Bell Bottom Blues (1970 song)

Single infobox
Name = Bell Bottom Blues


Artist = Derek and the Dominos
from Album = Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Released = 1970 (album)
Format = Vinyl album
Recorded = Criteria Studios, Miami, 1970
Genre = Blues-rock
Length = 5:01
Label = Atco Records
Producer = Tom Dowd
Chart position =
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* "All Music Guide" [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:zy7m961oheq6 link]
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"Bell Bottom Blues" is a song written by Eric Clapton and performed by Derek and the Dominos. It deals with unrequited love and appears on the album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs".

As Duane Allman's debut does not come until the album's fourth track (the blues standard "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"), "Bell Bottom Blues" features only Clapton on guitar; Clapton compensates for this by overdubbing rhythm and lead parts. The track is likely the second-best known cut from the album, surpassed only by the famous title track, "Layla".

Bell-bottoms are a style of trousers that were popular at the time. According to Clapton, [Eric Clapton: The autobiography (Broadway Books, 2007)] the song was written for Pattie Boyd after she requested him to get her a pair of bell bottom blue jeans from the USA. Clapton wrote the song for her, as many others in the album such as "I Looked Away". Clapton has played this song throughout his career as one of his standards for live shows. In the past years, he has played the song as part of the acoustic set in every performance. He played the song along with Bobby Whitlock in the "Jools Holland Show" in 2003.

References