PDF contains note for note transcription of my solo play through. A minor pentatonic and diatonic scales up the neck.
About
🎸 Bell Bottom Blues – Overview
- Artist: Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clapton’s short-lived supergroup)
- Album: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)
- Written by: Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock
- Genre: Blues rock, classic rock, with deep emotional weight
🎶 What’s It About?
“Bell Bottom Blues” is essentially Clapton pouring his heart out over unrequited love. It was written for Pattie Boyd, who was famously married to George Harrison at the time—and the object of Clapton’s intense affection.
The “bell bottom” part? Totally literal. Pattie apparently asked Clapton to get her a pair of bell-bottom jeans while he was in the U.S. He did—and then wrote a song about it.
But it’s way more than a song about pants. It’s full of longing, pain, obsession, and helplessness:
“Do you want to see me crawl across the floor to you?”
That line? Pure emotional devastation.