Delaney & Bonnie and Friends - Genesis (1971)

Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett were a husband and wife soul duo known for the ‘friends’, a large non-permanent group of famous musician associates who played with them both in the studio and on tour.

In 1971, following the success of Delaney & Bonnie's Atco albums, GNP Crescendo Records dusted off some old Delaney & Bonnie recordings they had from the 60s, and put them out as an album called Genesis. The idea of course was for it to be presented as an essential 'lost' first album from the duo, but that's not actually the truth. Only three of the songs actually featured Bonnie, and the rest were essentially solo Delaney Bramlett recordings. Most of these came from a number of singles he had released back in 1964 which had not gone anywhere. These saw him moving around through a variety of 60s pop styles, including folk-rock, Jerry Lee Lewis style rock & roll, and a passable Roy Orbison imitation. Obviously it wasn't until he got together with Bonnie that he really found his style - the highlight of the album was their upbeat take on "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (produced by his friend Leon Russell). Other interesting (if not exactly spectacular) covers included "What The World Needs Now", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "I Got A Woman".

Nevertheless, despite its dubious use of the Delaney & Bonnie name, Genesis turned out as an interesting little record, showing what Delaney Bramlett was doing in the years leading up to his marriage to Bonnie and their subsequent fantastic records.

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