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ROIn a 1989 interview for MTV’s “Rockumentary” program, Eric Clapton famously admitted that he cannot play the signature “Layla” riff and sing the chorus at the same time.. When asked directly if it was true that he couldn’t do both simultaneously, he replied, “No, it’s true, I can’t”. He further explained the difficulty:
- Said that, the guitar and vocal parts are “completely opposing lines,” making the coordination almost impossible to execute.
- Clapton joked that trying to “work it out” would make someone “go mad”.
- Because of this limitation, he typically relies on a second guitarist in his touring band to handle the main riff during the chorus while he focuses on the vocals.
He only managed to perform the song as a “one-man” piece by reconfiguring it for his Unplugged album, where he removed the original riffs, changed the tempo to a shuffle, and sang an octave lower.
#layla #ericclapton #guitar #80s #mtv
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