Bobby Whitlock, the keyboardist, singer-songwriter and co-founder of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, has died on the age of 77.
Whitlock handed away early Sunday morning (Aug. 10) at 1:20 a.m. following a quick battle with most cancers, his supervisor Carol Kaye confirmed to Variety. He died at his dwelling in Texas, surrounded by household.
Whitlock’s spouse, Coco Carmel Whitlock, honored his extraordinary life in an announcement to TMZ.
“How do you specific in however a couple of phrases the grandness of 1 man who got here from abject poverty within the south to heights unimagined in such a short while?” she mentioned. “My love Bobby checked out life as an journey taking me by the hand main me by means of a world of wonderment from music to poetry and portray. I really feel his arms that have been so intensely expressive and heat on my face and the small of my again each time I shut my eyes, he’s there.”
Born on March 18, 1948, in Memphis, Tenn., Whitlock made historical past as the primary white artist signed to Stax Information when he was nonetheless a youngster within the mid-Sixties. Throughout his time with the legendary label, he carried out alongside soul greats together with Booker T. & the MG’s and Sam & Dave.
In 1968, Whitlock joined Delaney & Bonnie and Mates, a gaggle whose collaborators included future Derek and the Dominos members Eric Clapton, Carl Radle and Jim Gordon. Throughout this era, Whitlock additionally contributed to Clapton’s 1970 self-titled debut album and performed organ and piano on George Harrison’s landmark 1970 launch, All Issues Should Move.
Later that very same 12 months, Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon fashioned Derek and the Dominos. Whitlock co-wrote half the tracks on the band’s first and solely studio album, Layla and Different Assorted Love Songs, together with “Bell Backside Blues” and “Inform the Reality.” Derek and the Dominos launched into a U.S. tour in help of the album, with Elton John serving as their opening act.
“It was their keyboard participant Bobby Whitlock that I watched like a hawk,” John wrote in his autobiography, in response to the Los Angeles Times. “He was from Memphis, discovered his craft hanging round Stax Studios and performed with that soulful, deep Southern gospel really feel.”
Amid escalating drug use and rising private tensions inside the group, Derek and the Dominos cut up in 1971 whereas within the midst of recording their sophomore album. Whitlock went on to launch a string of solo albums within the Nineteen Seventies, starting along with his self-titled debut, which featured contributions from all of the members of Derek and the Dominos, in addition to Harrison. He adopted it later that very same 12 months with Uncooked Velvet.
As a session musician, Whitlock additionally appeared on the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Primary St., Dr. John’s The Solar, Moon & Herbs, and Stephen Stills & Manassas’ Down the Highway.
Whitlock launched extra solo music all through the Nineteen Seventies and returned within the Nineteen Nineties, typically collaborating along with his musical accomplice and future spouse, CoCo Carmel, whom he married in December 2005.
Whitlock is survived by his spouse, CoCo Carmel, and his kids Ashley Faye Brown, Beau Elijah Whitlock, and Tim Whitlock Kelly, in response to the Los Angeles Occasions.