Bobby Whitlock, the American blues-rock musician who co-founded the British band Derek & the Dominos alongside Eric Clapton, has died. His manager, Carol Kaye, said in a statement to Variety that Whitlock died earlier this morning following a cancer diagnosis. He was 77 years old.
Born in Memphis, Whitlock was drawn to music at an early age, taking an interest in learning the keyboard and organ. He became the first white artist signed to Stax Records, but he never released anything for the label. He decided to leave Memphis to play music with the rock and soul duo Delaney & Bonnie, meeting Eric Clapton when he also joined the group. Whitlock went on to contribute keys to Clapton’s self-titled 1970 solo album as well as George Harrison’s solo debut, All Things Must Pass, playing organ, piano, harmonium, tubular bells, and backing vocals on several tracks.
Early in the sessions for All Things Must Pass, Clapton and Whitlock teamed up with Carl Radle and Jim Gordon for the short-lived supergroup Derek & the Dominos. Whitlock co-wrote and sang lead on numerous songs from their first and only album, 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. He then embarked on a solo career, releasing a self-titled 1972 album that featured contributions from all of his Derek and the Dominos bandmates and George Harrison. His second album, Raw Velvet, was co-produced by Jimmy Miller, whose connection with the Rolling Stones led to Whitlock him being an uncredited musician on Exile on Main St.
After a few more solo LPs in the 1970s, Whitlock left the music business to live a farm in Mississippi, where he raised his children. In 1999, he returned with the album It’s About Time, and the following year reunited with Eric Clapton for a performance on Jools Holland. In 2010, he published a memoir. “My business is to try to conduct myself as a decent person and a gentleman as much as I can, get through this world, navigate through this without making too many waves,” Whitlock told Everything Knoxville upon being awarded a Brass Music Note on Memphis’ Beale Street Walk of Fame. “But when you make them, make them big – ones to remember. I know the role that I’ve been playing in everyone’s music that I was a part of. Because my addition made that music mine as well – whether it’s a Jeff Healy record or whatever. I put my stamp on it.”
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