'My love is in the music'

You talk to a man on the telephone, mostly because he’s thousands of miles away, and his absolute devotion to music zips through all the distance and embeds itself in your heart.

Good music can rarely be judged by commercial success as Bobby Whitlock will tell you — music is about peace, love and understanding. Yes, it does sound a tad like a scene out of a ’60s Hollywood movie but then again, Bobby has little patience for what passes off as music these days. “It is frightening what I get to hear these days! Some of the messages that are being put out through these songs are scary,” says an appalled Bobby. “Rock ‘n’ Roll, R&B — these constitute soul music and they have a deeper message in them — it’s the message of love and kindness, among other things,” he adds.

The songwriter-and-performer takes his responsibility as a musician very seriously. “People around the world are hungry for love and you have to be careful what you feed these people. I take my role as a musician very seriously and believe that quality control is the only way to ensure good music is produced. I don’t like most of the stuff that I hear these days. We are bringing our music to India for a reason; we want to show what good creative force can do. Music is our God and we are just players and our music can beat most things produced nowadays, forever!” Bobby says.

He’s often known as the man who co-wrote Layla, a hit song by Eric Clapton, when he was a part of Derek & The Dominos but Bobby Whitlock has stayed on with Clapton, writing unforgettable songs including Keep On Growing, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Roll It Over among others.

The news of Bobby Whitlock visiting Bangalore to be part of the Indigo ‘n’ Blues festival is not new. However, what’s absolutely brilliant about his trip is that he and his wife, Coco Carmel, intend to renew their vows in India. “This has been like a calling for us. I was introduced to Indian music when George Harrison had me meet Ravi Shankar but we never quite made it to India; but after this time, I plan to come back many more times,” says Bobby.
Incidentally, Bobby and Coco will renew their vows at a resort in Kovalam along with their band’s guitarist, Jeff Plankenhorn who’ll also be marrying his girlfriend at the
resort!

“I believe,” continues Bobby, “you can’t quite ‘see’ a place unless you’ve lived there. I intend to see as much as possible and do what I can to truly taste Indian culture. We are going to be there for 10 days and literally get our feet ‘wet’ there.”

Bobby is no stranger to Indian food though as he says, “Coco makes the best masala curry I’ve tasted!”