RSSDelaney & Bonnie & Friends [extended]
- The Original Delaney & Bonnie [Elektra, 1969] A+
- Home [Stax, 1969] B+
- On Tour [Atco, 1970] A-
- To Bonnie from Delaney [Atco, 1970] A-
- Motel Shot [Atco, 1971] A
- The Best of Delaney & Bonnie [Atco, 1972] A
- Sweet Bonnie Bramlett [Columbia, 1973] C+
- Some Things Coming [Columbia, 1973] D+
- It's Time [Capricorn, 1975] C+
- The Best of Delaney & Bonnie [Rhino, 1990] A
- Roots, Blues & Jazz [Zoho Roots, 2006] *
See Also:
Consumer Guide Reviews:
Delaney & Bonnie: The Original Delaney & Bonnie [Elektra, 1969]
A+
Delaney & Bonnie: Home [Stax, 1969]
Now that Eric and George have given their imprimature, D&B's first release, on Elektra, is beginning to sell as it should. This one was recorded much earlier, with Duck Dunn and Jack Nix producing instead of Leon Russell, but released much later. Perhaps if I heard it first I'd like it more--or rather, even more, since I already like it--but I don't think it compares to the Elektra album (rated A plus in an earlier CG). The warmth that suffuses their music is obscured more than once by some perfunctory soul-shouting, and the arrangements are less than inventive. Nice enough, though. B+
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends With Eric Clapton: On Tour [Atco, 1970]
Delaney & Bonnie are what would happen to rock and roll if it were capable of growing up--maybe they're what would happen to this country if it were capable of growing up. Whites so down-home their soul inflections sound inbred, they sing of love like teens of yore, but even though their love is quite physical it's been weathered spiritually and morally. No wonder Eric Clapton found their youthful fun and mature equanimity an antidote to the formless pretensions of Cream and Blind Faith. He certainly contributes--whenever the voices don't quite carry the one-take live performances, there he is with a terse, punchy solo that adds just the right note of strength and understanding. Nice that he's got Dave Mason (and Delaney himself) to help out. And nice that they all pay their respects to Robert Johnson and Little Richard. A-
To Bonnie from Delaney [Atco, 1970]
The all-their-records-sound-the-same putdowns can only mean no one is really listening. D&B's singing has always been subtler than its framework, and their framework has never been more understated than here, though a couple of mediocre songs and too many sustained-climax gimmicks do put a crimp in. Delaney sounds best when reminding us that he owes more to John Hurt than to Otis Redding, while Bonnie peaks with new humor ("Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean") and passion ("The Love of My Man"). A-
Motel Shot [Atco, 1971]
D&B's best since their Elektra debut in 1969 isn't what you'd call a grabber--comprising two acoustic jams of the sort that take place in motels and dressing rooms, it fulfills their most homespun-away-from-home ambitions. But though I suppose I'd prefer it if they hadn't recorded a few of the selections before, the country blues side is a seamless delight, the most unflawed listening music I've heard in a long while. And though I sometimes find the spirit-screeching on the gospel side a little painful, it sure sounds, like they say, authentic. A
Delaney & Bonnie: The Best of Delaney & Bonnie [Atco, 1972]
Through white soul and Clapton rock and acoustic intimacy, their connubial celebration has had a steadfast sound, which means that this compilation--including cuts from the Elektra LP and put together with obvious t.l.c.--is their strongest disc. If a modicum of old marrieds is all you can take, it can displace all their albums except Motel Shot. And keep those divorce rumors to yourself. A
Bonnie Bramlett: Sweet Bonnie Bramlett [Columbia, 1973]
She tries to come on sweet, granted, but she sounds desperate. Enough to make me hope she finds peace, as if we needed another Jesus freak. C+
Delaney Bramlett: Some Things Coming [Columbia, 1973]
Either he's mad with grief or he switched to Columbia so that James William Guercio could do his horn arrangements. Too bad he didn't get him. D+
Bonnie Bramlett: It's Time [Capricorn, 1975]
The first two cuts on this album are the only ones I want to hear again, and one of them was coauthored by Delaney. C+
Delaney & Bonnie: The Best of Delaney & Bonnie [Rhino, 1990]
Bonnie was the songwriter and the terrific singer, Delaney the bandleader and the real good singer. Theirs was a marriage made on Sunset Strip, where two Southerners' displaced rural conservatism met the counterculture's exaltation of earthtone authenticity in an image of hippie adulthood that lasted till the divorce was underway in 1972 (shortly after they agreed to dispense with Bonnie's live-in lover on the unbelievably tender "Move 'Em Out"). Their conjugal sturm-und-drang was "a natural fact," the most canny and heartfelt and effortless rock-soul fusion in history. Their solo careers were a depressing embarrassment. A
Bonnie Bramlett: Roots, Blues & Jazz [Zoho Roots, 2006]
As mixed up and unapologetically Southern as the title says, another voice improves with age ("Love the One You're With," "I'm Confessin'"). *
See Also
- Delaney & Bonnie & Friends Featuring Eric Clapton [1970-02-12]