Delaney Bramlett - Somethings Coming (1972)

Delaney Bramlett was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, a partnership with his wife actve from 1967 to 1972.

Delaney Bramlett was born in Mississippi, and moved to California in the early 60s, where he started his career in music. He found work as a session musician, appeared on the TV show Shindig!, and worked with Leon Russell, but the singles he released as a solo artist didn't go anywhere. It was then that he met and married Bonnie O'Farrell, and through his and Russell's connections in the music business was able to assemble a solid but transient group of musicians around them, becoming known as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. Between 1969 and 1972 they released six fantastic albums that fused rock and soul music. Both of them sang lead vocals, and Delaney also played guitar. During this time he also worked as a songwriter and producer, and befriended English musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton (he helped Clapton begin his solo career). Over the years he amassed a huge number of famous and infuential musician friends, and became highly respected, if not exactly well known to the public.
His first solo album was released in 1972, the same year of his last album with Bonnie. It was at this time that their relationship reached breaking point, and they were divorced the next year. Stylistically, Somethings Coming was a continuation of Delaney & Bonnie's soul-rock fusion, though it took it into slightly harder-edged territories. It was produced by Delaney himself, and the instrumental backing came from Tim Hedding (keyboards), Robert Wilson (bass), Ron Grayson (drums) and Milt Holland (percussion), plus a large horn section and backing vocals from Venetta Fields, Gloria Jones, Clydie King and Shirley Matthews. No guitarists other than Delaney are mentioned in the liner notes, so presumeably he played all the guitar parts himself (with Delaney & Bonnie there were usually various hot-shot session guitarists playing the lead parts).
Unfortunately the album went mostly unnoticed on its release. A great shame, as it's some first class rock and roll.

|> Mobius Strip (1973)
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