Bobby Whitlock (born March 18, 1948 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for being a member of blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memphis soul acts such as Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the MG's before he joined Delaney & Bonnie and Friends in 1968. His association with Delaney & Bonnie bandmate Clapton led to Whitlock participating in sessions for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass triple album (1970), in London, and the formation of Derek and the Dominos that year. On the band's sole studio album, the critically acclaimed Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970), Whitlock wrote or co-wrote six of the album's fourteen tracks, including "Tell the Truth", "Anyday" and "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?" (More from Wikipedia)
Shortly after Blind Faith broke up, Eric Clapton began playing as a sideman with a completely different group, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, a rock/soul collaboration of Delaney Bramlett and his wife Bonnie Bramlett with a whole parade of musicians: Besides Clapton, Wikipedia lists Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.
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Eric Clapton continued to keep a relatively low profile in order to counter the star worship that he was attracting. In 1970, Eric Clapton assembled another band consisting of the rhythm section from Delaney & Bonnie and Friends – Bobby Whitlock (keyboardist and vocals), Carl Radle (bass) and Jim Gordon (drums) – plus Dave Mason on guitar. This quintet backed George Harrison on his monumental solo album, All Things Must Pass.
Eric Clapton was then interested in turning them into a proper band; he first suggested the name Eric Clapton and Friends, but that seemed too much like Delaney & Bonnie and Friends to suit others in the group. There are several stories as to how they took the name Derek and the Dominos, but "Derek" seems clearly derived from "Eric", and Fats Domino might have inspired the band name. As it happened, Dave Mason was present only at their first concert in June 1970, before they even took that name.
(May 2014)
