"I don't read no charts and I don't do no numbers": As Bobby Whitlock prepares to be honoured in Memphis, he looks back at Derek and the Dominos and his impact on UK music

Songwriter and guitarist Bobby Whitlock poses for a portrait in front of an old car next to a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne holding an acoustic guitar in circa 1975.

Getting a prestigious musical note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame in Memphis today (May 19) is no small concern for veteran keyboardist and Derek and the Dominos alumnus Bobby Whitlock.

"I'm from Memphis," he tells Classic Rock from his current home in west Texas. "I got my (musical) bones there. I was born there and Don Nix heard me in a band and brought Duck Dunn to hear me, and then everything started to unfold for me. I was turned on to the whole of Stax; I could go and come as I pleased, so I got to hear all the greats perform and did hand claps with Isaac Hayes and David Porter on Sam & Dave's I Thank You. That was my breaking in.