Music Video Of The Week — 21
By the time I was old enough to start to appreciate music, my father's tastes had receded to Les Miserables, Handel's Messiah, and selected oldies. (The man loves The Chi-Lites' "Have You Seen Her?" more than you could imagine.) But one of the things he imparted to me in my youth was a healthy respect for Eric Clapton that continues to this day. As is probably wise, I ignore Clapton's regrettable adult pop excursions and stick to his blues, because that's where the man shines. I grew up listening to songs whose lyrical and sonic turmoil were years beyond my comprehension, but that doesn't mean I didn't love them. In recent years, Clapton has gotten a lot of mileage out of turning his older stuff inside out, offering slowed-down, lamenting versions of his blistering classics. And that's okay; the unspoken flip side to "Layla" is indeed one of gentle mourning. But nothing compares to the all-out electric fury of the original.
Anyway: All that to say that sometimes the originals are the best. This cut is from the only studio album put out by Derek and the Dominoes, Clapton's supergroup from the early 1970s. It's sad, and scorching, and downright perfect.
Here's "Bell Bottom Blues":
