Robert (Bobby) Hunter Caldwell (August 15, 1951 – March 14, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz, and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the hit single and his signature song "What You Won't Do for Love" from his double platinum debut album Bobby Caldwell in 1978. After several R&B and smooth jazz albums, Caldwell turned to singing standards from the Great American Songbook. He wrote many songs for other artists, including the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single "The Next Time I Fall" for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera. Caldwell's music is frequently sampled by hip hop and R&B artists.

Bobby Caldwell was born in Manhattan but grew up in Miami, Florida. His mother sold real estate and one of her clients was reggae singer Bob Marley; Caldwell and Marley became friends. Growing up in Miami exposed Caldwell to a variety of music such as Haitian, Latin, reggae and R&B. He grew up listening to the music of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. When he was 12, Caldwell started playing piano and guitar. He was drawn to rock and roll, jazz and rhythm and blues. At 17, he worked with his band in Las Vegas, then moved to Los Angeles. He was a member of a Miami band called Katmandu who wrote much of their material while also performing traditional standards. Caldwell played multiple instruments and sang.

Caldwell got his first career break as a rhythm guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s. Caldwell and his band eventually left Little Richard, and Caldwell went solo. By 1977, he had spent six years in Los Angeles playing in different bar bands and trying to get a record deal. Caldwell eventually signed with TK Records in Miami in 1978. After songs for his first album were recorded, executives told Caldwell they enjoyed the album, but thought it was lacking a hit. Caldwell returned to the studio for two days and wrote "What You Won't Do for Love". TK was mainly an R&B label popular among African American listeners. Executives at the label wanted to conceal the fact that Caldwell was white, so they kept his face off the album cover. When he toured with Natalie Cole to support the album, most of the audience was black and many were surprised that Caldwell was white.

What You Won't do for Love

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Posted by Kafka

I am the moral conscience of TD

Member since Jul 2007

142434 posts

Posted on 3/18/23 at 4:42 pm to bleeng

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quote:
Session drummer and Wrecking Crew member Jim Gordon, who played for The Beach Boys, Derek and The Dominos, Steely Dan, John Lennon and many, many more, has died in a medical correctional facility, aged 77.

Gordon’s death was confirmed by publicist, Bob Merlis, who states that he died of natural causes “after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with mental illness.”

The troubled session ace’s already-impressive career was cut short in 1984, when he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for brutally murdering his mother in an attack with a hammer during a schizophrenic episode, before stabbing her to death with a butchers’ knife in 1983.

Gordon grew up in LA’s San Fernando Valley, and by the time he turned 17, was performing as a drummer for the Everly Brothers. Session drummer, Hal Blaine became Gordon’s mentor, bringing him into the Wrecking Crew collective of studio musicians, and Gordon went on to perform on huge-selling albums from The Beach Boys, The Monkees, The Byrds, and more.

In 1970, following a stint with Delaney & Bonnie alongside Eric Clapton, bassist Carl Radle and keyboard player Bobby Whitlock, Gordon and the rest of the band’s rhythm section were recruited by Clapton to form Derek and The Dominos.

Gordon recorded drums on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, with Gordon receiving a songwriting credit on Clapton’s anthem, Layla after penning the extended piano section.

quote:
Despite Gordon’s success as an extremely active and sought-after drummer, his story ended with a dark tragedy. Gordon’s behaviour started to change, and he began to hear voices that he claimed prevented him from being able to sleep, shut off and affected his drumming. These symptoms were reportedly attributed to, and treated for, as side effects of alcohol abuse by Gordon’s doctors.

His mother’s murder was found to be the result of a schizophrenic episode, and Gordon's condition remained undiagnosed until after the killing took place. Gordon, who failed to attend parole hearings and refused to receive medication throughout his prison term, was re-diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017.

Gordon was never released from prison, at a 2014 parole hearing, an LA deputy district attorney argued that he was still “seriously psychologically incapacitated”.

He passed away at California Medical Facility in Vacaville and is survived by his daughter, Amy.