Delaney & Bonnie

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Delaney & Bonnie
Delaney & Bonnie in 1970, during the making of their album To Bonnie from Delaney
Delaney & Bonnie in 1970, during the making of their album To Bonnie from Delaney
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, US
Genres
Years active1967–1972
Labels
David Marks
Rita Coolidge
King Curtis
Eric Clapton
Bobby Whitlock
Jim Keltner
Bobby Keys
Gram Parsons
George Harrison
Kenny Gradney

Jay York

Delaney & Bonnie was an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Steve Howe, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.

Background

Delaney Bramlett (July 1, 1939, Pontotoc County, Mississippi – December 27, 2008, Los Angeles) learned the guitar in his youth. He moved to Los Angeles in 1959,[1] where he became a session musician. His most notable early work was as a member of the Shindogs, the house band for the ABC-TV series Shindig! (1964–66), which also included guitarist and keyboardist Leon Russell.[2] He was the first artist signed to Independence Records. His debut single "Guess I Must be Dreamin" was produced by Russell.[3]

Bonnie Bramlett (née Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell, born November 8, 1944, in Granite City, Illinois) was an accomplished singer at an early age, performing when she was 14 years old with blues guitarist Albert King and in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue—the first white Ikette.[4] She moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and met and married Bramlett later that year.[5]

Career

Beginnings and Stax contract

Delaney Bramlett and Leon Russell had many connections in the music business through their work in the Shindogs and formed a band of solid, if transient, musicians around Delaney & Bonnie. The band became known as "Delaney & Bonnie and Friends", because of its regular changes of personnel. They secured a recording contract with Stax Records and completed work on their first album, Home, in 1968. In his 2007 autobiography, Eric Clapton erroneously[original research?] states that Delaney & Bonnie and Friends were the first white group to sign a contract with Stax.[6] Despite production and session assistance from Donald "Duck" Dunn, Isaac Hayes, and other Stax mainstays of the era, the album was not successful—perhaps because of poor promotion, as it was one of 27 albums simultaneously released by Stax in that label's initial attempt to establish itself in the album market.[7]

Elektra and Apple contracts

Delaney and Bonnie moved to Elektra Records for their second album, The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends (Accept No Substitute) (1969). While not a big seller either, it created a buzz in music industry circles when, upon hearing pre-release mixes of the album, George Harrison offered Delaney and Bonnie a contract with the Beatles' Apple Records label—which Delaney and Bonnie signed despite their prior contractual commitment to Elektra. The Apple contract was subsequently voided, but this incident began a falling-out between Delaney and Elektra.[8] Delaney and Bonnie were released from their Elektra contract in late 1969, after Delaney threatened to kill Elektra founder Jac Holzman because their album wasn't on sale in the town where his father lived.[9]

Atco contract and chart success

On the strength of Accept No Substitute, and at his friend Harrison's suggestion,

gold record status. Clapton also recruited Delaney and Bonnie and their band to back him on his debut solo album
, recorded in late 1969 and early 1970 and produced by Delaney.

Delaney and Bonnie continued to make well-regarded, if modest selling, albums over the rest of their career. "Soul Shake" (a cover of Soulshake by

Strawberry Fields Festival; an appearance in Richard C. Sarafian's 1971 film Vanishing Point, contributing the song "You Got to Believe" to its soundtrack; and a July 1971 live show broadcast by New York's WABC-FM (now WPLJ), backed by Duane Allman, Gregg Allman and King Curtis. (A song from the latter set, "Come On in My Kitchen," is included on the 1974 Duane Allman compilation album An Anthology Vol. II
.)

CBS contract and breakup

By late 1971, Delaney and Bonnie's often tempestuous relationship began to show signs of strain.[12] Bonnie described their relationship as abusive due to their cocaine addictions, and they fought often.[5] Their next album, Country Life, was rejected by Atco on grounds of poor quality,[13] and Atco/Atlantic elected to sell Delaney and Bonnie's recording contract—including this album's master tapes—to CBS Records. Columbia released this album, in a different track sequence from that submitted to Atco, as D&B Together, in March 1972. It was Delaney and Bonnie's last album of new material. They divorced in 1972.[5]

Legacy

Bonnie Bramlett - live in concert in 2008

Live success

Delaney and Bonnie are generally best remembered for their albums On Tour with Eric Clapton and Motel Shot. On Tour was their best-selling album by far, and is (except for their version of "Come On in My Kitchen" with Duane Allman, released after Delaney and Bonnie's breakup and Allman's death) the only official document of their live work.[citation needed] Delaney and Bonnie were considered by many to be at their best on stage. In his autobiography, Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler stated that the studio album he produced for the band, To Bonnie from Delaney, "didn't quite catch the fire of their live performances."[14] Clapton makes an even stronger statement in his autobiography: "For me, going on [with Blind Faith] after Delaney and Bonnie was really, really tough, because I thought they were miles better than us."[15] Motel Shot, although technically a studio album, was largely recorded "live in the studio" with acoustic instruments — a rarity for rock bands at the time.[citation needed]

Influence

In addition to having produced a rich recorded legacy, Delaney and Bonnie influenced many fellow musicians of their era. Most notably, Clapton has said: "Delaney taught me everything I know about singing,"

BMI's Repertoire database.)[21]

Friends

Delaney and Bonnie's "Friends" of the band's 1969-70 heyday also had considerable impact. After the early 1970 breakup of this version of the band, Leon Russell recruited many of its ex-members, excepting Delaney, Bonnie and singer/keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, to join Joe Cocker's band, participating on Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen recording sessions and North American tour (March–May 1970; Rita Coolidge's version of "Groupie (Superstar)" was recorded with this band while on tour). Whitlock meanwhile joined Clapton at his home in Surrey, UK, where they wrote songs and decided to form a band, which two former "Friends"/Cocker band members, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon, would later join. As Derek and the Dominos, they recorded the landmark album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) with assistance on many tracks from another former "Friend," lead/slide guitarist Duane Allman. Derek and the Dominos also constituted the core backing band on George Harrison's solo debut album All Things Must Pass (1970) with assistance from still more former "Friends": Dave Mason, Bobby Keys and Jim Price.[citation needed]

Discography

Albums

Chart performance

Albums

Year Album Peak chart

positions

Notes
US[citation needed]
1969 Home —
Accept No Substitute 175
1970 On Tour with Eric Clapton 29 Live album
To Bonnie from Delaney 58
1971 Motel Shot 65
1972 Country Life —
D&B Together 133 Reissue of Country Life
The Best of Delaney & Bonnie — Compilation album
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US AUS
[22]
1969 "It's Been a Long Time Coming" — —
"Hard to Say Goodbye" 138* —
"When The Battle Is Over" — —
1970 "Comin Home" 84 49
"Soul Shake" 43 —
"Free the People" 75 —
"They Call it Rock & Roll Music" 119 —
1971 "Never Ending Song of Love" 13 16
"Only You Know and I Know" 20 85
1972 "Move Em Out" 59 —
"Where There’s a Will There’s a Way" 99 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

* Record World Singles Chart[23]

In addition,

London Records
(UK) released an album of 1964–65 and 1967 recordings by Delaney Bramlett in 1971 as Delaney & Bonnie: Genesis. While not a Delaney & Bonnie album per se, Bonnie Bramlett does appear with Delaney on three of this album's twelve selections.

References

  1. ^ Martin, Greg (2002). Liner notes to the 2003 reissue of Delaney & Bonnie's album D&B Together, Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music, catalog no. CK 85743.
  2. ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved October 14, 2019.[dead YouTube link]
  3. ^ "First Disk Bowed By Indep'dence" (PDF). Billboard. April 8, 1967. p. 16.
  4. ISBN 0-9661221-1-9
    , p. 271.
  5. ^ a b c Dougherty, Steve (April 13, 1992). "A '70s Burnout Lights Up Roseanne". People.com.
  6. ISBN 978-0-7679-2842-7, p. 111. Clapton's statement is faulty, as the racially integrated instrumental group the Mar-Keys
    recorded for Stax as early as 1961. Delaney and Bonnie were among the few white singers to record for the label, however.
  7. ISBN 0-02-860268-4
    , p. 175.
  8. ^ Holzman, Jac, and Gavan Daws. Follow the Music: The Life and High Times of Elektra Records in the Great Years of American Pop Culture, p. 275.
  9. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  10. ISBN 978-1-906002-00-8
    , p. 250.
  11. ^ "Delaney & Bonnie Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019.
  12. ^ Holzman, Jac, and Gavan Daws. Follow the Music: The Life and High Times of Elektra Records in the Great Years of American Pop Culture, p. 274.
  13. ISBN 0-679-40102-4
    , p. 263.
  14. ^ Wexler and Ritz (1993). Rhythm and the Blues, p. 253.
  15. ISBN 978-0-385-51851-2
    , p. 113.
  16. ^ Wexler and Ritz (1993). Rhythm and the Blues, p. 254.
  17. ^ "George Harrison". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  18. ^ Hjort, Christopher. Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom, 1965–1970, p. 282.
  19. ISBN 0-312-09798-0
    , pp. 54–55.
  20. ^ Clapton, Eric. Clapton - The Autobiography, p. 120.
  21. ^ "BMI | Repertoire Search". March 3, 2017. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  22. ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  23. ISBN 978-0-89820-213-7
    .
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