Bobby Whitlock, Derek and the Dominos Co-Founder and Session Player for George Harrison and Others, Dies at 77
Bobby Whitlock, the keyboard player and vocalist who co-founded Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton and played on classic albums like George Harrison‘s “All Things Must Pass,” died Sunday at age 77.
His manager, Carol Kaye, confirmed to Variety that Whitlock died Sunday morning at 1:20 a.m. after a brief bout with cancer.
The Memphis-born musician was signed to Stax Records at an early age and played with artists like Booker T. and the MG’s and Sam & Dave on his way up before becoming an integral member of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during which he forged an alliance on tour with Clapton.
He soon found himself working on “All Things Must Pass,” and with three keyboard players credited on that all-time classic, who played what has been murky. But among the parts he is given credit for is the piano on the track “Beware of Darkness” — which millions of people are hearing play out this weekend as the opening music in the horror hit “Weapons.”
Derek and the Dominos turned out to be a one-album wonder, but what a “one album” — the 1971 double LP “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” is considered by many to be one of rock’s greatest albums. Whitlock co-wrote seven of its tracks, including “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Tell the Truth.”
After the breakup of Derek and the Dominos, he went on to release a series of solo albums in the 1970s, starting with “Bobby Whitlock” in 1972, which included all the members of the recently split group, albeit not all on the same tracks.
He also made an uncredited appearance on the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street,” and made the claim that he was cheated out of a rightful co-writing credit for the song “I Just Want to See His Face.”
His other credits as a guest musician include self-titled albums by Clapton and Doris Troy, Dr. John’s “The Sun, Moon & Herbs” and Stephen Stills & Manassas’ “Down the Road.”
In the early 2000s, he began doing club shows with his wife, CoCo Carmel Whitlock (who formerly was married to Delaney Bramlett), performing the “Layla” songs acoustically.
“The songs on that album are as new today as they were then,” he said in a 2006 interview with the Austin Chronicle. “They just never had anyone perform them that had anything to do with them.” The shows resulted in a live album by the duo, “Other Assorted Love Songs,” in 2003.
After a brief sojourn in Tennessee (“I was a little too soulful for Nashville,” he laughed), Whitlock moved to Austin in 2006. “It reminds me of Memphis in 1965, when it was about the music, and everybody was supportive of everybody. Now I can’t imagine living anyplace else.”
In 2021, Whitlock and his wife moved away from Austin. He had been based in the small town of Ozona, Texas, according to his Facebook page.
In 2010, he released an autobiography, with a foreword by Clapton. Whitlock was inducted into Memphis’ Beale Street Walk of Fame in 2024.
Last year, speaking with the Everything Knoxville site in conjunction with his Memphis honor, Whitlock said, “There was a point in time where I really didn’t think anybody cared. I knew they acknowledged my input on all those great records, you know, ‘Layla’ and ‘All Things Must Pass’ — there’s a list of them. … 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. But when you make them, make them big – ones to remember… All of the sudden, everything seems to have turned around, and I wasn’t looking for it, that’s for sure.
“I knew my input and I was good with it. I was all right with myself whether anybody ever acknowledged anything I’ve ever done or not,” he continued. “I’ve got a great life. I paint every day. I’m really good with doing what I do. It’s just another extension of who I am. And I’ve been blessed in each and every way; everywhere I turn around, you know, it’s just nothing but a blessing for me.”
In recent years, he had undertaken painting and had his artwork displayed in galleries.
Besides his wife, he is survived by three children, Ashley Brown, Beau Whitlock and Tim Whitlock Kelly, and his sister Debbie Wade.
His manager, Carol Kaye, confirmed to Variety that Whitlock died Sunday morning at 1:20 a.m. after a brief bout with cancer.
The Memphis-born musician was signed to Stax Records at an early age and played with artists like Booker T. and the MG’s and Sam & Dave on his way up before becoming an integral member of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during which he forged an alliance on tour with Clapton.
He soon found himself working on “All Things Must Pass,” and with three keyboard players credited on that all-time classic, who played what has been murky. But among the parts he is given credit for is the piano on the track “Beware of Darkness” — which millions of people are hearing play out this weekend as the opening music in the horror hit “Weapons.”
Derek and the Dominos turned out to be a one-album wonder, but what a “one album” — the 1971 double LP “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” is considered by many to be one of rock’s greatest albums. Whitlock co-wrote seven of its tracks, including “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Tell the Truth.”
After the breakup of Derek and the Dominos, he went on to release a series of solo albums in the 1970s, starting with “Bobby Whitlock” in 1972, which included all the members of the recently split group, albeit not all on the same tracks.
He also made an uncredited appearance on the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street,” and made the claim that he was cheated out of a rightful co-writing credit for the song “I Just Want to See His Face.”
His other credits as a guest musician include self-titled albums by Clapton and Doris Troy, Dr. John’s “The Sun, Moon & Herbs” and Stephen Stills & Manassas’ “Down the Road.”
In the early 2000s, he began doing club shows with his wife, CoCo Carmel Whitlock (who formerly was married to Delaney Bramlett), performing the “Layla” songs acoustically.
“The songs on that album are as new today as they were then,” he said in a 2006 interview with the Austin Chronicle. “They just never had anyone perform them that had anything to do with them.” The shows resulted in a live album by the duo, “Other Assorted Love Songs,” in 2003.
After a brief sojourn in Tennessee (“I was a little too soulful for Nashville,” he laughed), Whitlock moved to Austin in 2006. “It reminds me of Memphis in 1965, when it was about the music, and everybody was supportive of everybody. Now I can’t imagine living anyplace else.”
In 2021, Whitlock and his wife moved away from Austin. He had been based in the small town of Ozona, Texas, according to his Facebook page.
In 2010, he released an autobiography, with a foreword by Clapton. Whitlock was inducted into Memphis’ Beale Street Walk of Fame in 2024.
Last year, speaking with the Everything Knoxville site in conjunction with his Memphis honor, Whitlock said, “There was a point in time where I really didn’t think anybody cared. I knew they acknowledged my input on all those great records, you know, ‘Layla’ and ‘All Things Must Pass’ — there’s a list of them. … 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. But when you make them, make them big – ones to remember… All of the sudden, everything seems to have turned around, and I wasn’t looking for it, that’s for sure.
“I knew my input and I was good with it. I was all right with myself whether anybody ever acknowledged anything I’ve ever done or not,” he continued. “I’ve got a great life. I paint every day. I’m really good with doing what I do. It’s just another extension of who I am. And I’ve been blessed in each and every way; everywhere I turn around, you know, it’s just nothing but a blessing for me.”
In recent years, he had undertaken painting and had his artwork displayed in galleries.
Besides his wife, he is survived by three children, Ashley Brown, Beau Whitlock and Tim Whitlock Kelly, and his sister Debbie Wade.