When Bobby Whitlock and Coco Carmel take the stage at Austin’s Saxon Pub on a Saturday evening, Whitlock’s classic stories – as much as the pair’s performance and their I-really-love-you grins – are the stars of the show.
The stories chronicle events of almost 50 years ago. But they captivate because they recount the writing and recording of the magical songs that Derek and the Dominos released on their only studio album – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
They’ve played hundreds of shows at the Saxon – most of them replete with versions of the same stories of Bobby and Eric Clapton and George Harrison. And that’s just fine by the crowd.
Two of my favorite classic Bobby tales:
- “So Eric says to me, ‘Bobby, why does love have to be so sad?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Dang! Why does that have to be such a long song title?’”
- On writing the lyrics to “Keep on Growing” on the spot. “Inspiration had its hold on me since I was real young. So I went out in the foyer of Criterion Records and my relatively inexperienced life fell out on that paper. I couldn’t write it down quick enough.”
There’s one hilarious story I didn’t record or write down, but I’ll get it one of these days. It’s about the time Bobby let Eric’s pet parrot Morris out of its cage, and the bird flew straight into the open fireplace. There’s a version of it in Bobby Whitlock: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Autobiography, but it’s not nearly as funny ... or sad ... or endearing as the way he tells it at the Saxon.
