5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Bobby Whitlock, Keyboardist for Derek and the Dominos, Dies at 77
Bobby Whitlock, the Memphis-born keyboardist and singer-songwriter who with Eric Clapton helped found Derek and the Dominos, the supergroup behind the landmark song 'Layla,' and who also played, along with Mr. Clapton, on George Harrison's 1970 tour de force triple album, 'All Things Must Pass,' died on Sunday at his home in Ozona, Texas. He was 77.
His death was confirmed by his manager, Carol Kaye, who said he had been in hospice care for cancer.
In the 1970s, at the peak of his career, Mr. Whitlock released four solo albums and played on celebrated records like the Rolling Stones' 'Exile on Main St.' (1972), but he was best known for his multiple career stops with Mr. Clapton.
The two first played together in Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, a rock-soul revue led by the husband and wife Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. The act was known as much for its famous 'friends' — including Duane and Gregg Allman, Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge, as well as Mr. Clapton and Mr. Harrison — as for hits like 'Never Ending Song of Love,' which rose to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971.
In 1970, Mr. Whitlock and Mr. Clapton peeled off with two other contributors to that band, the bassist Carl Radle and the drummer Jim Gordon, to form Derek and the Dominos. (Duane Allman also recorded with the group)
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