News
Bobby Whitlock, Musician and Songwriter, Passes Away at 77
10 Aug 25
Bobby Whitlock, best remembered for his stints with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends and Derek and the Dominos alongside Eric Clapton, passed away in the early hours of August 10. He was 77.
Robert Stanley “Bobby” Whitlock was born on March 18, 1948, and raised in Arkansas and Tennessee. By his teenage years, he was playing on recording sessions at the legendary Stax Studios in Memphis. In 1967, husband and wife duo Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett invited Bobby to join their band after seeing him perform in a Memphis club.
Bobby first met Eric Clapton when Delaney & Bonnie opened for Blind Faith on their 1969 American tour. A Delaney & Bonnie tour of Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia with Eric followed near the end of that year. Soon afterward, Delaney, Bonnie, Bobby, and other friends joined Eric in recording his first solo album in late December 1969 and early 1970.
A few months later, Bobby traveled to England to visit Eric. From that visit, the groundbreaking band Derek and the Dominos was born. Eric and Bobby, along with Carl Radle and Jim Gordon, first helped George Harrison record his solo album All Things Must Pass in May and June 1970. During these sessions, the Dominos recorded their first single but withdrew it from distribution shortly after release. Once the All Things Must Pass sessions ended, the Dominos toured the UK. By late August, they were in Miami’s Criteria Studios to record their debut album. After the Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs sessions concluded in September, the band toured the United States from October through December.
In January 1971, Eric, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon—along with George Harrison, Bobby Keys, and Jim Price—joined Bobby in recording his first solo album. Sessions for the Dominos’ second album began that April, but by the end of May 1971, the group had disbanded before completing it.
In the years after the Dominos’ split, Bobby pursued a solo career. Following his 1976 release Rock Your Sox Off, he stepped away from the music industry until 1999. He hosted his own television show in Ireland for a time, and during the 1980s and 1990s, lived in Mississippi, where he raised his family.
Bobby returned to music in 1999 with It’s About Time. On April 25, 2000, he was reunited with Eric on the BBC television program Later… with Jools Holland. They performed three songs, including the Dominos’ classic “Bell Bottom Blues.”
His autobiography was published in 2010. Bobby was also an accomplished visual artist.
For more on Bobby Whitlock, see Layla’s 40th: The Where’s Eric! Interview with Bobby Whitlock.