Layla is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos on their only studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). Its contrasting movements were reportedly composed separately by Clapton and Gordon. 

The song was inspired by a love story that originated in 7th-century Arabia and later formed the basis of The Story of Layla and Majnun by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. The book moved Clapton profoundly, because it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful young girl, went crazy and so could not marry her. The song was further inspired by Clapton's unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison of the Beatles.

This cover was recorded by Quartus in his Stanford studio during July 2021.

Layla

I was privileged to be a teenager during the seventies, a time in history when the best music was written, recorded and performed by the best musicians on the planet. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Queen, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, to name but a few, were ruling the record stores and airwaves. And, oh boy, there was a lot of them and I ate it all up! I had an insatiable appetite for it all. Apart from being a qualified geologist during my working career, the subject matter I had the most knowledge about have always, and will always be, seventies music. I never learned it, I lived it.

I grew up in South Africa, a very conservative society at the time, and where music, amongst other things, was strictly censored. However, if ever you want to risk waving a red flag in front of a bull, you just have to tell a teenager not to do this or listen to that. Amongst these banned songs were Spanish Train by Chris De Burg and Sugarman by an unknown artist called Jesus (Sixto) Rodrigues - or something; nobody was sure but we were going to listen to it.

My generation was part of what happened to Rodrigues and his music in South Africa during the late seventies and is the stuff legends are made off. The full story was beautifully portrayed in the 2012 documentary film Searching for Sugarman, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul.

The collection of Rodrigues songs I have recorded here will never compete with the originals by Sixto, neither was it the intention. I am retired now and have the time to indulge in doing the things I like to do. This is just my way to, and in my own style, re-kindle a past when music was great, but mostly to pay homage to one of the greatest song writers of our time. 
-	Quartus Snyman
        September 2023

Sounds of Sugarman

Hate Street Dialogue

Rich Folks Hoax

Like Janis

Inner City Blues

I Think of You

Crucify Your Mind

Hoekom was written and recorded by Quartus in his Stanford studio on June 19, 2024.

Hoekom

Travelling Riverside Blues

Written by Mike Pinder and first recorded by the Moody Blues in 1970.
Cover art by Jason Rennie


Melancholy Man

"High Hopes" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, composed by guitarist David Gilmour with lyrics by Gilmour and Polly Samson. The song is mostly in the key of C minor, and features the sound of a church bell chiming a 'C' throughout, except for a short section in the middle where the song briefly modulates into E minor for a guitar solo. The lyrics refer to the band's early days in Cambridge, specifically before they started making music. It references landmarks such as "Long Road" and "The Cut", as well as Cambridge as a location for "magnets the miracles". Gilmour has said that the song is more about his early days and leaving his hometown behind than about the seeds of division supposedly planted in Pink Floyd's early days. This version was recorded by Quartus and Lara in October 2025 in their Stanford studio.

High Hopes

"Is There Anybody Out There?" is a song from the eleventh Pink Floyd album, The Wall. It is largely an instrumental, containing few lyrics and mainly consists of a classical guitar solo. David Gilmour has said that he tried to perform it and was not satisfied with the result ("I could play it with a leather pick but couldn't play it properly fingerstyle"). Accordingly, session musician Joe DiBlasi was brought in to record the album part. This version, played with cello and guitar, was arranged and recorded by Quartus and Lara in October 2025 in their Stanford studio.

Is There Anybody Out There

Whiskey Moon over Memphis. Arranged and recorded by Quartus in his Stanford studio - November 2025.

Whiskey Moon Over Memphis

Delta blues composition by Quartus. Recorded using Fender guitars and a Beatbuddy drum pedal. Cover art  “Goodbye Delta Blues” by PK4only.

Delta Melta

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" is a song, from c.1931, with music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first recorded in February 1931 by Ozzie Nelson and also by Wayne King and His Orchestra, with vocal by Ernie Birchill. A popular standard, more than 60 other versions have been recorded, but one of the highest chart ratings was in 1968 by Mama Cass Elliot with The Mamas & the Papas.
This version was recorded by Lara and Quartus on October 16, 2016:
Vocals and Cello: Lara Snyman
Guitar: Quartus Snyman

Dream A Little Dream

"The Actor" is a 1968 song by the progressive rock band, The Moody Blues. Written by band member Justin Hayward, it was first released on their 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord. "The Actor" is one of Justin Hayward's signature love ballads. The song's lyrics tell the story of a young woman who falls in love with an actor. However, this love is unrequited, since she only sees the actor once when "The Curtain rises". In this cover version Quartus plays all instruments and does all vocals. The mellotron sound, an instrument that was widely used by the Moody Blues,  is reproduced using a MEL9 guitar pedal.

The Actor

On the album "Brothers in Arms", The Man's Too Strong is one of three songs with a military theme. The other two are Ride Across The River and Brothers In Arms. 

The lyrics talk of a soldier -- may be a mercenary or a war criminal -- who is making a confession of his guilt and fear. 

In an interview that appears in a book, "Written in my soul" by Bill Flanagan  Knopfler explained the lyrics:

On "The Man's Too Strong" [Brothers in Arms], I tried to do a study in guilt and hatred and fear. On some levels, you can almost see a Hess-like figure, in the depths of Spandau. You might see somebody who's just not at peace with himself. It's always interesting to me that any kind of heavy censorship, like book burnings, has always failed in the long run. That kind of suppression. I was just trying to get in the mind of somebody who's lived his life that way. There's nothing very heavy about it, it's just an experiment in character and playwriting. That song is absolutely not me. It's like Randy Newman talking about being a closet gay truck driver.

Cover photograph credited too Kacper Pempel

This cover version was recorded by Quartus.

The Man's Too Strong

Kingdom of Gold was written and recorded by Mark Knopfler for his 2012 album Privateering. This version was recorded by Quartus in April 2017 doing all vocals and instruments.

Cover art “Drowning” by ash-night-k.

Kingdom Of Gold

"Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel. 

Numerous recordings have been used in films. It is believed to be the second most recorded pop song in history, after "Yesterday" by The Beatles. When sung by female artists the song has often been rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema".

This cover is sung by Lara with accompaniment by Quartus (Taylor 616, Ibanez acoustic bass) with drums courtesy to Beatbuddy.

Cover: “Sugarloaf Mountain and Ipanema Beach at Sunset Rio Dejaneiro Brazil” is a painting by Carol Wisniewski.

The Boy From Ipanema

"Father and Son" is a popular song written and performed by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) on his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. The song frames an exchange between a father not understanding a son's desire to break away and shape a new life, and the son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny.
This rendition was recorded by Quartus and Lara in May 2018.
Quartus: Guitars and vocals
Lara: Cello
Father and Son Painting by Lutz Baar.

Father & Son

The Wind
"The Wind" is a song written and performed by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) on his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat. In this song, Stevens examines spirituality and fate. His philosophical quest led him to convert to Islam in 1977.
This rendition was recorded by Quartus in June 2018.
Quartus: Guitar and vocals
Cover art: Modern sculpture titled "Love Alone" by George Holloway on the Hermanus cliffs in South Africa

The Wind

Where Do You Think You're Going?
“Where Do You Think You're Going?", song written by Mark Knopfler and first recorded by Dire Straits on their 1979 album Communiqué.
This version recorded in Stanford WC by Quartus in April 2019 using:
Taylor CE616
Taylor GS Mini Bass
Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster
Beat buddy

Where Do You Think You're Going

Yesterday
This song written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. "Yesterday" is a melancholy ballad about the break-up of a relationship. The singer nostalgically laments for yesterday when he and his love were together, before she left because of something he said. 

This cover was recorded by Lara (cello parts and vocals) and Quartus (guitars) in his Stanford studio, April 2, 2020.

Cover painting courtesy Marlina Vera.

Yesterday

"Woman" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from his 1980 album Double Fantasy and it was the first Lennon single issued after his murder on 8 December 1980. 

Woman saw Lennon moving away from specific lyrics about Ono. He gave the song an almost universal appeal, and during the recording sessions told the musicians: “It’s for your mother, or your sister, anyone of the female race.”

This cover was recorded by Quartus (vocals and guitar) and Lara (cello) at their Stanford studio in April 2020.
Cover painting courtesy Kai Carpenter

Woman

"Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album Days of Future Passed.

Justin Hayward wrote and composed the song at age 19 in Swindon, and titled the song after a girlfriend gave him a gift of satin bedsheets. The song itself was a tale of a yearning love from afar. Hayward said of the song, "It was just another song I was writing and I thought it was very powerful. It was a very personal song and every note, every word in it means something to me and I found that a lot of other people have felt that very same way about it."

This cover was recorded by Quartus and Lara in their Stanford studio in April 2020. It remains a stern favourite of their Peaches & Diesel performances but for many years remained unrecorded.

Quartus – Guitars and vocals
Lara – Cello parts

Nights In White Satin

"Landslide" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and performed by British-American music group Fleetwood Mac in 1975. Nicks says she wrote this song while contemplating going back to school or continuing on professionally with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. She wrote the song while visiting Aspen, Colorado, sitting in someone's living room "looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us ... at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways.

This cover was recorded by Lara (vocals) and Quartus (Guitar) in August 2020 at their studio in Stanford, Western Cape.

Cover photo by Izak van der Walt.

Landslide

"Nine Million Bicycles" is a song written by Mike Batt for Katie Melua. According to Melua, the inspiration for the song came during a visit to Beijing with her manager Mike Batt. Their interpreter showed them around the city and told them that there are supposedly nine million bicycles in the city.

In 2005, Melua was criticised by writer and scientist Simon Singh for inaccurate lyrics referring to the size of the observable universe ("We are 12 billion light-years from the edge. That's a guess — no one can ever say it's true"). Melua re-recorded a tongue-in-cheek version of the song for BBC that had been written by Singh: "We are 13.7 billion light-years from the edge of the observable universe; that's a good estimate with well-defined error bars/and with the available information, I predict that I will always be with you". Melua later said that she 'should have known better' as she used to be a member of the Astronomy club at school

This cover was recorded by Lara (vocals and cello) and Quartus (guitar and bass) in their Stanford studio during September 2020.

Cover photograph courtesy of Uważaj co śpiewasz.

Nine Million Bicycles

Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad. The song lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The melody is in Dorian mode and is very typical of the middle English period. It was recorded by a number of musicians in the twentieth century, including the version by the 1960s folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel on which this cover is based.

Quartus and Lara recorded this version in January 2021 in their Stanford studio (some bird song also slipped into the recording from a birds nest outside the studio).

Quartus

Popular tracks