Bobby Whitlock,the co-founder of Derek And The Dominos has passed away. He was 77- years old.
Alongside Eric Clapton, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gorson, the keyboard player formed the the group in 1970.
Carol Kaye, Whitlock’s manager confirmed the news of his death, telling ABC Audio “With profound sadness, the family of Bobby Whitlock announced his passing at 1:20am on Aug. 10 after a brief illness. He passed in his home in Texas, surrounded by family.”
As it turned out Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs was The Dominos’ only LP, and while it was commercial flop upon its initial 1970 release, the full length went on to become somewhat of a cult classic, and was subsequently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.
Bobby originally joined soul duo Delaney (Bramlett) and Bonnie (Bramlett) And Friends in the ’60s, and played with the likes of Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Rita Coolidge, King Curtis and others, for the supergroup.
After the demise of Derek and The Dominos in 1971, Whitlock played the organ and piano on tracks for late Beatles star George Harrison’s debut solo album All Things Must Pass, and although uncredited, he also played on The Rolling Stones’ 1972 LP Exile On Main St. He later claimed he and Mick Taylor were the original co-writers of ‘I Just Want to See His Face’ from the album.
In an interview with writer Bill Janovitz, Whitlock alleged “There were two songs I was playing on, one of them was about: (starts singing) ‘I don’t want to talk about Jesus/I just wanna see his face.’… that happened in Olympic Studios… I was in England.”
Whitlock went on to make music with his wife CoCo Carmel who he married in 2005, and his final record was their 2012 collection Esoteric. That same year the couple released their final LP and renewed their wedding vows in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Kovalam, Kerala.
Bobby Whitlock is survived by CoCo, his three children, Ashley Brown, Beau Whitlock and Tim Whitlock Kelly, and sister Debbie Wade.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Atco Records – Public Domain