Delaney Bramlett Passes

You probably have no idea who the hell Delaney Bramlett is, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t change the course of music forever. The guitarist produced Eric Clapton’s first solo album, taught George Harrison how to play the slide, and released a few marginally successful Lps of his own with first wife Bonnie Lynn. Bramlett passed away yesterday from complications due to gallbladder surgery. He was sixty-seven.

According to Billboard, his loving wife Susan Lanier-Blamlett was beside him when he died, releasing the chillingly romantic statement, “I held him and he held on up until the last breath with which he went in peace to the light and on into eternity.” That’s a good woman.

Delaney was introduced to former Beatle George Harrison in 1970, a meeting which laid the groundwork for arguably Harrison’s best song “My Sweet Lord.” Eric Clapton reportedly thought so much of Bramlett’s abilities he accompanied him on numerous low-key performances as a simple backing musician, perfectly content to let his friend bask in the spotlight. For every George Harrison and Eric Clapton, there’s a Delaney Barmlett who never quite gets the recognition he deserves. In fact, he deserves more than this three paragraph obit, but at least it’s a start.