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Cover of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos
Cover: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

Song · Derek and the Dominos

“Bell Bottom Blues” by Derek and the Dominos

From the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

“Bell Bottom Blues” by Derek and the Dominos appears on 38 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 1982 and 2026. It was first released in 1970 on the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Its best result is #112 on the WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #973 indie & aaa song of all time.

38countdowns
14stations
#112best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1982–2026years charted

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Bell Bottom Blues

Video from YouTube (Derek & The Dominos - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Bell Bottom Blues" sits on Derek and the Dominos' 1970 double album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, and it's Eric Clapton bleeding in public. He wrote it with Bobby Whitlock, and the ache at its center is Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend George Harrison, a woman he couldn't have and couldn't stop wanting.

They cut it before Duane Allman turned up at the sessions, so Clapton carries every guitar himself, stacking part on part, tossing in chiming harmonics and a solo that bows politely in Harrison's direction. Whitlock's Hammond organ swells underneath and his harmonies drift in and out, Carl Radle holds the bottom on bass, and Jim Gordon adds tabla and a backwards snare to the drums. Tom Dowd oversaw it all. Pure, raw heartbreak, tailored to fit the flares.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 135 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1991 112 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) 500
1996 233 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 333 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 172 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
2002 457 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2004 491 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2009 348 WXPN WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) 885
2011 474 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 323 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 478 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 385 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) 885
2013 506 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 478 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 333 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2014 399 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 969 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 262 WXPN WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) 885
2015 381 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2015 508 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 959 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 476 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2018 425 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 397 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2020 312 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 241 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2022 223 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2023 464 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 601 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 342 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 342 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2023 405 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2024 442 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 293 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2025 335 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 250 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2026 365 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180
2026 161 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 U-Man 500 (2026) 499

Also listed as: Bell Botttom Blues.

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