Anyone listening to Layla?

[vtimpaler]

Bought the Sacd Layla a few weeks ago at BB. I must say it is somewhat improved over any cd version I have heard before. Little wing sounds compressed, but most of the other tracks are much improved. The Sacd even improves on the raw energy of the music. I understand that the technology of the day (30 plus years ago)was not what it is today but I dind myself listening to the whole disc instead of just a few favorites. When listening to Layla I hear guitars that I never heard before, and the piano sound incredible, I can hear the strings and the wood of the piano. I have been waiting for this disc a long time. if you are a fan you should do yourself a favor and really hear it for the first time all over again.

 

[Colonel_Tomb]

I bought it right after it came out. I hate to sound cliche, but you're right, on the title cut I could hear little guitar parts (most if not all from Duane Allman) that I'd never heard before. His contribution to that track is almost incalculable. And the extended piano coda is just heaven on the surround mix . . . I don't care how many times you've heard "Layla" (arguably too many, I know), you need to hear the SACD surround mix with a fine amplifier and speaker array (Adcom separates and B&W 700-series, in my case, but whatever rocks your house).

But there's a down side. The stereo mix (on SACD and CD) is from the original 1970 master tape, which has always sucked beyond belief (unless you like muddled instrumentation, lots of tape noise, and bass placed hard-left, which I doubt you do). The 1990 stereo remix (released with the "Layla Sessions" box) was far superior, and damned if I can figure why they didn't use it again here or (what the hell) remix it again for stereo. Nobody wants to hear that original mix on SACD or anything else!

So if you wanna take "Layla" in the car, take your "Layla Sessions" CD.

 

[rschleicher]

Related to the Layla discussion - just watched a program on our local PBS in HDTV - Eric Clapton's "Crossroads Guitar Festival" concert. I missed the very beginning, but it is/was apparently an all-day concert (or maybe even multiple days - all I know is that some performances were during the day, and some were at night), held someplace in Texas, that Clapton organized. Basically a chance for him to invite a bunch of guitar players that he likes - most of them blues players, but some rock and country, too.

The reason I mention it is that there was a pretty good performance of Layla. I didn't catch the name of the guy who played slide.

The other thing is that Clapton plays with about half of the other artists.

Other artists included:
Robert Cray
Buddy Guy
BB King
Jimmy Vaughn
(Buddy, BB, Jimmy, and EC played together on one song, all sitting in chairs, in deference to BB King, who has gained a lot of weight)
Hubert Sumlin (also jammed with all of the above)
Carlos Santana
Vince Gill (who is a much better player than I realized)
John Mayer (ditto)
Joe Walsh (who did a pretty nice slow blues, backed by Booker T, Steve Cropper, and "Duck" Dunn, which sequed into Funk 49!)
James Taylor (Steamroller Blues, naturally, with Joe Walsh soloing)
closing act was "that little ol' band from Texas", ZZ Top

The concert is available on DVD - definitely worth catching on PBS, especially if you have HDTV capability.

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[Red]

A very good live version of Layla - especially the lead up intro - is on the DVD - One More Car, One More Rider. Also, Badge and She's Gone are excpetional