Oh, and it was Jim Gordon, the drummer who had dated Rita during Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
and Duane made Layla what it was.
Despite the lyrics being so marked by Clapton’s personal tribulations, the composition was largely shaped by guest collaborator Duane Allman, who devised that brazenly confrontational intro riff, and who helped transform Clapton’s early, self-pitying balladic draft into a bravura rock showpiece