Derek & The Dominos’ New ‘Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs’ Box Set

A 50th anniversary box set edition of Derek & the Dominos’ seminal 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs will be released by Ume/Polydor on November 13.

The original has been afforded the half-speed master treatment at Abbey Road Studios in London by esteemed engineer Miles Showell, and will be available as a 4LP vinyl set. Each will contain a certificate of authentication. The new box set will be available exclusively through uDiscover Music and Sound of Vinyl.

Eric and Duane

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is of course best known for its titular song, which became an Eric Clapton signature and a belated major UK hit in 1972. But the album is also widely regarded as one of the guitarist’s finest, setting his peerless guitar work alongside that of another giant, the late Duane Allman.

The group came together in the spring of 1970 after Clapton’s brief time in the supergroup Blind Faith and his collaborations under the name Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Three fellow members of that collective joined him in the new Dominos line-up, Bobby Whitlock on keyboards, Carl Radle on bass and Jim Gordon on drums.

A busy six months

The band played their first live show at Lyceum Ballroom on London on June 14, 1970 as part of a summer tour of the UK. The band went on to record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs between late August and early October, with the additional weighty presence of Allman Brothers’ guitarist Allman. When recording was complete, they returned to the road for US and UK tours. Sadly the band didn’t last much longer, but they left behind a memorable recorded statement.

As well as the remastered album, the box set contains two further LPs of bonus material, some of it previously unreleased on vinyl. This includes recordings from the spring 1971 sessions for their unrealized second album. The bonus material across the third and fourth LPs is mastered normally, rather than at half-speed, and the box also includes a 12” x 12” book of sleeve notes from the 40th anniversary edition of 2010.

The 50th anniversary box set of Derek & the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is released on November 13. Pre-order it here.

The full Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs 50th anniversary edition tracklist is:

LP1/ LP2
Side A
1. I Looked Away
2. Bell Bottom Blues
3. Keep On Growing
4. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out

Side B
1. I Am Yours
2. Anyday
3. Key To The Highway

Side A
1. Tell The Truth
2. Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?
3. Have You Ever Loved A Woman

Side B
1. Little Wing
2. It’s Too Late
3. Layla
4. Thorn Tree In The Garden

LP3 / LP4 – Bonus Material (*denotes previously unreleased on vinyl)
Side A
1. Mean Old World – Layla Session Out-take
2. Roll It Over – Phil Spector Produced Single B-Side
3. Tell The Truth – Phil Spector Produced Single A-Side

Side B
1. It’s Too Late* – Live On The Johnny Cash TV Show, November 5, 1970
2. Got To Get Better In A Little While* – Live On The Johnny Cash TV Show, November 5, 1970
3. Matchbox with Johnny Cash & Carl Perkins* – Live On The Johnny Cash TV Show, November 5, 1970
4. Blues Power* – Live On The Johnny Cash TV Show, November 5, 1970

Side A
1. Snake Lake Blues* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album
2. Evil* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album
3. Mean Old Frisco* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album
4. One More Chance* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album

Side B
1. High – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album
2. Got To Get Better In A Little While Jam* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album
3. Got To Get Better In A Little While* – From April/May 1971 Sessions For The Dominos’ Second Album

Read more about the history of this landmark album here.