The Peterson Brothers, & Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel – Review

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The Peterson Brothers, followed by Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel, at The Saxon Pub, Austin, TX, September 12, 2010

It was at least 92 degrees outside this past Sunday in the late afternoon here in South Austin, but it was really hot inside the Saxon Pub. We went to see the Peterson Brothers play the blues, and if your eyes were closed you might have thought you were listening to one of the Kings: Albert, Freddie, or BB. In this case, it was Glenn Peterson on lead guitar and Alex Peterson on bass and fiddle, joined by Clellan Hyatt on drums.

They started out with Hideaway, and covered San Jose, the T-Bone Shuffle, Sitting on Top of the World, and Frosty. Then we heard a brand new original for them, Positivity (Is Where It’s At). Next up, they covered Amazing Grace, and a general blues violin number with Alex on the fiddle, and then Alex switched back to bass as they rolled through a few more numbers including You Control Everything and Goin’Down. The small but enthusiastic crowd loved it all.

The Peterson Brothers are relatively new to the local music scene, but have already had appearances at Antone’s and many venues and festivals in the Central Texas area, close to their home in Bastrop. Without doubt, we will be hearing a whole lot more from them…as they are 14 and 11 years old!

It is a real pleasure to watch new music history in the making, one of my most favorite things to do. It’s also is true gratification for me to be able to hear the musicians that have been making history for years.
And for that we stayed for the next set at the Saxon, with Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel. Folks will know Bobby used to play with Delaney & Bonnie, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison years ago. He’s credited with writing or co-writing six of the songs on the Layla album as a member of Derek and the Dominos. And, as I always say to my husband Jack, “And we live here!” And he lives here!

CoCo Carmel is his talented wife and partner on the stage. Their show was outstanding, with just the two of them on guitar, as well as with Bobby on keyboards and CoCo on flute and saxophone. It was tight and strong. Having played Derek and the Dominos albums over and over and over again, I feel I know those notes and voices well. They played all those sounds beautifully, and can take you back in time.

A highlight was listening to them play To Tell the Truth. Bobby told great stories, and he told how he and Eric wrote that song. Most of it involved an all-nighter with Bobby playing and wailing while writing that song, while Eric tried to sleep upstairs — a point that was lost on Bobby at the time. He was busy trying to use a chord Duane Allman has just taught him. The next morning, when Eric came down – looking rather on the tired side – he said he already had the 3rd verse written!

Bobby also had come in to the club in time to catch the end of the Petersons Brothers set, just before his own show. He spoke directly to them, expressing his admiration for their talent. And, as luck would have it, he said he was friends with Don Nix, a fellow Mississippian, who wrote Goin’ Down, one of their last numbers. He said he was going to call him that very night and tell him about it.