Influential Delaney Bramlett Dies

Dec. 30, 2008 — Delaney Bramlett, the author of a Dickey Lee country hit and the father of Nashville vocalist Bekka Bramlett, died on Saturday in Los Angeles of complications from gall bladder surgery, according to the Associated Press.

Delaney came to acclaim in a duo with then-wife Bonnie Bramlett, touring with Eric Clapton and writing "Never Ending Song Of Love," a hooky pop hit that found a Top 10 home in country when Dickey Lee cut it at RCA Studio B in 1971. Other country versions of the song were cut, according to allmusic.com, by Lynn Anderson, Crystal Gayle, Skeeter Davis, George Jones & Tammy Wynette, Mickey Gilley, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, Ray Stevens and Patty Loveless, who recorded it as a duet with Dwight Yoakam.

Delaney & Bonnie parted ways in 1973 and did not perform together again until December 2002, when they joined daughter Bekka Bramlett at a Nashville club date at 3rd & Lindsley. Delaney was also on hand to watch Bekka when she performed as a backup singer for Vince Gill at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in 2006.

Bekka certainly picked up on her parents’ creativity. As a session singer in Nashville, she’s contributed to such hits as Van Zant’s "Help Somebody," Montgomery Gentry’s "My Town," Jamie O’Neal’s "When I Think About Angels" and Faith Hill’s "Breathe."