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Lovers at Times Square
*********************MARCH 14, 2008
MUSICSXSW Platters
Saturday
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel
LoversThirtysomething years ago, Texan Boz Scaggs invented adult contemporary radio by moving millions of Silk Degrees. Bobby Whitlock and wife CoCo Carmel's studio debut, Lovers, transforms silken Left Coast murmurs of the heart into gritty Southwestern declarations of ardor. Her tart saxophone and his thick, rich, deep grain delivery pledge the title track, singers entwined at the chorus never to unclinch. Equally hewn comes "Dice of God," seven-minute heavyweight rumble between Whitlock's preacher command and God's own truth. Austin axe brigade Stephen Bruton, David Grissom, and Eric Johnson carve up both sides. If 18 strings weren't plenty, Willie Nelson's guitar work on Carmel's "True Love," flushed and fluttering with its writer's vocal, courts divinity. The album's centerpiece, "Best Days of Our Lives," plays out as epic at the 1946 Best Picture of the same title, inflamed by Whitlock's Hammond organ, Carmel's gritty harmonies, and its down-and-dirty, three-guitar weave. "Dear Veronica," begun by Eric Clapton and Whitlock in the aborted sessions for Derek & the Dominos' never completed second album, lands Willie again to stylize Veronica Lake's cinematic allure into sonic sepia tones. That would close most LPs, but Lovers ends with Whitlock tearing out a piece of his heart to match his past, "Layla" slowed and saxed, built from comfort not for speed, and attacked with gusto by its guitarists forgoing the song's majority coda for fireworks its original guitarist has favored for decades. Clapton never reworked a love like this. (Saturday, March 15, Cedar Door, 8pm.) ****
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March
During the Austin Film Festival
Saturday March 8th Saxon Pub
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:::Spotlight
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Out steps the host of the The Johnny Cash Show, barrel-chested in a blue tuxedo shirt and black velvet vest."If you detect some country blues pickin' in this song you're about to hear, you're right," announces Cash. "Played by one of the finest musical groups in the world, welcome Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, and Eric Clapton – Derek & the Dominos!"Up cues track 12 on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, "It's Too Late," Whitlock yowling ferocious harmonies at the piano. His close-up confirms who possessed the quartet's best voice, it soon becoming clear what isn't always on the LP: The Dominoes sported two vocalists, only one of them blessed with a total soul exhale."When he introduced us at first, he said, 'Ladies and gentleman, from London, England, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock ... Derek & the Dominos!'" recalls Whitlock from his home in Austin."We're getting ready to start, and I went: 'Wait a minute! I'm not from England, and neither is he, and neither is he.' I said, 'My family's in the front row. I'm from Memphis, Tennessee!'"And Johnny Cash started laughing."In fact, Radle and Gordon, one dead and the other long imprisoned for killing his mother with a hammer and knife, were both from Oklahoma. Honorary fifth Domino, Duane Allman, another Southern epitaph. Whitlock's one of the last Dominos standing, only now he's got a new vocal counterpoint, wife CoCo Carmel. Once married to Whitlock's former employer Delaney Bramlett, the multi-instrumentalist and Whitlock moved to Austin in winter 2006 from Nashville. Their debut studio recording, Lovers, came out Valentine's Day and closes with a new "Layla.""After 'It's Too Late,' Johnny and Carl Perkins came up, and we did 'Matchbox' and 'Blue Suede Shoes.' After that was over, they let all the country folk out, and there was people lined two deep, twice around the block, at the Ryman Auditorium. They let all the rockers in, and [the Dominos] rocked that joint for about two hours."With guitarists Stephen Bruton, David Grissom, and hopefully Eric Johnson backing Whitlock and Carmel live, expect the South to rise again.*********************
::: SXSW Dates :::
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:::Friday March 14th:::
KGSR review by David Menconi of the New Observer
Saturday, March 15, 2008 SXSW 2008: Day Three
Every year, I come to South by Southwest with a three-part mission. The first two goals are simple enough: Check in on how our North Carolina folks do, and check out the latest trendy acts (since SXSW is basically Mardi Gras for young hipsters nowadays, part two is easily done).But the third part is more nebulous and even, dare I say it, spiritual -- to try and reconnect with why I do what I do. Covering music for a daily newspaper, you inevitably find yourself writing about topics you might find less than engaging. I'm not complaining because it comes with the territory; I'm just pointing out that when you're up to your ears in deadlines and details, it can be difficult to remember the joy and the passion and the rockin' out that made this job appealing in the first place. So every March brings me to Texas in search of reminders, which always seem to turn up. Sometimes it's a new discovery, but just as often it's a rediscovery.This year's rediscovery was Bobby Whitlock, who I saw play Friday afternoon at Austin radio station KGSR. Even if you've never heard of Whitlock, I can guarantee you've heard him play because he did the piano outro on "Layla." What you might not know is that Whitlock is a brilliant Memphis soul cat in his own right, and a hilarious raconteur. Nowadays he leads a killer band with his singer/saxophonist wife CoCo Carmel, featuring the guitar tandem of David Grissom and Stephen Bruton. And it's just about the best thing you've ever heard, like a '70s classic-rock version of the devotional duets that Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell used to do.*********************
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:::SXSW:::
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:::Saturday March 15th :::
: : : Cedar Door : : :
: : :Wall Street Journal: : :
Review by Jim Fusilli
" I succumbed to nostalgia twice, seeing Mr. Morrison on opening night and Bobby Whitlock near the festival's end. Mr.Morrison has a new album , " Keep It Simple" (Lost Highway ) ,coming out next month , and those who have heard him in recent years will find no surprises in his recent work . Sung with crusty ease , it's competent but uninspired jazz sways between jump blues and country swing . But a legend is a legend , perhaps more so to those who know what it takes to become one : The day after Mr. Morrison's live set, several musicians asked me the same question : " Did you see Van ? "
Mr.Whitlock and his band played in one of the myriad tents in parking lots and on rooftops . An Austin native , he's been absent from the international music scene for decades. In the 70's ,he was a member of Derek & the Dominoes , playing keyboards alongside Eric Clapton and Duane Allman on its " Layla and Assorted Love Songs ." He performed a blistering 40-minute set that included a new reading of the song "Layla" as it appears on "Lovers" (Monney) , a new album he recorded with his wife CoCo Carmel . " I turn 60 on the 18th , "he told me before the show, " and I think my voice is stronger than ever . " It might very well be.
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:::Saturday March 15th :::
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:::The band will include : David Grissom , Stephen Bruton , Brannen Temple , Andy Salmon and James Fenner :::
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::::::::::::::::February 14th ::The Chronicle::Click the link below to go to The Article
The latest article in the Chronicle " All things must Pass" by Austin Powell::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Layla Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel
Add to My Profile | More Videos
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Part of the interview with Jody Denberg can be seen on YouTube , in this portion Bobby describes how Layla became part of Lovers , Click on the link below
Bobby Whitlock on Layla
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~ February and March News ~
:::February 14th 2008 Valentines Day 2:15 p.m. KGSR with Jody Denberg
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KGSR Radio here
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::::::::::::::::~ News ~
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Thanks for visiting
The new CD " Lovers " is available now through the website www.bobbywhitlock.com .
Sharing with us on the new CD we have the finest players the world has to offer including :
Willie Nelson
Guitar
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David Grissom
Lead guitar ( Dixie Chicks , Joe Ely , Robben Ford , John Mellencamp , Chris Isaac , Lucinda Williams )
Eric Johnson
lead guitar (Robben Ford /Dixie Chicks/Leonard Cohen/ Jennifer Warnes )
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Stephen Bruton
Guitar ( Kris Kristofferson /Bonnie Raitt )
Brannen Temple
Drums ( Chaka Kahn/ Janet Jackson/Jody Watley )
James Fenner
percussion
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Check out the bands websites below
Willie Nelson Official Website
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David Grissom Official Website
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Eric Johnson Official Website
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Brannen Temple Official MySpace
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Stephen Bruton Official Website
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******A Special thanks to our friends Joe & Judy Abels of " The Saxon Pub " for a year of great music and memories .
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Check out our website and MySpace for new developments .
Bobby & CoCo Official Website****************Austin Chronicle
" Texas Platters " by Raoul Hernandez
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Bobby Whitlock
Derek & The Domino's
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Albums: Layla , All Things Must Pass ,
Derek & The Dominos ( Live at the Fillmore ) ,
Bobby Whitlock (Bobby Whitlock )
Raw Velvet , Rock Your Sox Off , One of a Kind , It's About Time ,
Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel "Other Assorted Love Songs " ( Live at Whitney Chapel )
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************Thank You Austin***********For Stories & Reviews
click on the link below
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The Austin Chronicle******************************
Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs
The Derek & The Dominos Story by Jan ReidBooklist, Oct. 29. Reid, Jan. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos. Nov. 2006. 160p. illus. Rodale, $16.95 (1-59486-369-1). 782.421. ************************************
:::REVIEWS:::
Thank god for Bobby Whitlock. The keyboard player, second lead singer, and song coauthor of the short-lived, fondly remembered Derek and the Dominos comes from a long line of, as he says, “river rats, whores, and moonshiners,†and as Reid’s principal informant for this jolly rock-album history, he’s a gold mine. He was raffish to the max, and his band mates weren’t stiffs, either. Drummer Jim Gordon was already on the road to homicidal dementia, bassist Carl Radle was gigging with all the rising stars of southern rock, of whom guitarist Duane Allman was indisputably the biggest and brightest. And then there was the group’s raison d’être, archetypal rock guitar god Eric Clapton, sodden in love with best friend George Harrison’s wife but at the top of his game on his ax. There isn’t all that much about actually making the great record here, but the horror show of substance abuse and poor impulse-control that Reid shows began, for most of the band’s members, before they were born, is appallingly amusing. ––Ray Olson
*********************“As a writer, Jan Reid does not waste a word — Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs proves that he is the master of styled efficiency. Part historian, part surgeon, he gets as close to the truth about Layla as anyone ever has — or ever will." —John Lynskey, editor-in-chief, Hittin’ the Note Magazine
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Although Duane had played on the album "Layla" , there is much speculation as to whether or not is is Duane playing on this Bobby's first two solo records . It was infact Rick Vito and Eric Clapton playing all the beautiful guitar work no both records . Eric was fresh off of Layla and playing with Duane that it did influence his playing .
Bobby's first solo record was also the very last time that Derek & the Dominos officially played . Eric , Carl and Jim and Bobby completed this record , it has some rough goings and did not turn out as Bobby had hoped . Too many personalities had begun to tear it apart , Bobby was frustrated and very upset when Eric's bass had been erased , mistakes were not repaired , it seemed it was doomed.
Having nobody to help guide him through , it eventually did get finished .This album is a beautiful one and reflects Bobby's innocence and purity of soul .
All Bobby Whitlock has ever wanted to do is play , and when the band had broken up he tried in vain to get Eric who was now in seclusion to come and play . After two years of waiting Bobby's life was spinning out of control .
Duane had lost his life , Eric wouldn't come out of his house , Bobby's own life was in total disarray . During these times everybody was completely and utterly out of control .
After a terrible car wreck that nearly killed him and his passenger , he vowed to put his own life back on track . He moved back to America to begin anew , and started with a very downplayed tour of every honky tonk and bar from Memphis to L.A .* * * * * *
*::::::::::::Today Bobby and his wife CoCo Carmel are working together . They reside in Austin Texas . To get up to date information , go to www.bobbywhitlock.com , or Bobby and CoCo's myspace site .
www.myspace.com/bobbywhitlockcococarmel
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