My Top 1000 Songs #475: Bell Bottom Blues

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

One of the weathered classic rock chestnuts that survived the great collegiate classic rock purge, "Bell Bottom Blues," like the title track on Derek & The Dominos' 1970 Layla LP, manages to rise above the Clapton baggage. And maybe it all comes down to that rising "I don't wanna fade away" refrain--something I still remember hearing for the first time on the FM dial as a kid and just thinking it was the most perfect little hook ever.

Eric Clapton & Bobby Whitlock in 2000:

Clapton acoustic live 1991:

Nice version from Tedeschi Trucks Band, 2021:

And yet another drop-dead cover (better than the original?) from the Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs collaboration: