Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – Jul 23, 2023

After an approximate ten year absence on the pop charts, Neil Sedaka came back with a vengeance in the mid 70s. Included in his re-emergence was a song that went to the #8 position on the Billboard Hot 100 in the winter of 1976. What was unique about this song is that it was a slower version of a #1 hit he had in 1962. That song was “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.”

In 1992 an English artist had a similar experience with an acoustic version of a rock song that he originally co-wrote and recorded in 1970 …

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The original 1970 recording, which started out as a ballad, was inspired by two things: First, the English artist’s reading of a 12th century book about a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful young girl, went crazy and was unable to marry her. Secondly, the artist’s secret love for the wife of a friend and fellow musician.

Per Tim Morse’s Classic Rock Stories, the artist is quoted as saying:  “It’s a wife of my best friend scene, and her husband has been writing great songs for years about her, and she still left him. You see, he grabbed one of my chicks, and so I thought I’d get even with him one day, on a petty level, and it grew from that. She was trying to attract his attention, so she used me, and I fell madly in love with her.”

The following verse from the song sums up the love affair this way:

I tried to give you consolation

When your old man had let you down

Like a fool, I fell in love with you

You turned my whole world upside down

The co-writer of the foregoing was Eric Clapton and his inspiration was English model and photographer, Pattie Boyd, who married George Harrison in 1966.

During the late 60s, Clapton and Harrison became close friends and worked uncredited on each other’s compositions. between his tenures in Cream and Blind Faith, Clapton fell in love with Boyd.

Pattie Boyd divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Clapton in 1979. Harrison was not bitter about the divorce and actually attended Clapton’s wedding with former Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

Performed as a rocker by Derek And The Dominos or as a ballad by Eric Clapton, “Layla” will get you down on your knees and it’s this week’s Tom Locke moment in time.

Epilogue:  Prior to divorcing in 1989, Clapton wrote another love ballad for Boyd – “Wonderful Tonight” (1977).

YouTube video of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th3ycKQV_4k

This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.