My friend Delaney Bramlett went home to be with the Lord 5:00 AM, Saturday Dec. 27th. Our heartfelt condolences and thoughts go out to wife Susan, brother Johnny, Bonnie, Bekka, Michele, Suzanne and the entire family.

Delaney Bramlett was probably the most soulful vocalist, musician and writer I ever encountered. Just an amazing talent, great human, and if I can hang this title on him, teacher. He will be missed dearly, but at the same time, heaven gains a new player in the Angel Band.

I first became aware of Delaney in the late 60's through his work with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. If you were a rock music fan in the 70's, it was hard to escape the music of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. "Never Ending Song Of Love" and "Only You And I Know" were mega radio hits, plus his compositions "Let It Rain" by Eric Clapton and "Superstar" by The Carpenters have become standards.

I had the extreme pleasure of getting to know Delaney in the late 90's through Ed Amick, plus the honor of writing liner notes for the Delaney & Bonnie reissue, "D & B' Together" for Sony/Legacy Records in 2003. It was amazing talking to Delaney Bramlett for hours about his adventures with Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, George Harrison and others, I still have several tapes of our conversations that I culled my notes from. Delaney was a joy to know, anyone that was lucky enough to meet him walked away a better person, and became a stronger musician and writer in the process. He knew your strengths and gifts, and would make sure that you recognized them. I also had the pleasure of working with the talented Bonnie Bramlett in 2001 for The Mighty Jeremiahs CD, another soulful encounter.

Just to show you how God works and has a plan for our lives, back in 1997 Ed Amick gave me a call out of the blue concerning a benefit in Scottsburg, Ind. called Kid's First. I didn't know Ed at the time, but we had several mutual friends around Louisville and instantly connected. I love benefits that are centered around kids, so when Ed mentioned that Delaney Bramlett was going to be there, I jumped at the chance to play. That weekend through Ed, I got to perform with Delaney for the first time, it was an experience I'll never forget. Supposedly Delaney told someone that when he first saw me that day, it was like seeing Duane Allman again. I don't know if that's true or not, Ed would know. Delaney and my son Erik also bonded as well, he loved Delaney, Delaney loved Erik. We have made most of the Kid's First benefits since 1997, it's a wonderful cause. One of the things Erik used to say to Delaney was, "Good deal, Lucille," which turned into the workings for a song. After the Kid's First benefit, we stayed in touch, and I was lucky enough to interview Delaney a couple times on my radio show, the Lowdown Hoedown. In January 2001, Ed and I visited Delaney and his mother 'Mamo" at the Rock N' Roll Ranch in California. Besides all the good food, conversation, stories, music around the Kitchen table, not to mention listening to Delaney expound on the Bible (I always felt that 'D' may have been called to preach, he truly loved Jesus...), we also spent some time in his home studio. One track we recorded during that visit was "Cold And Hard Times," which was released last year on "New Kind Of Blues." That is something I'll always be proud of, a true honor. Delaney was amazing in the studio, he could pull things out of you no one else could get. I was able to witness a true genius at work. After all, he learned from Tom Dowd, Ahmet Ertegun, and the Atlantic Records stable of engineers and producers. He's the one guy that could have produced The Kentucky HeadHunters, it's a shame that it never happened. Delaney and I also recorded a stripped down version of "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" with 'Mamo' on vocals, it's now uploaded on the Myspace player. 'Mamo' was a beautiful person, she passed away in 2008.

A few months later I was on tour with The HeadHunters out west and was spending some time in the Los Angeles area. I was very sick with the Flu, couldn't get out of the hotel room. Delaney sent his friend Chad Watson to pick me up, brought me back to the ranch where he and 'Mamo' nursed me back to health. Of course, after I got feeling better, Delaney rustled me back in the studio for another session before hooking back up with The HeadHunters. Delaney knew how to get a performance out of you.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to Delaney as much the past two or three years due to our schedules and his impending health issues. Perhaps God puts people in our lives for a short time, who knows. He and I were able to do another 'On-air' interview in Nov. 2007, the link is posted below. 'Mamo's' passing last year was heartbreaking to Delaney, something I'm sure he never quite recovered from that.

Thanks to Ed Amick for introducing me to Delaney, 'Mamo' Bramlett, Scott Montgomery, Gerry McGee of the Ventures and many others. Delaney will truly be missed. I can truly say for a brief time, I was able to hang with a giant. I'll forever be richer for that experience.

Again, thanks for the thoughts and prayers, please continue to pray for Susan, Bekka and the family.

God bless...
Greg