Lay Down Sally Explained

Lay Down Sally
Cover:	Lay Down Sally cover.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Eric Clapton
Album:	Slowhand
B-Side:	Cocaine
Released:	November 1977
Recorded:	Olympic Studios in Barnes, London^[1]
Genre:	Roots rock^[2] country rock^[3]
Length:	3:50
Label:	RSO
Producer:	Glyn Johns
Prev Title:	Carnival
Prev Year:	1977
Next Title:	Wonderful Tonight
Next Year:	1977

"Lay Down Sally" is a song performed by Eric Clapton, and written by Clapton, Marcy Levy, and George Terry. It appeared on his November 1977 album Slowhand, and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Background

"Lay Down Sally" is a country blues song performed in the style of J. J. Cale. Clapton also attributed other members of his band – Carl Radle of Oklahoma, George Terry, Jamie Oldaker and others – as influencing the song.^[4] Clapton explained, "It's as close as I can get, being English, but the band being a Tulsa band, they play like that naturally. You couldn't get them to do an English rock sound, no way. Their idea of a driving beat isn't being loud or anything. It's subtle."

Billboard magazine described Clapton's vocal as "low key but earthy" and also praised Marcy Levy's backing vocals.^[5] Cash Box praised Clapton's "guitar finesse."^[6]

The single was a crossover country music hit, reaching No. 26 in April 1978, Clapton's best showing on the Hot Country Songs chart. "Lay Down Sally" was a significant part of the soundtrack of the 2013 film August: Osage County, in which the song was played as the intro music and twice more later in the film.^[7]

Personnel

• Eric Clapton – electric guitars, vocals
• Marcy Levy – backing vocals
• Yvonne Elliman – backing vocals
• George Terry – electric guitar
• Carl Radle – electric bass
• – electric piano
• Jamie Oldaker – drums
• Glyn Johns – Producer

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1977–1978)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	57
Canadian Adult Contemporary^[8]	1
Canadian CHUM Singles^[9]	2
Canadian Country Singles^[10]	49
Canadian Singles Chart^[11]	3
French Singles Chart	12
Hungarian Singles Chart	2
Italian Singles Chart^[12]	38
Japanese Singles Chart	5
New Zealand Singles Chart^[13]	16
Swedish Singles Chart^[14]	8
UK Singles Chart^[15]	39
US Billboard Adult Contemporary^[16]	25
US Billboard Country Songs^[17]	26
US Billboard Hot 100^[18]	3
US Cashbox Singles^[19]	3
US Record World Singles	8

Year-end charts

Chart (1978)	Rank
Canadian Singles Chart^[20]	29
Japanese Singles Chart	81
New Zealand Singles Chart	47
US Billboard Hot 100^[21]	15
US Cashbox Singles	16

Certifications

Covers

• Red Sovine, a country singer best known for his sentimental recitations and truck-driving songs, recorded a cover version that – save for the mid-song guitar bridge – closely resembled the Clapton original. Sovine's version reached No. 70 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the summer of 1978, and was the last charting single released in his lifetime.

• Jerry Garcia Band covered the song extensively from 1990 to 1995.^[23]

• Asleep at the Wheel covered the song on their 1995 album The Wheel Keeps on Rollin. Their version peaked at number 70 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada in 1996.^[24]

Bibliography

• Book: Fuld, William. 1998. The New Zealand Charts – A Red Chart?. Fuld Pressings. 3 .
• Book: Hoffmann, Frank. 1983. The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950–1981. The Scarecrow Press, Inc.. 978-0810815957 .
• Book: Kent, David . Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . Australian Chart Book . . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6 . December 24, 2015 . dead . https://archive.today/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ . March 5, 2016 .
• Book: Tatsaku, Ren. The Oricon Sales Report. December 2011. Tokyo, Japan. Oricon Style – Recording Industry Association of Japan. ja .
• Gerry. Wood. Billboard International. Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 90. 42. 0006-2510. October 21, 1978. December 24, 2015 .
• Olivier. Zameczkowski. Hits of the World > France. Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 90. 5. 0006-2510. February 5, 1978. December 24, 2015 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Welch, Chris. Clapton - Updated Edition: The Ultimate Illustrated History. 2016. Voyageur Press. 978-0-76035-019-5. 183.
2. Book: Don Breithaupt. Steely Dan's Aja. 2007. A & C Black. 978-0-8264-2783-0. 87.
3. Book: Welch, Chris. Clapton - Updated Edition: The Ultimate Illustrated History. 2016. Voyageur Press. 978-0-76035-019-5. 195.
4. Book: Pidgeon, John. Eric Clapton: A Biography. 1985. Vermillion & Company. 103. 0-09-160161-4.
5. News: Top Single Picks. Billboard. 2020-07-10. 144. December 24, 1977.
6. News: CashBox Singles Reviews. December 24, 1977. 16. Cash Box. 2021-12-26.
7. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Of 'August: Osage County' To Be Released On. PR Newswire.com. 2015-08-04.
8. RPM Adult Oriented Playlist. RPM Magazine. Library and Archives Canada. 29. 4. Canada. April 22, 1978. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313004909/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5507&type=2&interval=20&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3. March 13, 2016. dead.
9. Web site: 1050 CHUM – CHUM Charts > Clapton, Eric . CHUM 1050 AM . CHUM Limited . Canada . 2005 . December 24, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060222003516/http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx?artist=7675 . February 22, 2006 .
10. RPM Country Playlist. RPM Magazine. Library and Archives Canada. 29. 8. Canada. May 20, 1978. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151224193616/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4582&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062. December 24, 2015. dead.
11. RPM 100 Top Singles. RPM Magazine. Library and Archives Canada. 29. 4. Canada. April 22, 1978. December 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151224214304/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5501a&type=2&interval=20&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3. December 24, 2015. dead.
12. Web site: M&D: Classifiche > Eric Clapton. Musica e dischi. Musicaedischi.it. Look for Clapton releases.. it. Italy. December 24, 2015.
13. Web site: charts.nz – Eric Clapton – Lay Down Sally. Recorded Music NZ. Steffen Hung – Hung Medien. New Zealand. December 24, 2015.
14. Web site: Sverigetopplistan – Eric Clapton – Lay Down Sally . Sverigetopplistan . Swedish Recording Industry Association . Sweden . sv . December 24, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151224114358/http://www.directupload.net/file/d/4212/l53f2ksd_png.htm . December 24, 2015 .
15. Web site: Official Singles Chart Top 50 | Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Officialcharts.com. United Kingdom. January 15, 1978. December 24, 2015.
16. Web site: Eric Clapton – Chart history | Billboard > Adult Contemporary. Billboard Magazine. Prometheus Global Media. United States. December 24, 2015.
17. Web site: Eric Clapton | Awards | AllMusic. AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. United States. December 24, 2015.
18. Web site: Eric Clapton – Chart history | Billboard > Hot 100. Billboard Magazine. Prometheus Global Media. United States. December 24, 2015.
19. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles . Cash Box Magazine . Cashboxmagazine.com . United States . April 8, 1978 . December 24, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121004085920/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/19780408.html . October 4, 2012 .
20. Top 200 Singles of 1978. https://archive.today/20120729104231/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0070a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062. dead. July 29, 2012. RPM Magazine. Library and Archives Canada. 30. 14. Canada. December 30, 1978. December 24, 2015.
21. Top Pop Singles. Billboard Magazine. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 90. 51. 82. 0006-2510. United States. December 23, 1978. December 24, 2015.
22. Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart. Billboard. 10 December 2018.
23. Web site: Lay Down Sally . The Jerry Site . 2014-01-18 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140121041537/http://www.thejerrysite.com/songs/show/1070 . 2014-01-21 .
24. Web site: RPM Country Tracks. RPM. April 15, 1996. September 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141221174040/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.2943&type=1&interval=24. December 21, 2014. dead.