Bobby Whitlock, the singer and keyboardist who formed Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton, has died. He was 77.
The Memphis-born musician also played on George Harrison’s 1970 album All Things Must Pass, among many other classic recordings.
His death was confirmed by his manager Carol Kaye, who told CBS News he died of cancer in the early hours of Sunday morning, surrounded by his family in Texas.
In a statement, Whitlock’s wife, Coco Carmel Whitlock, said: “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?
“As he would always say: ‘Life is what you make it, so take it and make it beautiful.’ And he did. Farewell my Love, I’ll see you in my dreams.”
Whitlock, whose given names were Robert Stanley, was born on March 18, 1948. As a teenager, he met and befriended the musicians recording at Stax Studios in Memphis, and learned to play the organ from soul acts like Booker T. & the M.G.’s and Sam & Dave.
His first credited recordings came when he sang and played keyboards on a pair of Delaney & Bonnie albums in 1969, Home and Accept No Substitute.
While touring with Delaney & Bonnie, Whitlock was introduced to the guitarist Eric Clapton. The Delaney & Bonnie and Friends band backed Clapton on his self-titled debut solo album in 1970, and the same year, Whitlock and Clapton formed a new band with bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon: Derek and the Dominos.
The blues-rock group released just one album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, in November 1970. It featured several songs co-written by Whitlock, notably “Bell Bottom Blues”. He shared the vocals with Clapton on much of the record, and took the lead on “Keep on Growing” and “Thorn Tree in the Garden”.
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The four also played together on former Beatle George Harrison’s triple album All Things Must Pass, and on Dr John’s The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971).
In 1972, Whitlock released his self-titled solo album, which featured appearances from Harrison and all the members of Derek and the Dominos. He put out a second solo record, Raw Velvet, just a few months later, followed by One of a Kind (1975) and Rock Your Sox Off (1976).
In the 1980s, Whitlock moved to a farm in Mississippi and did occasional session work while raising his children. He didn’t resume his solo career until 1999’s It’s About Time. The following year, he reunited with Clapton to play “Bell Bottom Blues” on Later… with Jools Holland. In 2010 he published a memoir, Bobby Whitlock: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Autobiography.
Whitlock is survived by his wife, his three children Ashley Brown, Beau Whitlock and Tim Whitlock Kelly, and his sister Debbie Wade.
