Tim Carmon is an American keyboard player. He was born a preacher's son in Washington, D.C. Carmon grew up immersed in the church. He began playing piano in the fourth grade and by the age of 12 was organist for three different churches, including his father's. His career led him to California. Carmon became known for his musical versatility. At sessions, this quickly placed him in great demand by artists in a variety of genres.
The roster of musicians with whom Carmon has performed, toured, written or produced is lengthy: Eric Clapton, Babyface, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Queen Latifah, Marcus Miller, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Gladys Knight, B.B. King, Jamie Foxx, Earth, Wind & Fire, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Michael McDonald, Mary J. Blige, David Sanborn and more.
In addition to playing keyboards, Carmon is a drummer, singer and music producer. He is an alumnus of the Duke Ellington School of Arts. Carmon worked with Eric Clapton on MTV's Babyface Unplugged and joined Clapton's touring band for the 1998 Pilgrim Tour. Additionally, he joined Clapton and B.B. King in the studio for the Riding With The King sessions in February 2000.
Carmon continues to be in demand. Most recently, he provided arrangements, piano and keyboards for the film adaptation of Dreamgirls with R&B producers, The Underdogs, and he took part in the 50-year-old revision of "Lady Sings the Blues". Carmon re-joined Clapton's touring band briefly for some US dates in 2004 when he substituted for Billy Preston, who was ill. More recently, Carmon was on the road with Clapton for the 2006 / 2007 World Tour. He joined Clapton's band for a 14-date Ireland / UK tour with performances in Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester and an 11-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall in May 2009.
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, widely regarded as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart on September 16th, 1957. The sleeve of their first album, The "Chirping" Crickets, shows the band line-up at the time: Holly on lead vocals and lead guitar, Niki Sullivan on rhythm guitar, Jerry Allison on drums, and Joe B. Mauldin on bass. The Crickets helped set the template for subsequent rock bands, such as the Beatles, with their guitar-bass-drums line-up, performing their own self-written material. After Holly's death in 1959 the band continued to tour and record with other band members into the 21st century.
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie, Mick Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar and The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves, and numerous others.
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, guitarist, musician, keyboardist and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians.
Johnnie Clyde Johnson was an American pianist who played jazz, blues and rock and roll. His work with Chuck Berry led to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for breaking racial barriers in the military, as he was a Montford Point Marine - where the African-American unit endured racism and inspired social change while integrating the previously all-white Marine Corps during World War II.
Stephen Lawrence Winwood is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock and pop rock. Though primarily a vocalist and keyboard player, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, guitars, bass and saxophone.
Steve Ferrone is an English drummer. He is known as a member of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1994 to 2017, replacing original drummer Stan Lynch, and as part of the "classic lineup" of the Average White Band in the 1970s. Ferrone has recorded and performed with Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Duran Duran, Stevie Nicks, Laura Pausini, Christine McVie, Rick James, Slash, Chaka Khan, Bee Gees, Scritti Politti, Aerosmith, Al Jarreau, Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash. Ferrone also hosts 'The New Guy' weekly radio show on Sirius Xm's 'Tom Petty Radio'.
Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues-rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, keyboardist and singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previously played together in Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, during and after Clapton's brief tenure with Blind Faith. Dave Mason supplied additional lead guitar on early studio sessions and played at their first live gig. Another participant at their first session as a band was George Harrison, the recording for whose album All Things Must Pass marked the formation of Derek and the Dominos.
William Everett Preston was an American musician, whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Reverend James Cleveland, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. He gained attention as a solo artist with hit singles such as "That's the Way God Planned It", the Grammy-winning "Outa-Space", "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Space Race", "Nothing from Nothing", and "With You I'm Born Again". Additionally, Preston co-wrote "You Are So Beautiful", which became a #5 hit for Joe Cocker.
Nathan Harrell East is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego (1978). He is a founding member of contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay and has recorded, performed, and co-written songs with performers such as Bobby Womack, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daft Punk, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.
Robert William Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards.
Raymond Cooper is an English musician. He is a session and road-tour percussionist who has worked with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Peter Maffay, George Harrison, Billy Joel, Rick Wakeman, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd and Elton John.
Andrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter, producer and vocalist. He was a founder member and lead singer of 1960s Welsh pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
David Sancious is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on the Human Touch (1992), Tracks (1998), and Western Stars (2019). Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist. He left the E Street Band in 1974 to form his own band, Tone, and released several albums. He subsequently became a popular session and touring musician, most notably for Stanley Clarke, Narada Michael Walden, Zucchero Fornaciari, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Jack Bruce, and Sting among many others. In 2014, Sancious was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
Doyle Bramhall II is an American musician, producer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Robert Stanley Whitlock is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memphis soul acts such as Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the M.G.'s before he joined Delaney & Bonnie and Friends in 1968. His association with Delaney & Bonnie bandmate Clapton led to Whitlock's participation in sessions for George Harrison's 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, in London, and the formation of Derek and the Dominos that year. On the band's sole studio album, the critically acclaimed Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Whitlock wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's fourteen tracks, including "Tell the Truth", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?"
Stranger in This Town is the first solo studio album by Richie Sambora, the guitarist from the New Jersey band Bon Jovi. The album was released in 1991, while Bon Jovi was on a 17-month hiatus. Jon Bon Jovi also released a solo album, Blaze of Glory (1990), during this period.
Abraham Laboriel Jr. is an American session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo Laboriel. He has been the drummer for Paul McCartney's touring and recording band since 2001, as well as for Eric Clapton among others.
Christopher Robert Stainton is an English session musician, keyboard player, bassist and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s. In addition to his collaboration with Cocker, Stainton is best known for his work with Eric Clapton, The Who, Andy Fairweather Low and Bryan Ferry.
Happy Xmas is the first Christmas album by Eric Clapton, his twenty-first solo studio album, released on 12 October 2018. It includes 13 covers of Christmas-themed songs, both well-known and relatively obscure ones, arranged in a predominantly blues style, and one new composition by Clapton and producer Simon Climie.