Bobby Whitlock dead: Co-founder of blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos dies aged 77
The star's manager, Carole Kaye, shared the news on Sunday, revealing Bobby had passed away at 1:20am at his home in Texas, USA. His passing came after a battle against cancer.
As well as being a music maker in his own right, Bobby worked as a sessions musician and played with some of the biggest names in modern music history. He played with Beatles legend George Harrison on his album All Things Must Pass.
And Eric Clapton was his co-star in the band Derek and the Dominos. The duo became close after playing together after Bobby performed in Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.
Born in Memphis, the singer was signed to Stax Records and released his first album in 1972. His most recent solo album was Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The ABC-Dunhill Recordings in 2013.
Bobby's wife, CoCo Carmel Whitlock, shared a heartbreaking tribute following his death on Sunday. TMZ reports her saying: "How do you express in but a few words the grandness of one man who came from abject poverty in the south to heights unimagined in such a short time?
"My love Bobby looked at life as an adventure taking me by the hand leading me through a world of wonderment from music to poetry and painting.."
She added: "I feel his hands that were so intensely expressive and warm on my face and the small of my back whenever I close my eyes, he is there." The couple had been married since 2005 - when they tied-the-knot in a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas Eve.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- The Guardian
Bobby Whitlock obituary
In a career that found him collaborating with some of the most illustrious musicians of his era, including George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Sam & Dave, Booker T & the MGs, Dr John and Stephen Stills, it was his work with Eric Clapton that rubber-stamped Bobby Whitlock's place in rock'n'roll history. In particular, he will be remembered for his writing and playing contributions to the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970), often considered Clapton's finest achievement. Clapton first came across Whitlock, a keyboard player and singer, who has died of cancer aged 77, when he was a member of the rock-soul act Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (formed by the married couple Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett). Clapton liked them so much that he recruited them as the opening act for his band Blind Faith on their sole tour in 1969, and they would also appear on Clapton's first solo album, Eric Clapton (1970). The live album On Tour with Eric Clapton (1970) cracked the US Top 30 and was Delaney & Bonnie's most successful release. Whitlock quit the Delaney & Bonnie band after recording their album To Bonnie from Delaney (1970), and hooked up with Clapton in England. Along with two further Delaney & Bonnie alumni, the bassist Carl Radle and the drummer Jim Gordon, the foursome became Derek and the Dominos, a name designed to give Clapton a measure of anonymity after his 'supergroup' excesses with Cream and Blind Faith. As Whitlock put it to the Best Classic Bands website: 'He wanted to be Derek, not Eric. He wasn't ready to step into his role as a solo artist at that time.' The Layla double album (recorded at Criteria studios in Miami) was a pivotal release in Clapton's history. It reached only No 16 on the US chart and did not chart at all in Britain, but its reputation grew steadily over succeeding decades. It was a momentous feat for Whitlock too, since he co-wrote six of the album's songs with Clapton, including Bell Bottom Blues, Anyday, Tell the Truth and Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?, and played acoustic guitar and sang on his solo composition Thorn Tree in the Garden. This was a feverishly creative period, since the Dominos band came together while all four members were simultaneously involved in recording Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass, his first solo effort since the demise of the Beatles. When Harrison took a break from the sessions, he invited the foursome to use the studio, which enabled the Dominos to record their first single, Tell the Truth, with Roll It Over (another Clapton/Whitlock composition) for the B side. Intriguingly, while Clapton was inspired to write Layla's title song by his infatuation with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, Whitlock dated Pattie's sister, Paula, while he was in Britain. Whitlock later sold his rights to royalties from Derek and the Dominos, but Clapton and his management helped him to get them back. Bobby was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to James Whitlock and his wife, Ruby, and grew up in the city's Millington district. James was a Baptist preacher renowned for his fiery oratory, traces of which could be discerned in his son's singing. Bobby also first played the piano in his father's church. As a teenager, Bobby could frequently be found at Memphis's renowned Stax Records, where he got to know many of the local artists, including Booker T & the MGs, Albert King and Sam & Dave. He added handclaps to Sam & Dave's 1968 classic I Thank You. 'It was a great time and town for music then, especially soul music,' he recalled. 'It was loose and all about music everywhere that you turned.' As a professional musician Whitlock cut his teeth playing keyboards in the local bands the Short Cuts and the Counts, and Stax planned to record an album with him on its subsidiary label, Hip Records, making him the first white artist signed to Stax. However, Whitlock felt that they were trying to turn him into a lightweight pop artist – 'It turned out to be bubblegum garbage music that they recorded with me' – so he was delighted to be recruited by the Bramletts instead. He travelled to Los Angeles to join them, and as he recalled it: 'We started Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, just Delaney and Bonnie and myself.' Whitlock asserted that Derek and the Dominos were 'the very best band on the planet … We were better than anybody,' but their progress was cut short by a surfeit of drugs and alcohol. The rock critic Robert Palmer described how he visited the Layla recording sessions in Miami and found that 'there was a lot of dope around, especially heroin, and when I showed up, everyone was just spread out on the carpet, nodded out.' The Dominos split in 1971 after an abortive attempt to record a second album, though all the band members as well as the Bramletts and Harrison appeared on Whitlock's debut solo album, Bobby Whitlock (1972). Reflecting on the Dominos in the Houston Press, Whitlock commented that 'I am very happy that the one studio record was the 'one' and that was it. It never will have anything other than itself to be compared to.' He would release three more solo albums during the 70s, while his other musical activities included adding vocals to Dr John's album The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971) and an appearance on the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street (1972). For the latter, Whitlock claimed he had co-written the track I Just Want to See His Face, but was not given a songwriting credit. In 1973 he played organ on Down the Road, the second album by Stephen Stills's band Manassas, but found himself deprived of a songwriting credit for the track City Junkies, which was based on a jam between Whitlock and the drummer Dallas Taylor. During the 80s and 90s, Whitlock largely retired from music and retreated to a farm in Mississippi. He made a musical comeback in 1999 with the album It's About Time. On Christmas Eve 2005 he married CoCo Carmel, a musician who had been married to Delaney Bramlett from 1987 to 2000, and the pair of them recorded several albums and made regular live appearances. From 2006 to 2021 they lived in Austin, then moved to Ozona, Texas. In recent years he became a keen painter, and frequently had his work displayed in galleries. In 2010 he published a memoir, Bobby Whitlock: A Rock'n'Roll Autobiography, co-authored with Marc Roberty and with a foreword by Clapton. In May 2024 he was awarded a brass note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis, an event he commemorated with a new song, Walking on Beale Street. He is survived by CoCo, his children Ashley, Beau and Tim, and his sister, Debbie. Robert Stanley Whitlock, musician, singer and songwriter, born 18 March 1948; died 10 August 2025
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Vegas' oldest hotel ditches live table games: ‘we couldn't be more excited'
Las Vegas's oldest hotel is replacing all of its tables using real cards and dealers and replacing them with electronic gaming versions. The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino is"reimagining" its casino floor and, in a Downtown Vegas first, removing live dealers, according to Circa Resort & Casino CEO Derek Stevens. "Big changes are coming to the Golden Gate, and we couldn't be more excited. As the oldest hotel in Las Vegas, we've always embraced the future, and now we're reimagining our casino floor with a high-energy electronic table games pit unlike anything downtown has seen," Stevens said in his statement. The workers who will be displaced by the change are being offered roles at other company casinos, or the chance to try something new within the organization. "All of our table games team members at the Golden Gate are being offered roles at Circa or the D, or the opportunity to explore new departments within the company," Stevens wrote. He promised "more excitement, faster gameplay, and all the newest machines" on the 118-year-old casino's floor. It's unclear exactly when the change will go into effect. While casinos have long featured electronic games like slot machines and video poker, most major venues also have live tables for poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and other games. Most casinos — if they have electronic table games at all — have them alongside traditional tables with human dealers. Last year, the Silver Sevens, which is an off-Strip Vegas casino, moved to hybrid tables that have a human dealer but do not use chips and use a terminal for placing bets. In 2021, the Resorts Casino & Hotel in Atlantic City introduced a slew of electronic table games to its floor, though those games exist alongside other live casino games.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Las Vegas casino dumps human dealers for computers as soaring prices and Trump boycotts decimate tourism industry
The oldest casino in Las Vegas is replacing all human dealers with electronic table games as soaring prices and tourist boycotts continue to drive visitors away. The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino is 'reimagining' its casino floor and will no longer have live table dealer games, owner and Circa CEO Derek Stevens has revealed. Although electronic table games have been in casinos around the globe for decades, the Golden Gate will be the first hotel in downtown Las Vegas to completely eliminate human dealers from all of its tables. 'We've always embraced the future, and now we're reimagining our casino floor with a high-energy electronic table games pit unlike anything downtown has seen,' Stevens said in a statement to KLAS. Although the CEO did not specify what inspired the change, he teased that visitors can expect 'more excitement, faster gameplay, and all the newest machines'. Industry experts expect the electronic table games market in the US to grow from $2.7 billion in 2024 to $4.9 billion by 2033, according to a recent study by Market Statsville Group. Proponents of the tables argue the devices increase accuracy and efficiency, optimize casino floor space, increase revenue and reduce operating costs because they require fewer dealers and pit supervisors than live tables. All Golden Gate table games members will have the opportunity to pursue roles in other departments or at other hotels in the Circa family. All though electronic table games have been in casinos around the globe for decades, the Golden Gate will be the first hotel in downtown Las Vegas to completely eliminate human dealers from all of its tables Electronic table games can operate in three ways: dealer-controlled, non-dealer controlled or stadium gaming. In a dealer-controlled game, a human will facilitate the game as players make bets and receive payouts on individual terminals, the Market Statsville Group report says. A non-dealer controlled game is fully automated and virtual, with outcomes determined by a random number generated or fully automated device. In these settings, players will only interact with their electronic terminal. The stadium gaming configuration is largely popular among casinos and involves displaying a live dealer or automated game on a large screen. Multiple players participate in the game from their individual terminals, creating a communal atmosphere. Proponents of electronic table games say they make casino gambling more accessible due to their lower minimum bet requirement and user-friendly interfaces. Experts claim players find an electronic interface is less intimidating, offers more privacy and is easier to switch between games. But the biggest appeal to switch from traditional table games to electronic is likely the financial benefit that casinos will see. The average salary of a Las Vegas casino table worker ranges from $22,500 to $40,000 annually, according to 2023 figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many casinos across Vegas have already begun phasing out $5 and $10 minimum bets at live tables, the Las-Vegas Review Journal reports. Revenue earned at low-valued tables reportedly does not off-set the casino's hourly cost of a dealer, or three at a craps table. It is unclear what an electronic table game costs to acquire and operate, but the Market Statsville Group study did find the devices significantly lower labor expenses. Electronic games also lead to increased revenue and high coin-in due to their lower bet minimums and ability for faster play, the report states. Stevens made no mention to cost-cutting measures in his statement, but the latest data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority suggests the city's tourism industry is hurting. Sin City tourism is down 11 percent and overall visits to Las Vegas are down more than 6 percent this year, the figures show. Workers across several industries claim tipping in the city has plunged by as much as 50 percent. Service workers are blaming a sharp drop in visitors, which they say has left them with fewer customers and lower pay. Others are pointing fingers at President Donald Trump, saying his presidency has led to a drop in international visitors, while some say the real problem is Vegas itself. The city only welcomed 3.39 million visitors in March, down almost eight percent from 3.68million in February. April saw just over 3.3 million visitors, a drop of 5.1 percent from last year. Hotels were 82.9 percent full the same month, compared with 85.3 percent in March 2024. Midweek occupancy recorded a decline of 2.5 percent in the same period, despite more than half a million people attending conferences there. And in June, there was a reported 11.3 percent drop in visitors compared to June 2024, while international travel to the city has fallen 10 percent. Stevens last week slammed reports that Vegas tourism has hit a 'dramatic low', telling Fox News that he thinks the data is a 'bit exaggerated'. 'In specific pockets, like where we at Circa Las Vegas are located in downtown — I think people feel there's maybe a little better value. Things were really booming,' Stevens said. The casino boss did admit that international tourism is on a decline, but he believes that is heavily due to the overall global economy and currency exchange rates. Stevens further predicted that 'in six months, I would believe that Vegas tourism and our economy overall will be in a much better place'.
