Early career 1965–68 in Memphis, a replica of the now-demolished Stax studio, where Whitlock spent part of his teenage years Robert Stanley Whitlock was born in
Memphis, Tennessee, on March 18, 1948. and was the first white artist signed to the label. His first contribution to a recording was in 1967, when he supplied handclaps on Sam & Dave's single "
I Thank You". Between 1965 and 1968, Whitlock performed regularly in the Memphis area, playing organ with local
soul band the Short Cuts before forming the Counts. In his 2010 autobiography, Whitlock writes of this period in Memphis: "It was a great time and town for music then, especially soul music. It was real
rhythm and blues. Albert King R&B, that's what I'm talking about. It was loose and all about music everywhere that you turned." With established Stax musicians such as
Steve Cropper as his mentor, Whitlock recalled that he was performing at a club with the Counts when the Bramletts invited him to join a soul-revue band they were forming in Los Angeles.
Delaney & Bonnie 1968–70 Whitlock contributed on keyboards and vocals to two
Delaney & Bonnie albums in 1969,
Home and
Accept No Substitute. Their touring band, known as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, included musicians he would continue to work with on projects through to the early 1970s: bassist
Carl Radle; drummers
Jim Keltner and
Jim Gordon; and a horn section comprising
Bobby Keys and
Jim Price. Another member was
Eric Clapton, who joined the Friends as lead guitarist midway through a U.S. tour in July–August 1969. On this tour, Delaney & Bonnie were supporting Clapton's short-lived
supergroup Blind Faith, with
Steve Winwood. Clapton later described Whitlock as "without doubt the most energetic sideman I had ever seen". Along with all the other members of Delaney & Bonnie, Once in London, Whitlock participated in a session for a solo album by the American soul singer
Doris Troy, on
the Beatles'
Apple record label. The album,
Doris Troy (1970), was co-produced by
George Harrison, who, having championed Delaney & Bonnie in the British press, accepted Clapton's invitation to join the tour. Through Harrison, Whitlock and the band then played at
John Lennon's "
Peace for Christmas" concert, held at the
Lyceum Ballroom in London on December 15, 1969. In early 1970, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends backed Clapton on his debut solo album,
Eric Clapton, and toured America with the English guitarist. After arguments with the Bramletts over money, the other Friends quit the band and joined
Leon Russell on
Joe Cocker's
Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. following sessions for their album
To Bonnie from Delaney (1970). On Cropper's advice, before going on to back Harrison on his 1970 triple album
All Things Must Pass. Whitlock described the latter sessions as "spectacular in every way". Having traditionally favored Hammond organ as his keyboard instrument, Whitlock played piano for the first time on a studio recording during the session for Harrison's "
Beware of Darkness". In June 1970, early in the
All Things Must Pass sessions, Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon formed the
blues-rock band
Derek and the Dominos. In August, once their work on Harrison's album was complete, Derek and the Dominos toured the UK, playing to small venues. That summer, Whitlock and his bandmates also participated in London sessions for
Dr John's album
The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971). Unhappy with Spector's treatment of their sound, on what became a double album –
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970). The album featured substantial contributions by
Duane Allman, as well as by
Dave Mason. As well as a remake of "Tell the Truth", the album included six other songs written or co-written by Whitlock, including "Anyday", "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?", "Keep on Growing" and "Thorn Tree in the Garden". "Keep on Growing" and "Thorn Tree in the Garden" featured Whitlock on lead vocals, while on other tracks he and Clapton shared the singing in a style reminiscent of Sam & Dave. Adding to the power of the Dominos' music, Clapton's inspiration for the songs on
Layla was his unrequited love for
Pattie Boyd, Harrison's wife. Whitlock began a relationship with Boyd's sister Paula at this time, and was therefore, as he described it, "in the inner circle ... in the middle of it with all of them". He comments on a musical dialogue between Harrison and Clapton in their songs: "There were subliminal messages, going back and forth, between two good friends as a way of healing and setting each other free ... I have always known that the better part of those songs [on
All Things Must Pass] were directed to Eric, just like Eric's were to George on the
Layla record." But the
Layla album made little commercial impact on release, Clapton's despondency at being rejected by Boyd, the band's drug consumption, and personal conflicts between the members, while Dominos biographer Jan Reid writes of sessions happening in January that year. Whitlock played acoustic or electric rhythm guitar on much of the album, which also included musical contributions from all the Dominos (often recorded separately), Among its tracks, "Where There's a Will" was a Whitlock–Bonnie Bramlett collaboration that had featured in Delaney & Bonnie's live shows in 1969–70, and "A Day Without Jesus" was co-written by Whitlock and Don Nix. The record peaked at number 140 on the US
Billboard 200 chart, the
same magazine praising it as "a persuasively powerful first album". Whitlock's second solo album, also on
ABC-Dunhill Records, was
Raw Velvet, released in November 1972. It included appearances by Clapton and Gordon, on "Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham", although the majority of the album, including another remake of "Tell the Truth", featured new associates such as guitarist
Rick Vito and ex-
Van der Graaf Generator bassist
Keith Ellis. The album was co-produced by
Jimmy Miller, whose connection with
the Rolling Stones A 1970-recorded live album,
In Concert, was similarly well-received when issued in January 1973.
Raw Velvet peaked at number 190 on the
Billboard 200, however, and it was Whitlock's last album to place on the chart. and released in 1975 on
Capricorn Records.
Rock Your Sox Off followed in 1976, opening with a new recording of "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?" Whitlock then withdrew from the music industry; and doing occasional session work. In 1999, Whitlock resumed his solo career with ''It's About Time'', Michael Smith of
AllMusic described the album as "one of Whitlock's most intriguing creations yet" and a "fine set from a musician we haven't heard enough from in recent years". In 2003, Whitlock and his partner, musician CoCo Carmel, collaborated on
Other Assorted Love Songs, a live album that again revisited the Dominos' songs, as well as including Harrison's "
All Things Must Pass". Music critic Bruce Eder praised the album, writing: "The classic pieces [from
Layla] hold up magnificently ... [H]ere, acoustic guitar and piano are more than sufficient accompaniment and, indeed, coupled with Whitlock's powerful singing and range, make a strong case for these being the definitive versions." and moved to Austin, Texas, in 2006. and
Metamorphosis (2010), another live recording. Released on the Domino label,
Lovers included a song that Whitlock had begun writing with Clapton in the early 1970s, "Dear Veronica", and a remake of "Layla" that omitted the Gordon-composed ending, which Whitlock had never thought suitable for the track.
Vintage (2009) compiled his unreleased songs from the 1990s and included appearances by Cropper and Horn. Whitlock's solo album
My Time (2009) featured musical contributions from Cropper, Keltner, Horn,
Tim Drummond and
Buddy Miller. His subsequent releases with Carmel include
Esoteric (2012) and another live album,
Carnival: Live in Austin (2013). In 2010, ''Bobby Whitlock: A Rock 'n' Roll Autobiography'', written with music historian Marc Roberty, was published, with a foreword by Eric Clapton. Whitlock's first two solo albums appeared, remastered, as ''Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The ABC-Dunhill Recordings'', released by Future Day Records in September 2013.
Death Whitlock died from cancer at his home in
Ozona, Texas, on August 10, 2025, at the age of 77. He is survived by wife Coco Whitlock, Children Ashley Faye Brown Whitlock, Beau Elijah Whitlock, and Tim Whitlock Kelly CBS News Source == Discography ==