Best of

Delaney & Bonnie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 27, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B0000032NK
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,521 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Get Ourselves Together

2. When the Battle Is Over

3. Ghetto [*]

4. Piece of My Heart [*]

5. Comin' Home

6. Groupie (Superstar)

7. Things Get Better

8. Where There's a Will, There's a Way

9. That's What My Man Is For [*]

10. I Don't Want to Discuss It

11. Soul Shake

12. Free the People

13. The Love of My Man [*]

14. Will the Circle Be Unbroken

15. Never Ending Song of Love

16. Going Down the Road Feeling Bad

17. Only You Know and I Know

18. Move 'Em Out

Editorial Reviews

The first ever comprehensive compilation from this blue-eyed soul duo!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early 1970s duo had a Soul all their own, December 26, 2002

By 

Chris K. Wilson "Chris Kent" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Mention Delaney and Bonnie today and most people will ask "Who?" It's been a long time since this soul rockin' duo from the early 1970s last released an album. With the possible exception of "Only You Know and I Know," a terrific Dave Mason cover which cracked the top 20 in the U.S., you are unlikely to hear a single song by this pair on nostalgic radio. Too bad. Those uninitiated are missing out on a soul-soaked time capsule that will have you tapping your feet and singing along.

This greatest hits compilation - or perhaps greatest moments - give us the best of this short-lived union. A husband and wife team, Delaney and Bonnie combined elements of blues, soul and rock that would put Big Brother and the Holding Company to shame. In fact, their cover on this album of "Piece of My Heart" is as bluesy and whiskey-soaked as Janis Joplin's own legendary version. They also wrote and performed the now-classic "Groupie (Superstar)," which was eventually covered by The Carpenters. Thankfully, that memorable cut is also included on this CD.

Delaney and Bonnie's singalong anthems including "Get Outselves Together," "When the Battle is Over" and "Soul Shake" are extraordinary testaments of a time and place in American music when top-40 culture first embraced the best elements of roots rock. Listen closely, and the riffs of Grateful Dead, The Band and, of course, Eric Clapton (who discovered this duo) are instantly recognizable.

Bonnie Lynn O'Farrell's voice is a stunning combination of Janis and Tina Turner, and her shrill gusto is worth the price of this CD alone. But combine the bluesy screech of Delaney Brammet with a who's who band list of members who played with everyone from Joe Cocker to Elvis Presley, and you have an extraordinary CD that brings back a time and a place when such rock and roll fushion was in its infancy.

Delaney and Bonnie's divorce eventually ended this brief union of music, but "The Best of Delaney and Bonnie" recaptures their energetic and raw magic (many of these cuts are live tunes). A nostalgic trip? Yes. But like The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, you can proudly blast this CD at maximum volume with the comfortable realization that spirited, soul-searching rock never truly dies.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful introducton to an amazing band, March 10, 2004

By 

R. C. Schmults "rob0" (Brookline, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

If there ever was a group that should have been huge, it is Delaney and Bonnie. These guys helped Clapton get his solo career started, provided the nucleus for Derek & the Dominos, and much of the band for Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour (I am not a Cocker fan, but the live album is a great set). More bona fides: Clapton, George Harrision, Duane Allman, Leon Russell, Dave Mason, Steve Cropper (the list goes on), all played with them -- in some case dropped what they were doing to join them on tour as part of the band.

So what is so special about them? They have a tremendous mix of blues, gospel, and soul wrapped in a guitar driven late sixties/early seventies rock band. If you like the sound of "Exile on Main Street," and/or Clapton's first solo album, you'll probably like this.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why bother with new music when you can listen to this?, March 3, 2003

By 

. (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)

Six Stars..Listen to Delaney Bramlett,(and Dan Penn and J.J.Cale on their cds), and you'll pretty much hear how Eric Clapton learned to sing. Bonnie and Delaney took the color issue out of soul singing, by not knowing there was a such thing. I've listened to this cd five times in the two days I've had it, carrying it from the home cd player to the car's, and on to the player at work. Regarding others' comments on the sound of the live tracks on their concert cd,(some of which are included here):Sure, it's not the perfect mix that some of their studio stuff is, but the live tracks sound great, full of passion , and some of the best playing ever. (I must add my recurring endorsement of drummer Jim Gordon; Always the ultimate in groove, power and taste. Listen to "Comin' Home", (listen closely, as the percussionist is also doing quite a bit), Gordon's fills are wailing!, so busy, yet I didn't even notice how extremely complex until perhaps the 20th listening, because it's completely in the pocket, never there for any reason other than to make the tune as good as it can be. Now, when I listen to this song, I wonder if it ever would've made it's original impression on me if any other drummer had been in Gordon's place.)