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Bobby Whitlock and Coco Carmel

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steved
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I have been watching videos of Bobby's wife Coco doing little interviews with him about his career. One recorded yesterday called Falling Stars talks about Eric and Duane during the Layla sessions. Most of the time Bobby's recollections seem accurate.

Bobby said the last time he saw Duane was when the Layla sessions were completed even though Duane played 2 shows with the Dominos afterward. Hmm.

However he then perpetuates the story of Duane hitting a peach truck and how cold hearted Phil Walden was for putting a peach on the cover of the album. Really?

He said at the time Duane and Gregg weren't getting along because Gregg went to Hollywood. WTF? 

Beside that most of these interviews are entertaining.

 
Posted : January 8, 2021 2:44 pm
robertdee
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Bobby also said in an interview just a few years ago that while Duane was fine recording with them in Miami, Duane did not fit in well doing live shows with the Dominos.  That Duane couldn't hang with him and Eric Clapton live. Duane just wasn't on that level then. That it was for the best when Duane decided he was going back to the Allman Brothers who had to do some shows without Duane because Clapton was pushing him to join the Dominos.  That on the Layla album Clapton made sure Duane was listed with the band and not as a guest.

I've never heard Clapton say such a thing about Duane. About 25 years ago Clapton was asked who are some of the guitar players that impress you? And I clearly remember Clapton's answer was " You mean living or living and dead because there is Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman". Also Clapton said when Duane was killed he would have replaced Duane in the Allman Brothers if they had ask him. At that time as many Clapton fans know, Clapton didn't want to front a band. He wanted to be in someone else's band. He later joined Delaney, Bonnie and friends then withdrew for awhile and wasn't in any band at all. When he returned to action Clapton has been a solo performer ever since putting together various backing bands including having Derek Trucks in a couple. Derek was named by his dad Derek after Derek and the Dominos.  Derek's dad was a big Duane Allman fan and Allman Brothers fan initially because his brother Butch was in it. He eventually became an Allman Brothers fan  because he was like us in 1970. They were the most unique band playing and to us, the best!!

 
Posted : January 8, 2021 4:20 pm
CrossEyedCat
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@steved As you probably know Coco and Bobby have previously posted on this site so you never know you may get a personal reply. This forum is a bit of a lions den if you are going to get dates and events mixed up but you have to remember this all happened half a century ago and memories fade and events are reassessed. I can't remember what I was doing two weeks ago nevermind decades ago.

From what I have read Bobby seems to blow hot and cold regarding Duane but to paraphrase Jaimoe on why Duane didn't join Derek and the Dominos, Duane knew the ABB were the better band 😀 

 
Posted : January 9, 2021 8:28 am
steved
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@crosseyedcat I certainly hope they do read it and get that story straight. In the interviews Bobby prides himself on remembering the facts, names, places, etc. Says he and Duane were friends and Duane called him little brother.

So when I hear that peach truck story it bugs me. Not that I am losing sleep over it... and I'll get over it.

 
Posted : January 9, 2021 11:06 am
JimSheridan
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I wish there were some live recordings of Duane through which we could assess his ability to jam. 

 

Oh, wait.......

 
Posted : January 9, 2021 1:30 pm
CrossEyedCat
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@steved Thanks for pointing these out

 

And another one about Duane playing out of tune, although Bobby is upstaged by his dog. I'd be more than happy to play out of tune if I sounded like that. 

 
Posted : January 9, 2021 5:01 pm
Wooddog
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@robertdee

I believe Eric played with D&B before the Dominos. I mean, he basically took their rhythm section. That album is the real deal. D&B with Clapton over in England. Jim Gordon, Carl, Bobby Keys, Rita. Badass.

 
Posted : January 10, 2021 10:41 pm
Wooddog
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Bobby tells some good stories, but the peach truck?! That's ridiculous. Didn't he live in Macon for a while? I thought the general consensus was that while making the record in Miami, they were all tootin' that brown mexican doojie. They weren't running it up. 

 

 
Posted : January 10, 2021 10:55 pm
Wooddog
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Still, I think it will always be legendary. It's top 10 no doubt. They'll still be talking about it 100 years from now, along with Fillmore East. Eternity.

 

 
Posted : January 10, 2021 10:58 pm
robertdee
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Yes maybe Clapton played in D&B before D&D. But I clearly remember reading at more than one place that Clapton was in a mood during that stretch of time that he didn't want to front a band and have the spotlight just on him thus the name Derek and the Dominos. 

I'm not sure if Bobby Whitlock lived in Macon but he did have a solo album on Capricorn Records in the 1970's. I have it.

 
Posted : January 11, 2021 6:43 am
porkchopbob
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Delaney & Bonnie opened for Blind Faith on their 1969 tour. After Blind Faith broke up, Clapton went on one tour with D&B (as George Harrison and Dave Mason had) as @robertdee said, because he wanted to be a sideman.

Most of D&B "Friends" were recruited by Leon Russell to back up Joe Cocker in Mad Dogs & Englishmen in 1969-1970. I think it was during their break that Clapton grabbed Radle, Whitlock and Gordon for the Dominos. They also played on Harrison's All Things Must Pass.

It's cool that Bobby Whitlock is willing to share his memories, but I take what he says with a grain of salt. Sure it's tough to remember everything that happened in the fog of that period, but his stories don't always add up. He has ragged on Duane in the past, which came off as a little jealous.

PorkchopBob Studio

 
Posted : January 11, 2021 11:06 am
bird72
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I stopped reading / listening to his recollections.  Someone who has experienced all he has with that famous line up who backed multiple great artists should seem, umm, happier.  And his frequent Duane minimizing / discounting influence comes across as still competitive in spirit.  Sorry if he reads this, but I bought a lot of albums with him on it and helped his income also.  I love his musical and vocal side.  D&D would have been a great album without Duane.  It is a much greater album with Duane.  It took off 2 years after made, when Layla oddly started getting airplay.  And without Duane, no Layla.  No Layla, that album would have been one of many great non commercial releases that are gems nevertheless. 

 
Posted : January 11, 2021 12:28 pm
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CrossEyedCat
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On the whole I've been enjoying the content on Bobby and CoCo's YouTube channel and Bobby's reminiscences. For me, the most interesting video is the one below, in it Bobby says the best thing that happened to the ABB was Duane's death and if that had not happened the ABB would have just become another Southern boogie shuffle rock band, the type Capricorn had 3 or 4 acts like already. Firstly, I think this belittles the ability of the surviving band members, that's not to say drugs and infighting would not have altered the course of the band. Secondly, I think Bobby feels he doesn't gets the respect that he is due for his input into the album, writing 6 or 7 songs and yet all the talk is about Eric and Duane. Finally this comment about Duane not being able to hang with the band live, I'm not a musician, but I think the Dominos had over 60 gigs before Duane joined them for the two shows, I would have thought the band would have been very tight at that stage and suddenly being thrown in the mix would have been difficult for any guitarist.

 

 
Posted : January 19, 2021 6:51 am
robertdee
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Wow Bobby Whitlock doesn't know a thing about the Allman Brothers and Capricorn Records.  What 3 or 4 southern boogie bands did Capricorn already have? Capricorn Records became successful because of the Allman Brothers Band and no others. The Allman Brothers was the first act on Capricorn,  the first band to have a Gold (500,000) record,  the first band to have a Platinum (1 million) records, the ONLY band that had an album to sell over 4 million copies. 

The best thing to happen to the ABB was the death of Duane Allman?? That is an outrageous and very stupid thing to say. Duane's death almost was the end of the band. And the ABB never fully recovered live. Gregg, Butch and Jaimoe ALL said the band WAS NEVER AS GOOD ON SEVERAL FRONTS and that the spark and leadership that came from Duane was lost and the band never again had that spark, energy and creative spontaneity. 

If Gregg and Butch were still alive they would explode. And the way Ed King was chewed out would be mild compared to their response to Bobby. 

Is Bobby Whitlock jealous of Duane Allman?? 

 
Posted : January 19, 2021 10:32 am
robertdee
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Wow Bobby Whitlock doesn't know a thing about the Allman Brothers and Capricorn Records.  What 3 or 4 southern boogie bands did Capricorn already have? Capricorn Records became successful because of the Allman Brothers Band and no others. The Allman Brothers was the first act on Capricorn,  the first band to have a Gold (500,000) record,  the first band to have a Platinum (1 million) records, the ONLY band that had an album to sell over 4 million copies. 

The best thing to happen to the ABB was the death of Duane Allman?? That is an outrageous and very stupid thing to say. Duane's death almost was the end of the band. And the ABB never fully recovered live. Gregg, Butch and Jaimoe ALL said the band WAS NEVER AS GOOD ON SEVERAL FRONTS and that the spark and leadership that came from Duane was lost and the band never again had that spark, energy and creative spontaneity. 

If Gregg and Butch were still alive they would explode. And the way Ed King was chewed out would be mild compared to their response to Bobby. 

Is Bobby Whitlock jealous of Duane Allman?? 

 
Posted : January 19, 2021 10:32 am
porkchopbob
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@crosseyedcat I've heard one of the Dominos shows with Duane, and Duane more keeps up with them. It does have the "special guest soloist" feel to it, which is understandable when you add another player to a tight group. Sure, the Allman Brothers had a tight, deliberate set list, but Duane jumped in on a variety of sessions in a number of different genres. I doubt Whitlock could have jumped in on an Allman Brothers set at the time.

Is Bobby Whitlock jealous of Duane Allman??

Absolutely. Whitlock goes out of his way to repeat these digs at Duane (he's also said Duane's slide was always out of tune which is inaccurate - a slide is constantly weaving between notes).

Layla was the high point of Whitlock's long career that never really went anywhere, but it's another bullet point in Duane's brilliant short career. Whitlock is in a few facebook groups I'm in and he'll offer recollections once in a while or play some of his music, which is nice of him. Then he'll have a tantrum and leave the group, only to agree to return as if anyone really cares. There's something kind of childish about it all. I think the guy just wants attention.

PorkchopBob Studio

 
Posted : January 19, 2021 11:16 am
robertdee
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You nailed it porkchopbob.  Bobby was signed to Capricorn in the wake of the break up of D & D. I bought his Capricorn album in the 1970's and it's okay but nowhere close to Laid Back by Gregg or even Highway Call by Dickey. 

For years I found the piano coda on Layla to be Bobby's Jessica solo by Chuck Leavel.  His signature solo.  Then in recent years I learned to my surprise that solo is not even Bobby and the level of play is just average according to some musicians.  Its actually drummer Jim Gordon playing the coda on piano and that is how Jim got a song writing credit worth millions of dollar because of the album sales and airplay and other publishing rights and we find out Gordon didn't write that coda. Rita Coolidge wrote that as a stand alone song. Jim Gordon has been in jail for decades for killing his mother with a hammer. Rita Coolidge said the only good thing to come out of the mess is Jim's daughter gets the money for half of Layla which should have been Rita's. 

I don't want to trash Bobby Whitlock as he is a better musician than me and was part of an iconic band that unfortunately broke up soon after becoming a super group apparently due to Clapton's personal problems. 

But for Bobby to trash Duane Allman claiming his slide guitar playing was always out of tune, that Duane couldn't keep up with Clapton, Bobby and the band live and the best thing to happen to the Allman Brothers Band was Duane getting killed because with Duane in the band they were just an average southern boogie band no better than 3 or 4 other Capricorn bands is just a lie and clearly sour grapes and jealousy from Bobby. 

Duane Allman is all over At Fillmore East and it's an album that is regarded by most critics as the best or one of the best live rock albums in the history of the genre.  It has sold over 1 million copies. Eat A Peach which has sold over 2 million copies features Duane on all but three tracks. Duane's slide playing on One Way Out,  Trouble No More and Mountain Jam is always held to be outstanding slide guitar playing that is regarded as excellent,  ground breaking and displays a touch and energy that still stands today as among the greatest electric slide playing ever to appear on an album.  The legacy Duane Allman left in his short 24 year life exceeds most musicians that played for decades. 

This is as silly as it would be if Tom Cruise began trashing Marlon Brando or Henry Fonda. 

Eric Clapton is one of the most successful electric guitar players in history.  And when asked who are some guitar players that impress you? Clapton answered " Living or living and dead?  Because there are Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman ".

 
Posted : January 19, 2021 12:24 pm
robertdee
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Don't want to be completely negative about Whitlock. Here he is with Clapton with one of my favorite song.

 
Posted : January 20, 2021 9:43 am
Rusty
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Not to single Bobby out - I think the memories of all the aging rock stars have been altered and warped by both time and substance.  Gregg's variations on details ... often varied.  Not that any of these details are any of my business, but I'd put as much stock in some of his stories as I would in the alley-way crack-head's description of a traffic accident he'd just witnessed.  Sure, Bobby.  Peach truck.

 
Posted : January 20, 2021 10:02 am
dzobo
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Thanks for posting that clip.  Nice soulful treatment of the song.  Although I do miss the thunderous guitar affirmations to the singer's heartfelt pleadings that are in the studio version.

 
Posted : January 20, 2021 2:27 pm
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