they need me. I will receive no financial bene- fit in any form for my performances or any other participation I may be asked to do. This is not a request for any support in the form of money, just need your prayers and your votes. Just go see what the girls are up to. They are good girls and I'm very proud of them. I hope you will be as well." - Bonnie (Website at end of this article)
Pardon me while I plead my own, personal
case. I’ll start with a primer for those who are not familiar with the contributions these two have made to the history of rock and roll. Delaney & Bonnie were a super-soulful
musical duo composed of husband-and-wife singer/songwriters Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, who fronted an ever evolving outfit known as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. At different times, the “friends” included musi- cians like Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whit- lock, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, King Curtis, and Eric Clapton, to name a few. Never mind the drop-ins like Gram Parsons and Joe Cocker, who both appear on the Motel Shot album. Jimi Hendrix joined the "Friends" for a
couple of weeks of touring; John Lennon and Delaney collaborated together and Delaney played as a member of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. Jerry Lee Lewis requested Delaney's presence during the recording of his famous London Sessions album in England.
BEGINNINGS Delaney Bramlett, born July 1, 1939, Pon-
totoc County, Mississippi began playing gui- tar at a young age, and by 1959 his desire to “make it” in music had taken him to Los An- geles, California. Once there he became a ses- sion musician as well as a member of the Shindogs, the house band for the ABC-TV se- ries Shindig! (alongside Leon Russell) in 1964.
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Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell, born November 8,
1944, in Alton, Illinois, began singing at an early age, performing with blues guitarist Al- bert King and with The Ike & Tina Turner Revue in her early teens. She relocated to Los Angeles in 1967, and met and married De- laney later that year. Because of his work with The Shindogs,
Delaney was afforded many opportunities to work with a wide variety of artists and indus- try people. In the late ‘60’s Deleany & Bonnie signed a contract with the prestigious r&b label Stax Records. The duo recorded their debut album, Home, with help from A-listers like Issac Hayes, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Steve Cropper and a roomful of others. The album was produced by Duck Dunn and Don Nix, and also included members of their touring band, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Leon Russell. Delaney and Bonnie’s sophomore effort
would be released on Elektra Records. The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Ac- cept No Substitute was released in1969. George Harrison had heard early mixes of the record and offered Delaney and Bonnie a con- tract with the Beatles' Apple Records label, however, they were already signed to Elektra. Acting on George Harrison's suggestion,
Eric Clapton took Delaney & Bonnie and Friends on the road in mid-1969 as the open- ing act for his band Blind Faith. Clapton be- came fast friends with Delaney, Bonnie and their band, preferring their music to Blind Faith's. He was extremely impressed by their live performances, and he would often appear on stage with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends during this period, and continued to record and tour with them following Blind Faith's breakup. Clapton helped Delaney and Bonnie get a deal with his then-US label, Atco (At- lantic) Records. The result was the duo’s third album, On Tour with Eric Clapton. Clapton. Eric also recruited Delaney and Bonnie and their band to back him on his debut solo
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