This is the another installment in my series of favorite records. The list so far is here.

After Eric Clapton toured with and later became a member of Delaney & Bonnie, he and some other former members of that band began touring as a new band and gathered in August of 1970, with Duane Allman sitting in, to make a record. The result was Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Many believe this is Clapton's finest work, and I agree.

Everyone knows the title track, and it's a great one. But to know this record only for that song is a mistake, because it contains several other masterpieces, including a blistering version of Have You Ever Loved a Woman and the wonderful Clapton penned Bell Bottom Blues.

Duane Allman's unparalleled slide guitar sounds as great on this record as any Allman Brothers record.

The under-appreciated force on this record, however, is keyboardist Bobby Whitlock. He co-wrote five of the best songs on the record (including Anyday, the second best song on the record, behind Layla) and wrote one of the best assorted love songs, Thorn Tree in the Garden.

This record is an obvious must-have for any music collection.

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