The Bobby Whitlock - Derek And The Dominos Thread*

All of the above!

 

This little thread is a prime glowing example of what makes this place so special!
Its been an emotional, thoughtful, informative, transparent, direct and very moving read.
And nothing in this world could have been more appropriate to end that classic album than "Thorn Tree in the Garden".
Thank You so much CoCo and Bobby for coming here, sharing great info and some bittersweet slices of life's pleasure and pain.
I'll leave the queries to others but Big Ups to both of you and hope all is well that really matters...

 

Such great music came from D&D because they put their hearts and souls into the music 100% That is called ART.

 

You Are Welcome

You are welcome. The discovery of those two albums for the first time was a highlight of my love of music.

By the way, as interesting and thrilling as the information is about Layla and the other discs, I personally would be interested in hearing about the early solo albums by Bobby.

 

We love this thread...so much information .
We have added it to our myspace sites.
You are all so incredible...
Thank you.
CC

http://www.myspace.com/bobbywhitlockcococarmel
http://www.myspace.com/theebobbywhitlock

 

In case you haven't seen the clip, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1fXhLVaBBY

 

Johnny Cash show

LAUGHING ..." OH YEAH...
The Dominos left Miami after recording Layla in Criteria , the next day we were in Nashville getting ready to do the Johnny Cash show.
We brought along with us from Miami from the sessions a couple of ounces of pure cocaine .
We took one of them and dumped it out on a picnic table that was in the dressing room ...which is right off the stage . It was the same table that Hank Williams and everybody else ...George Jones ( all those dope snortin' country stars were using ) Bobby says "we were gonna out do em' ..
Well , we all did the better part of that and went out there ...gettin ready to go out and play . I had flown my family in ..Granny Whitlock , my mom sister, aunt and uncle , they were sitting in the front row.
The place was packed . And so were we !
Here I am in front of my family all wired up , and I felt a terrible guilt .
Then Johnny Cash came walking out ...they were rolling tape , everybody was applauding , he gets up to the microphone and hums ..."MMMMMmm....who's on speed?" ...
He was all wired up as well . Then he introduces us "Ladies and Gentlemen, from London England , Eric Clapton ...Jim Gordon , Carl Radle and Bobby Whitlock . And as he's gettin ready to say Derek & The Dominos ...I held my hand up like I was in school , and said "Wait a Minute ! I'm from Memphis , and my whole family is sittin in the front row , and he's from Tulsa (pointing to Carl ) and he's from Hollywood (pointing to Jim ) .
Then the Director goes "CUT !" ...the place was in an uproar ...Johnny was laughing . So they had to retake it again ...at that time there was a few minutes of delay , so it had to be quick .
So Johnny walks off ...comes back on start over "Ladies and Gentlemen ...from Memphis Tennessee...Bobby Whitlock , Eric Clapton , Jim Gordon and Carl Radle ...Derek & The Dominos !"
We did that ..the show you see on t.v. , and the other is an outtake somewhere .
When the show was over , they emptied out the house and let everybody that was waiting (2 deep around the block ) come in ..all the rock-n-rollers , and we rocked for 2 and a half hours . I am surprised that a tape has not surfaced . That was the beginning of our American tour .
I am glad you asked ...nice stroll down memory lane ."

BW

 

Wow. Wow wow wow. This is incredible.

 

Does Bobby remember any occassions when Duane played live with the Dominos?

 

I think there was a show in Florida, and I think I remember hearing about a bootleg of it. Hope Bobby can shed more light.

 

I have to agree. One of my favorite songs on the album is "Anyday." Bobby's voice gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. It's magic!

 

Anyday is definatly a favorite ...Love to play it . Bobby was elated to know that Derek Trucks cut it .
CC

 

Allman did perform two shows with the group at Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, in Florida, on December 1, 1970, and at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York the following night.

 

It's only one of the GREATEST records of all time!

 

We tried our best to keep him, but he had to go play with his brother. It sounded like the band was complete with Duane ...and when he left there was something really missing . He really rounded out the entire sound. His playing and Eric's playing were so different , they complimented each other.
There were only two shows , once up in Syracuse New York and once in Florida...thats it . There are bootlegs from that .
It was Awesome ...it was the best thing ...and when he left it did leave a void . Then it became alright ...got used to it .
At one point there was a kid that Eric wanted to have in the band , he was incredible but 15 years old ... Bobby hated it ( he did not want any kids in the band ) , and that kid ended up playing with Carlos Santana.
It was a heavy load for Eric . But that soon blew over .
Duane would show up ..he wasn't on the road with us . Bobby would call Duane and or Duane would call Bobby to let him know if he was going to show...The Allman Brothers were on the road ... It caused some dissention in the Allman band . There was talk about having Duane in the The Dominos but Duane insisted that he wouldn't do it without his brother ....

 

Bobby grew up in a gritty Southern Country backwoods world ...Real Blues , "Rawthentic" he calls it .
And Eric is much more wistful , so the combination is like Beauty and the Beast .
It makes for a beautiful combination . Bobby says "I always put a fire under his ***" ...

 

Neal Schon! I took sax lessons from his dad, and we talked a lot about that time. I'd always heard his folks weren't happy about his dropping out of school to join Santana, but it turns out they were okay with it.

 

And Eric missed getting Neal by 3 days.....3 days before Eric called, Neal and Carlos agreed he would join Santana. Neal held to his commitment to join Santana when Eric called. Wonder what might have been if things worked out differently?

CoCo - you and Bobby are doing a great job in relaying the stories. Please keep it up. I find I'm checking this thread during the day at work to keep up with what is being posted.

 

I have also read - don't remember where off the top of my head - that whenever Duane was around with D&D, he really added a focus to the group and that the songs really started to flow when he was there. Anything to add to this?

 

Somebody pinch me...

 

Matt Schon said Neal wanted to go to England, but Matt was adamant about not wanting him to. Neal was, after all, a minor, and needed his dad's permission. I know this runs contrary to what's been reported, but I got it from the horse's mouth.

 

Just that obviously everybody got charged with Duane around ..it added that little something that was sorely missed when he was gone , this is why Eric wanted someone else in the band ...preferably another guitar player to help ease the load ...and also Duane really fit the bill .
There was a real connection between everybody , and that is not easy to come by .

 

Duane also brought ideas to the session , like the lick to Layla is really a sped up version of the Albert King song "As the years go passing by" ....
Of course he also came up with many other ideas that I can get to tommorrow .