This thread is a great way to start off the new year!! Thank You CC. Now I am gonna find Bobby's two solo albums and get his book! Thanks again!!
This thread is a great way to start off the new year!! Thank You CC. Now I am gonna find Bobby's two solo albums and get his book! Thanks again!!
Hello Dan, you know Light in the Attic has re-released Bobby's solo records. The record is called "Where There's a Will There's a Way (yes, the song was written by Bobby...not Bonnie (no offence), Delaney added his incredible arrangement and some lyrics).
Thank you and enjoy the book.
Coco, another question for Bobby.
I pulled out his two Capricorn albums and I see what he means about a number of different guitarists being on the two records.
One common thread seems to be Dru Lombar, who is even credited with writing several songs with Bobby.
What are Bobby's remembrances of Dru as a player, songwriter and as a person?
Hello OldCoot,
Bobby remembers he and Dru hanging around together, because of the sessions. Bobby asked him to help write a song with him, although at that time Dru was not a songwriter. He couldn't really help much, but Bobby in typical fashion (and I say that because I have seen him do this many times), added Dru's name as a co-writer.
Bobby says he liked Dru, but they went their separate ways, there was nothing to talk about really.
Hope this helps.
CC[Edited on 1/12/2016 by twobug]
Thanks so much for the response Bobby & CoCo.
I didn't want to lead with my question, I was honestly interested in Bobby's recollections.
I actually became very good friends with Dru and admired him not only as a musician but as a very sweet soul. I miss him a lot.
Let me ask another question, and I sincerely apologize if this is within Bobby's book, or previous discussions, I had read in some music publication or another, that the instrumental piano part that is the last half of Layla, that at some point, Jim Gordon may have overheard Bonnie Bramblett/Rita Coolidge playing that melody and brought it to the Layla sessions.
Is that complete rubbish, or, could that have happened at some point, I'd guess in connection with a Delaney & Bonnie tour? I'd always found it odd that Jim was never really credited from a songwriting perspective (an exception being his work with Frank Zappa & Jack Bruce on Zappa's Apostrophe album) and yet, here is this beautiful keyboard melody that finishes Layla.
What does Bobby recall of how Layla was put together as a song?
Also CoCo, check your personal messages here on the site.
And again, thanks to you and Bobby for indulging all of our questions.
We enjoy answering the questions, and to answer yours...Bonnie Bramlett had absolutely nothing to do with Layla, Eric and the band wanted nothing to do with D&B after it was over. The "coda" was brought to Hurtwood (Eric's home) by Jim Gordon whose then girlfriend was Rita Coolidge. Somehow the two of them were working on this song, which was recorded by Rita's sister (Pricilla) and Booker T called "Time". Jim Gordon convinced Eric to use this piece at the end of Layla. It was added after the song was recorded. The whole band flew back over from England to record the coda. Eric wrote the song Layla by himself. Jim has received half songwriters for something he didn't have much to do with.
Just to let you know, Ms Bramlett has co-written just one song from those days (I don't know about much recent songs)...but in the seventies the one song was "Alone Together" of course with Bobby and Delaney. That song Delaney started and asked Bobby and Bonnie to help write.
Delaney wrote all those great songs and continued to the day he died to write incredible material which the public will probably never hear.
In a moment of stupidity to save himself from being "work for hire" with Metric Music he signed all of his rights over to Bonnie, that is precisley why you see her name on all those songs.
Later, over all the fighting and disputes, an end was put to that through Embassy and songs were to have both names appear on all D&B material. Except for the very early Delaney songs with Metric Music. He was being paid a tiny sum of 50 dollars per song at his peak. It must have been terrible to see it given away,but he and Leon Russell were in the same boat. Early days in the business taught Delaney a huge lesson, however he used that knowledge for ulterior use.
[Edited on 1/16/2016 by twobug]
[Edited on 1/16/2016 by twobug]
[Edited on 1/16/2016 by twobug]
[Edited on 1/16/2016 by twobug]
Hi Coco & BW,
I read this thread with great interest and looked at Bobby's bio on the allmusic site. The following was written there and I would like to know if it's true as I had never heard it before. Thanks.
"The 1970s also saw him release four expressive solo albums. The first one, self titled, was released in 1972 and is the best of the bunch. Raw Velvet, while a little more uneven than the first, featured some of Duane Allman's most heartbreaking and breathtaking slide playing (uncredited due to contractual legalities) on the track "Dearest I Wonder," recorded shortly before he died."
Hi Coco & BW,
I read this thread with great interest and looked at Bobby's bio on the allmusic site. The following was written there and I would like to know if it's true as I had never heard it before. Thanks."The 1970s also saw him release four expressive solo albums. The first one, self titled, was released in 1972 and is the best of the bunch. Raw Velvet, while a little more uneven than the first, featured some of Duane Allman's most heartbreaking and breathtaking slide playing (uncredited due to contractual legalities) on the track "Dearest I Wonder," recorded shortly before he died."
First of all Duane was unfortunately dead...it was Rick Vito that provided the beautiful guitar work on Dearest I Wonder. Stunning work.
I have gotten in some hot water talking about the subject of the slide tuning on the Layla ending~He was clearly out of pitch several times~Playing slide guitar is not a fretted thing to play~It's all feel and sonics~That bottle has to hit home every time~But sometimes a guitar player will slide just past the intended invisible mark for effect~Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't~It's always questionable~Was he looking for that note or did he intentionally do it that way?~He did it that way!~For whatever reason, he did it that way~Tom asked him to try to overdub it and it didn't work~It lost the feel~They kept the original guitar, slide by tuning and all~One thing for sure though, it has kept people talking for forty-five years~Listen to Duane's slide work on "I Am Yours"~He plays perfectly and absolutely in tune~The Coda was purposeful and effectual~Eric didn't play any slide on the ending~That's just Duane~B~
May I start by saying that I am currently listening to Billy Payne rip it up on "Dixie Chicken" from "Waiting for Columbus".... ...Reading the quote above,... well,..... as someone who has played slide for about 40 years because of Duane, I can almost hear you speaking as I read it, you know? I mean, I can relate, I say/write that because you've written it with a simple passion. Do you play guitar?...I'm guessin' you do....Thanks for sharing.
Another fact is that when people die so young and tragically as Duane did, they become heroes. They become larger than life and often times worshiped. There seems to be a lot of emotion attached to Duane. This is where the difficulty comes in if anyone says anything that might tarnish his image.
I really don't think anyone wants to do that, but when the truth about something is said, it is generally shot down and usually results in a lot of anger and bad feelings.
Being such a huge Duane fan, I am intrigued by this quote...and I respect the intent. That being said and going back to a time when I attempted to play note for note along with Mr. Allman on every track on DA Vol.1, I could not help but draw my own images of what he must have been like as a leader and a Big brother to Gregg. My own paintbrush shows what a "take no prisoners" type of young man he could be when he felt it necessary..
I have gotten in some hot water talking about the subject of the slide tuning on the Layla ending~He was clearly out of pitch several times~Playing slide guitar is not a fretted thing to play~It's all feel and sonics~That bottle has to hit home every time~But sometimes a guitar player will slide just past the intended invisible mark for effect~Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't~It's always questionable~Was he looking for that note or did he intentionally do it that way?~He did it that way!~For whatever reason, he did it that way~Tom asked him to try to overdub it and it didn't work~It lost the feel~They kept the original guitar, slide by tuning and all~One thing for sure though, it has kept people talking for forty-five years~Listen to Duane's slide work on "I Am Yours"~He plays perfectly and absolutely in tune~The Coda was purposeful and effectual~Eric didn't play any slide on the ending~That's just Duane~B~
May I start by saying that I am currently listening to Billy Payne rip it up on "Dixie Chicken" from "Waiting for Columbus".... ...Reading the quote above,... well,..... as someone who has played slide for about 40 years because of Duane, I can almost hear you speaking as I read it, you know? I mean, I can relate, I say/write that because you've written it with a simple passion. Do you play guitar?...I'm guessin' you do....Thanks for sharing.
Another fact is that when people die so young and tragically as Duane did, they become heroes. They become larger than life and often times worshiped. There seems to be a lot of emotion attached to Duane. This is where the difficulty comes in if anyone says anything that might tarnish his image.
I really don't think anyone wants to do that, but when the truth about something is said, it is generally shot down and usually results in a lot of anger and bad feelings.Being such a huge Duane fan, I am intrigued by this quote...and I respect the intent. That being said and going back to a time when I attempted to play note for note along with Mr. Allman on every track on DA Vol.1, I could not help but draw my own images of what he must have been like as a leader and a Big brother to Gregg. My own paintbrush shows what a "take no prisoners" type of young man he could be when he felt it necessary..
Bobby(Whitlock)..has been playing guitar for a very long time, in fact it was Duane himself that taught Bobby how to play slide. It seems whenever Bobby mentions Duane's name people get upset, hence my comment regarding the early death of a musician. It's common for people to become emotional about someone they love albeit from afar, no matter how sincere the comment.
[Edited on 1/16/2016 by twobug]
One other thing pertaining to Jim Gordon, did any of the band members see or perceive any signs of his problems that lead to his eventual incarceration?
Jim's problems didn't really come out until it was too late, he did mention that he had been hearing voices...his mother's but I don't think anyone took it too seriously at the time. It was only when Jim got involved in taking so many hard drugs that he couldn't control himself. He had serious issues but no one attributed his behavior to any kind of psychosis or schizophrenia.
He was terribly violent towards his girlfriends...but so were other men (Ike Turner/Delaney/ etc...)
Bobby said he did more drugs than anyone and it was his whole personality that was outrageous. But he was not like that when he was a session musician, his nickname became "Skippy" because he was so clean, down to earth, and a sweet guy.
He dove off into drugs when he joined D&D, he wanted to be a rockstar and live that lifestyle rather than the happy clean session musician. All very unfortunate.
quote:
One other thing pertaining to Jim Gordon, did any of the band members see or perceive any signs of his problems that lead to his eventual incarceration?Jim's problems didn't really come out until it was too late, he did mention that he had been hearing voices...his mother's but I don't think anyone took it too seriously at the time. It was only when Jim got involved in taking so many hard drugs that he couldn't control himself. He had serious issues but no one attributed his behavior to any kind of psychosis or schizophrenia.
He was terribly violent towards his girlfriends...but so were other men (Ike Turner/Delaney/ etc...)
Bobby said he did more drugs than anyone and it was his whole personality that was outrageous. But he was not like that when he was a session musician, his nickname became "Skippy" because he was so clean, down to earth, and a sweet guy.
He dove off into drugs when he joined D&D, he wanted to be a rockstar and live that lifestyle rather than the happy clean session musician. All very unfortunate.
I'm a regular poster here but haven't chimed in on this thread..............until now.
Thank You so much, both Coco and Bobby for your extremely interesting insights. I've wondered SO many times regarding the exact question about Jim Gordon that you just answered. Thank you for being so forthright and honest.
quote:
One other thing pertaining to Jim Gordon, did any of the band members see or perceive any signs of his problems that lead to his eventual incarceration?Jim's problems didn't really come out until it was too late, he did mention that he had been hearing voices...his mother's but I don't think anyone took it too seriously at the time. It was only when Jim got involved in taking so many hard drugs that he couldn't control himself. He had serious issues but no one attributed his behavior to any kind of psychosis or schizophrenia.
He was terribly violent towards his women...but so were other men (Ike Turner/Delaney/ etc...), doesn't make it right by any means.
Bobby said Jim did more drugs than anyone in the band, and it was his whole personality that became outrageous. But he was not like that when he was a session musician, his nickname became "Skippy" because he was so clean, down to earth, and a sweet guy.
He dove off into drugs when he joined D&B then D&D...then Mad Dogs, he wanted to be a rockstar and a songwriter (which he wasn't) and live that lifestyle rather than the happy clean session musician. All very unfortunate.I'm a regular poster here but haven't chimed in on this thread..............until now.
Thank You so much, both Coco and Bobby for your extremely interesting insights. I've wondered SO many times regarding the exact question about Jim Gordon that you just answered. Thank you for being so forthright and honest.
Thank you for having us here.
[Edited on 1/18/2016 by twobug]
"Bobby(Whitlock)..has been playing guitar for a very long time, in fact it was Duane himself that taught Bobby how to play slide. It seems whenever Bobby mentions Duane's name people get upset, hence my comment regarding the early death of a musician. It's common for people to become emotional about someone they love albeit from afar, no matter how sincere the comment."
Bobby, what was the one thing that sticks in your mind when you play slide to this day that you picked up from Duane. All us guitar hacks here would appreciate the tips.
What an amazing thread! Thank you so much CoCo & Bobby for spending time here & sharing such insightful tales. I grew up with Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & the Dominos, & EC's first solo album & was well aware of the common thread. Add Rita Coolidge, Leon Russel, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Harrison's ATMP; extraordinary times indeed. All of this on top of a steady diet of ABB & life was good. I check this forum daily now & has me in catch up mode. I am reading the Hoffman music forum for the first time. The next step is getting Bobby's book & some more recent cds. Thanks again for sharing such exciting information right from the source...
What an amazing thread! Thank you so much CoCo & Bobby for spending time here & sharing such insightful tales. I grew up with Delaney & Bonnie, Derek & the Dominos, & EC's first solo album & was well aware of the common thread. Add Rita Coolidge, Leon Russel, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Harrison's ATMP; extraordinary times indeed. All of this on top of a steady diet of ABB & life was good. I check this forum daily now & has me in catch up mode. I am reading the Hoffman music forum for the first time. The next step is getting Bobby's book & some more recent cds. Thanks again for sharing such exciting information right from the source...
Thank you jsdonnan, it really is our pleasure. We both enjoy answering questions and Bobby loves relaying his memories of those great days.
^ bump
"Bobby(Whitlock)..has been playing guitar for a very long time, in fact it was Duane himself that taught Bobby how to play slide. It seems whenever Bobby mentions Duane's name people get upset, hence my comment regarding the early death of a musician. It's common for people to become emotional about someone they love albeit from afar, no matter how sincere the comment."
Bobby, what was the one thing that sticks in your mind when you play slide to this day that you picked up from Duane. All us guitar hacks here would appreciate the tips.
~When we were just about finished with the Layla sessions there was a guy who came by with a load of guitars for Eric to go through~He picked an orange on to play on the Coda~There is a photo of him on the inner sleeve playing it~Then he picked out a Martin D35 and played it then handed it to me and said, "It's yours"~We went into the studio and recorded "Thorn Tree In The Garden shortly afterward~When I got back to my hotel room I started changing the strings on it and was going to polish it up when Duane knocked on my door~He came in and said to me, "What you doin' Little Brother?"~I was starting to put the first string on when he took it from me and showed me what turned out to be the Martin lock method of putting a string on~He changed every string then showed me how to dress the headstock~He wound the left over string into a circle into itself~It looked really nice but took a bit of time to do~He said that if I was in a hurry I could use my room key or car key to curl it like Christmas ribbon~That's what I usually do now~I asked Duane about playing the slide and wanted to know how he did it so effortlessly~He said, "You can do it Little Brother!"~"First thing to go though is those fingernails"~I told him that I was not going to cut my nails off short like his~He told me that the reason he didn't have any was because it all had to do with tone~He said that fingernails make a pick sound that is not the true tone of the guitar and string~It made perfect sense to me~He showed me how to go about playing a slide guitar~He said that I was to put my thumb behind the neck at a certain position on the fret and keep it there~That was "Home base"~He said that he could play any song and stay right where he was on the neck~He did it too!~He showed me how to place one finger on top of the strings next to the slide and mute which ever one or ones that needed muting~He also told me why he used a Coricedin cold pill bottle~It was the perfect thickness for the quality of sound that he was looking for~He gave me two slides~One got broken and the other one I gave to a guy in Oxford Mississippi one day who used it as the proto-type for his Delta Slide Company~However, a friend of mine in Memphis gave me one that Duane had given him years ago~Peace~BW~
With that last post I think we are beyond cool at this point.
With that last post I think we are beyond cool at this point.
Agree completely, Don!!!
"Bobby(Whitlock)..has been playing guitar for a very long time, in fact it was Duane himself that taught Bobby how to play slide. It seems whenever Bobby mentions Duane's name people get upset, hence my comment regarding the early death of a musician. It's common for people to become emotional about someone they love albeit from afar, no matter how sincere the comment."
Bobby, what was the one thing that sticks in your mind when you play slide to this day that you picked up from Duane. All us guitar hacks here would appreciate the tips.
~When we were just about finished with the Layla sessions there was a guy who came by with a load of guitars for Eric to go through~He picked an orange on to play on the Coda~There is a photo of him on the inner sleeve playing it~Then he picked out a Martin D35 and played it then handed it to me and said, "It's yours"~We went into the studio and recorded "Thorn Tree In The Garden shortly afterward~When I got back to my hotel room I started changing the strings on it and was going to polish it up when Duane knocked on my door~He came in and said to me, "What you doin' Little Brother?"~I was starting to put the first string on when he took it from me and showed me what turned out to be the Martin lock method of putting a string on~He changed every string then showed me how to dress the headstock~He wound the left over string into a circle into itself~It looked really nice but took a bit of time to do~He said that if I was in a hurry I could use my room key or car key to curl it like Christmas ribbon~That's what I usually do now~I asked Duane about playing the slide and wanted to know how he did it so effortlessly~He said, "You can do it Little Brother!"~"First thing to go though is those fingernails"~I told him that I was not going to cut my nails off short like his~He told me that the reason he didn't have any was because it all had to do with tone~He said that fingernails make a pick sound that is not the true tone of the guitar and string~It made perfect sense to me~He showed me how to go about playing a slide guitar~He said that I was to put my thumb behind the neck at a certain position on the fret and keep it there~That was "Home base"~He said that he could play any song and stay right where he was on the neck~He did it too!~He showed me how to place one finger on top of the strings next to the slide and mute which ever one or ones that needed muting~He also told me why he used a Coricedin cold pill bottle~It was the perfect thickness for the quality of sound that he was looking for~He gave me two slides~One got broken and the other one I gave to a guy in Oxford Mississippi one day who used it as the proto-type for his Delta Slide Company~However, a friend of mine in Memphis gave me one that Duane had given him years ago~Peace~BW~
Bobby, thanks for the detailed answer. Just a follow up, about what fret would he call home base? I'd think somewhere around the 7th fret to be able to get up and down the board.
Also, what tuning was Duane playing slide in? Eric play any slide with Duane?
This is really pretty awesome Bobby and I appreciate the time you're spending with us here.
[Edited on 1/25/2016 by Yankeefan01]
With that last post I think we are beyond cool at this point.
Agree completely, Don!!!
Add me in total agreement !
With that last post I think we are beyond cool at this point.
Agree completely, Don!!!
Add me in total agreement !
Absolutely agree. I could listen to (read) this stuff all day!
Can you tell us a little about "Kunio" and Duane's influence on his playing?
Can you tell us a little about "Kunio" and Duane's influence on his playing?
CoCo here...Kunio purchased "Little Red" (Red Les Paul) from us (Delaney and I) back in the early 90's. Kunio was told the guitar once belonged to Duane. Delaneys story had been that he found the guitar in a pawn shop and bought it, showed it to Duane who claimed it was his guitar. I know the story all too well. And don't believe it myself as so many of the stories Delaney told were simply not true (the goldtop he owned was not Duanes although he claimed it was). However the Rosewood tele was given to him by George Harrison at the behest of Alan Parisar who told George Delaney would be expecting a gift from him, so when George boarded the tour bus he came with the guitar and handed it to Delaney to prevent any embarrassment.
The Les Paul purchased by Kunio through a middle man nearly fell through when Delaney changed his mind ..the man was driving down from northern California to make the transaction, when we called to stop it. He said we couldn't change our minds. I told Delaney he didn't know for sure that it really belonged to Duane anyway...he agreed that that was indeed true. So, we went through with the deal.
I drew up the sale and the guy picked up the guitar.
Kunio wants to believe it's Duane's guitar...It wasn't. I have no idea nor does Bobby about Duane's influence on Kunio. You would have to ask him.
We met in Alabama years after that purchase, he never mentioned Duane, however he played many different guitars at the session. He is collector.
That is about all we know of Kunio.
[Edited on 1/28/2016 by twobug]
Being a guitarist, I've followed several guitarists careers with great interest. One of the interesting things for me has been the varying perceptions of Clapton's career and abilities ranging from "the world's greatest guitarist" to "nothing special". Obviously, with so many different genres of music and approaches to playing the guitar, there is no possible "worlds greatest guitarist". However, Clapton's influence on the evolution of blues and rock guitar cannot be overstated. I'm curious Bobby; did you get a sense that Clapton was fully aware of the impact his playing had on other players and the development of the role of the guitar in rock music? Was he ever tentative or would you say he was confident in his abilities. Thanks for all the insights and wonderful music.
Being a guitarist, I've followed several guitarists careers with great interest. One of the interesting things for me has been the varying perceptions of Clapton's career and abilities ranging from "the world's greatest guitarist" to "nothing special". Obviously, with so many different genres of music and approaches to playing the guitar, there is no possible "worlds greatest guitarist". However, Clapton's influence on the evolution of blues and rock guitar cannot be overstated. I'm curious Bobby; did you get a sense that Clapton was fully aware of the impact his playing had on other players and the development of the role of the guitar in rock music? Was he ever tentative or would you say he was confident in his abilities. Thanks for all the insights and wonderful music.
Kind of piggybacking on Quilt's question, I've read that Clapton will be inspired by playing with a great guitar player. Kind of either inspired or pushed. Also, that he could get lazy or complacent. Bobby, did you see Clapton raise his game with Duane around and did you push him?
Again, thank you so much BW and Coco, this is just beyond cool!
Coco, I was listening to Bobby's first solo album last night and a couple of things struck me. I'd love Bobby's take on these. First is that the songs/style sounded much more Delaney and Bonnie era than Dominos, which is odd, because if I have my time frames right the first album was recorded after Layla. I think maybe what the music is saying is how much of the classic D & B sound was Bobby.
Secondly the sound seemed much more influenced by his work on All Things Must Pass, than Layla. I'm thinking of the almost Spectorish sound on so many songs, with huge production, vs. the real clean sound Dowd went for. What led him to push in this direction or did I miss the mark completely
Coco, I was listening to Bobby's first solo album last night and a couple of things struck me. I'd love Bobby's take on these. First is that the songs/style sounded much more Delaney and Bonnie era than Dominos, which is odd, because if I have my time frames right the first album was recorded after Layla. I think maybe what the music is saying is how much of the classic D & B sound was Bobby.
Secondly the sound seemed much more influenced by his work on All Things Must Pass, than Layla. I'm thinking of the almost Spectorish sound on so many songs, with huge production, vs. the real clean sound Dowd went for. What led him to push in this direction or did I miss the mark completely
Hi Linus,
Thanks for your question. I can tell you the reason for the difference is that Bobby was co-writing with Eric and also they collaborated on everything with the Dominos. That was not the case with Delaney. Delaney loved Bobby's singing and playing and especially his songs...in fact he took Country Life and arranged it and also put his name on it. He copied Bobby word for word, inflections and all when he did Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham. I would say that Bobby was a very strong part of D&B's sound. His song Where There's a Will there's a Way was his own song that Delaney claimed as his own (although Bonnie is given credit for something she had nothing to do with).
So, it's no surprise that when Bobby did his first solo record it would sound more like D&B (actually B and D&B) plus many of the same musicians played on the record as well as D&B. Bobby sought Delaney's help on the production and it nearly ruined the record, Delaney I am afraid was extremely jealous of Bobby as he went off to be with Eric. He erased Eric's bass on a couple of songs ...messed with everything and it made Eric very angry.
The sound of the Dominos was their own...Bobby was excited and wanted a big production only later to realize that it was unnecessary and he went a bit overboard especially with his vocals, he was experimenting and he could. And he was blessed to have so many great people wanting to play on his record.
Coco, another question for Bobby.
I pulled out his two Capricorn albums and I see what he means about a number of different guitarists being on the two records.
One common thread seems to be Dru Lombar, who is even credited with writing several songs with Bobby.
What are Bobby's remembrances of Dru as a player, songwriter and as a person?
~BW here~BB had nothing to do at all with the writing of the piano coda~You can tell them that I told you so~Jim Gordon wrote and played piano on the coda~I played support piano and organ on it~
Hello OldCoot,
Bobby remembers he and Dru hanging around together, because of the sessions. Bobby asked him to help write a song with him, although at that time Dru was not a songwriter. He couldn't really help much, but Bobby in typical fashion (and I say that because I have seen him do this many times), added Dru's name as a co-writer.
Bobby says he liked Dru, but they went their separate ways, there was nothing to talk about really.
Hope this helps.
CC[Edited on 1/12/2016 by twobug]
Thanks so much for the response Bobby & CoCo.
I didn't want to lead with my question, I was honestly interested in Bobby's recollections.
I actually became very good friends with Dru and admired him not only as a musician but as a very sweet soul. I miss him a lot.
Let me ask another question, and I sincerely apologize if this is within Bobby's book, or previous discussions, I had read in some music publication or another, that the instrumental piano part that is the last half of Layla, that at some point, Jim Gordon may have overheard Bonnie Bramblett/Rita Coolidge playing that melody and brought it to the Layla sessions.
Is that complete rubbish, or, could that have happened at some point, I'd guess in connection with a Delaney & Bonnie tour? I'd always found it odd that Jim was never really credited from a songwriting perspective (an exception being his work with Frank Zappa & Jack Bruce on Zappa's Apostrophe album) and yet, here is this beautiful keyboard melody that finishes Layla.
What does Bobby recall of how Layla was put together as a song?
Also CoCo, check your personal messages here on the site.
And again, thanks to you and Bobby for indulging all of our questions.
Hey! I too greatly appreciate all you've shared with us!......
One more request?....Just as goes rock and roll history, do either of you have a Little Feat/Lowell story you might share?
Thanks so much!
...... I had read in some music publication or another, that the instrumental piano part that is the last half of Layla, that at some point, Jim Gordon may have overheard Bonnie Bramblett/Rita Coolidge playing that melody and brought it to the Layla sessions.
"Though only Gordon has been officially credited with this part, the band's keyboardist Bobby Whitlock claims, "Jim took that piano melody from his ex-girlfriend Rita Coolidge. I know because in the Delaney & Bonnie days, I lived in John Garfield's old house in the Hollywood Hills and there was a guest house with an upright piano in it. Rita and Jim were up there in the guest house and invited me to join in on writing this song with them called "Time." Her sister Priscilla wound up recording it with her husband, Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & the M.G.'s). Jim took the melody from Rita's song and didn't give her credit for writing it. Her boyfriend ripped her off."
(Wikipedia, Source - "Layla’s 40th: Interview With Bobby Whitlock" - Where's Eric!)
[Edited on 2/2/2016 by Shavian]
Bobby & CoCo: I really miss seeing your posts here. Maybe you could share some of the 500 stories that didn't make the book. I am going to see a great double bill at a wonderful venue the end of this month in Albany NY. Leon Russell / Dave Mason at the Egg. A great venue to see Bobby & CoCo if you were so inclined. Just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. I was checking your thread daily.
