Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Eric Clapton Songs

Clapton's absolute obsession with Pattie Boyd came to a boiling point when he wrote "Layla." "I was driven by my obsession," he wrote in his memoir. "'Layla' was the key song, a conscious attempt to speak to Pattie about the fact that she was holding me off and wouldn't come move in with me." Eric first wrote the song as a ballad, but Duane Allman helped him shape it into a rocker. The piano coda was composed by Derek and the Dominos drummer Jim Gordon. (Sadly, Jim suffered from schizophrenia and in 1983, he killed his mother with a hammer.) At seven minutes and four seconds, the song didn't get much radio play when it first came out. A year later, it was rereleased as a single and the world finally caught on. It's since become his most beloved song, and in this poll, it annihilated the competition.