solos. And guess what! I am not thinking about Malmsteen or Joe Satriani or Steve Vai. Hell, no! The song that keeps on running through my head is “It’s probably me” of Sting and Eric Clapton. Did you ever try to play that solo? I know I did some time ago and I just couldn’t get it right. I don’t speak about the notes, cause there are not that many or that fast, but man, those note are so full of soul that you just can’t reach them!

The solo is so warm and Clapton plays it with so much feeling that it makes it so difficult to play it right…

And you know what? I remember in the high school about this guy that managed to nail the theme solo of Wonderful tonight with such feeling that nobody could play it the same. Again, there are only a few notes and I think this song (Wonderful tonight) was one of the most played song when I was in high school, but this was the only guy that managed to play it right.

I think that the most difficult to play guitar solos are not the fast ones, but those solos that requires feeling, interpretation, understanding for the notes you play and a lot of soul.

I think that as in life, or even more than in life, in music, the most difficult thing you can do is really express yourself.So, what’s your most “difficult to play” guitar solo?

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Interested by the history of the song Layla, about how it was written , I started to look for some information. I found more than I was expecting, to be honest. Seems that the song was composed by Eric Clapton for Patti Boyd Harrison, the wife of George Harrison at that time and later Clapton’s wife. Damn, what a small world.

Of course, you all Clapton fans out there will tell me this was common knowledge. Well, not for me! I was not in the trivia thing…

Anyway, for those of you interested in this kind of information, here’s a long list of what Eric Clapton did in his life, from a less biographical point of view. I must admit it captivated me for a short while!

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A few days ago I was thinking about how Eric Clapton’s music evolved over time. I don’t say “evolved” as in “it was bad-now it is good”, far from me such an idea, just that Clapton’s music changed over time as the music business itself. I am not a big fan of Clapton,not in the way I could say about other artists or bands. I can not say that I know all his songs and everything he does or did, but Eric Clapton always had and always will have a special place in my heart.

My first contact with Eric Clapton’s music was when I bought 2 tapes, one with Metallica and one with Eric Clapton (as you may see, my taste in music was not quite oriented at that time as Clapton and Metallica had nothing to do one with the other). The tape was kind of a best of, at that time, so it offered me kind of Clapton’s best works. From that tape I remember Layla, the electric version, and Bell bottom blues. I kept this second song till now in my memories, without listening it again for a long time since I have lost that tape and I can say that it left a strong mark on my musical path.

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