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Carl Radle

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Carl Radle
Background information
Birth nameCarl Dean Radle
Born(1942-06-18)June 18, 1942
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 1980(1980-05-30) (aged 37)
Claremore, Oklahoma, U.S.
Genres
  • Blues rock
  • rock and roll
  • folk rock
OccupationMusician
InstrumentsBass
Years active1965–1979
Formerly of

Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942[1] – May 30, 1980)[2] was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. Radle is best remembered for his work with Eric Clapton from 1969 to 1979, including as a member of his band Derek and the Dominos. Radle is sometimes quoted as being Clapton's "right hand man" as he helped him during dark periods of his life battling drug addiction.

Radle had first found fame as the bassist for pop band Gary Lewis & the Playboys from 1965 to 1967. In 1969 he joined the session group who backed husband and wife recording duo Delaney & Bonnie, which is where he met Eric Clapton and formed Derek and the Dominos in 1970. Radle played on all of Clapton's solo material released in the 1970s before Eric fired all his backing members in 1979.

Over the course of his career, Radle played on a number of gold and platinum singles and albums and garnered the respect of many musicians. His bass lines were often simple and repetitive, but always with the purpose of supporting the song.[3] Radle died from organ failure caused by effects from hard drug and alcohol consumption in 1980 and was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006.[1]

Early life

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Carl Dean Radle was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1942. He picked up many instruments as a teen including the clarinet, piano and guitar before sticking with the bass guitar at age fifteen.[4][5]

Career

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Early carer

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Radle’s professional career started out when Leon Russell offered him his entry into the music industry, inviting him out to California.[6]

His big break came along in the mid-1960s, as the bass player in Gary Lewis & the Playboys. In 1967, Gary Lewis was drafted into war, he ended the band and Radle started working as a session musician.[7]

Radle on the right with Gary Lewis & the Playboys in 1965

Carl also was a member of Colours, a psychedelic cult band from Dot Records for whom he played on the first album and guest appeared on the second. In 1970, Radle joined Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour.[2]

Radle was a session musician for many of the most famous blues rock and rock and roll artists in the 1970s, including Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson. Over the two-year period before the release of the album The Concert for Bangladesh, Radle recorded albums with Dave Mason, J.J. Cale, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, and Buddy Guy, among others.[2][8]

Eric Clapton

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Radle was best known for his long association with Eric Clapton, starting in 1969 with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends and continuing in 1970 with Derek and the Dominos, recording with drummer Jim Gordon, guitarist Duane Allman, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock.[2] In August 1971, they appeared with Leon Russell at George Harrison's The Concert for Bangladesh and its film The Concert for Bangladesh.[7]

Radle was pointed out by Clapton as being the one who started the idea of making a band; Clapton said in a 2004 interview that he was dividing time between his house in Surrey and Delaney's house in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, when he received a phone call from Radle, in which he told Eric "were (Radle, Gordon, Allman, Whitlock) leaving Delaney. Are you interested in having a band?"[9][10] It was also revealed in that 2004 interview that Radle and the rest left because Delaney refused to give them a raise.[9]

Derek and the Dominos in 1970 (from left to right): Jim Gordon, Radle, Bobby Whitlock and Eric Clapton

He worked on all of Clapton's solo projects from 1970 until 1979 and was a member of Clapton's touring band, Eric Clapton & His Band, from 1974 to 1979, when Clapton fired all of his backing musicians.[2][7][4] Radle was instrumental in facilitating Clapton's return to recording and touring in 1974 and is quoted as being Clapton's "right hand man".[11] During Clapton's three-year hiatus, Radle furnished him with a supply of tapes of musicians with whom he had been working. Dick Sims and Jamie Oldaker were the core of Clapton's band during the 1970s. Radle served as more than a sideman, acting also as arranger on several songs, notably "Motherless Children". Radle earned credit as an associate producer of Clapton's album No Reason to Cry.

In 1979, Radle, Dick Sims and Jamie Oldaker, who were Clapton's backing band, were told through telegrams that he had fired them from being in his backing band.[4][12]

Death

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Radle died at his home in Claremore, Oklahoma in May 1980,[2] from the effects of alcohol and narcotics; he was 37.[13]

Legacy

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In 1991, Clapton remembered Radle in an interview saying he was like a brother to him and also spoke about how Carl helped Clapton during a period in the 70s when he was living in seclusion and addicted to heroin.[14][15] In later years he also felt regret for firing Radle in 1979 even though he helped him through dark times and regretted not seeing Radle again until his death less than a year later and claimed he felt responsible for parts of his death.[12] In 2008, Clapton called Radle and Jim Gordon as "the most powerful rhythm section I have ever played with. They were absolutely brilliant."[16]

He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2006.[1]

Radle was described in an article as "America's Paul McCartney" due to him being a popular and skilled bass guitarist, his work with Beatle George Harrison and because he was also born on the same day was McCartney, June 18, 1942.[16]

Discography

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With Gary Lewis & the Playboys

With John Lee Hooker

With Derek and the Dominos

With Eric Clapton

With Delaney & Bonnie

With Dave Mason

With George Harrison

With Leon Russell

With Marc Benno

  • Minnows (1971)[17]
  • Ambush (1972)[17]
  • Lost In Austin (1979)[17]

With JJ Cale

With Freddie King

Others:

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1976

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Carl Radle Legendary Bass Guitarist". Official Website. 2005. Archived from the original on November 23, 2005. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Carl Radle Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ Collier, Rob (May 19, 2011). "A Lesson in Carl Radle's Style". Bassmusicianmagazine.com. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Radle, Carl - Where's Eric!". Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  5. ^ Chris Jisi (June 17, 2025). ""I would listen to Eric, but my responsibility was with the rhythm section": You know the tune, but maybe not the player – how an unassuming bassist carved out a spot in music history on Derek & the Dominos' Layla". Guitar World. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  6. ^ Giles, Jeff (May 30, 2015). "The Death of Derek and the Dominos Bassist Carl Radle". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Havers, Richard (June 18, 2025). "Remembering Carl Radle: A Musician's Musician". uDiscover Music. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  8. ^ ""I would listen to Eric, but my responsibility was really with the rhythm section": You know the tune, but maybe not the bass player – how the unassuming Carl Radle carved out a spot in music history on Derek & the Dominos' Layla". inkl. June 17, 2025. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "BLUES BROTHER: BLUES, BOOZE AND RIVERS OF BLOOD". www.duaneallman.info. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  10. ^ Uncut (March 29, 2018). "Eric Clapton and friends on Derek And The Dominos' "Layla": "It still knocks me out every time"". UNCUT. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  11. ^ rock'n'rollroutemaster (November 16, 2017). "Don't tell me all my love's in vain: Eric Clapton and Layla". The Rock'n'Roll Routemaster. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "Brooker / Clapton: 'Crossroads ...' pt 2". procolharum.com. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  13. ^ "Carl Radle Memorial – Tribute to Legendary Bass Guitarist for Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, George Harrison and Others". Carlradle.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  14. ^ Henke, James (October 17, 1991). "Eric Clapton: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  15. ^ Coffman, Tim (November 2, 2024). "The one artist that saved Eric Clapton from darkness". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  16. ^ a b RocknRollStorytime.com (June 10, 2021). "Carl Radle: America's Paul McCartney". Rock 'n' Roll Storytime #RnRST. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar "Carl Radle Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More ..." AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
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