[Slowhand] Bramlett Family Discord

[John Mills]

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/apr/17/family-in-dispute-over-late-rockers-estate/

Family in dispute over late rocker's estate
By Colleen Cason (Contact)
Friday, April 17, 2009

Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Michele Bramlett, at home in Camarillo,
displays a painting that she made of her father, Delaney Bramlett, when she
was about 10. She is in a dispute over her late father's estate.

A note of discord has sounded over the estate of the founder of the '60s
rock band Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.

Michele Bramlett of Camarillo filed a petition last month in Los Angeles
County Superior Court challenging the trust left by her father, Delaney
Bramlett. The hit composer and acclaimed guitarist died in December in Los
Angeles at age 69 from complications of gall bladder surgery and left his
estate to his wife.

Michele Bramlett believes her father was mentally unsound and unduly
influenced by his wife, Susan Lanier Bramlett, when he signed the 2007
trust. Lanier Bramlett maintains her late husband was of sound mind and
writing songs up until his death, and charges that Michele Bramlett visited
him infrequently in his last years and was not familiar with his mental
state.

At stake for Michele Bramlett and her two younger sisters are the
inheritance of Delaney's Sunland ranch, the rights to his song catalog as
well as his collection of guitars - some given to him by rock 'n' roll's
most stellar frontmen. Under terms of the trust, the three women will only
inherit whatever is left of the estate when Lanier Bramlett dies.

Delaney Bramlett co-wrote Eric Clapton's "Let It Rain," the oft-covered
"Never Ending Song of Love" and "Superstar," a chart buster for The
Carpenters.

Considered a musician's musician, he is widely credited with teaching George
Harrison to play the slide guitar and encouraging Clapton to strike out on
his own when his band Blind Faith fizzled after its one and only tour in
1969. Clapton performed with Delaney & Bonnie before embarking on a solo
career.

Mental capacity questioned

Michele Bramlett, 47, claims in the court document that her father lacked
the mental capacity to sign over his estate to Lanier Bramlett.

Delaney Bramlett's battle with the bottle was well known to his family.
Michele Bramlett's petition cites an episode in the early 1990s when Delaney
signed away the rights to his songs. In 1996, he sued to regain those
rights, and the case was settled in his favor after his attorney presented
evidence Delaney suffered from alcoholic dementia and lacked the capacity to
make such a decision, according to H. Miles Lang of Camarillo, Michele
Bramlett's counsel.

The petition asks the court to determine if Bramlett's trust, dated May 10,
2007, was "procured by means of fraud, duress, menace and undue influence,
thereby rendering it invalid," according to attorney Lang.

The document also alleges Lanier Bramlett "engaged in conduct to isolate
Delaney from his daughters, friends, business associates and grandchildren."

"Something bad wrong was happening," said Michele Bramlett. "She (Susan)
would never let me talk to my dad alone. And my phone calls were
intercepted."

Growing up on dad's ranch

This contrasts with the comfortable home Michele remembers from her
childhood. Her parents met in 1961 when Delaney was playing the old Bandar
nightclub in Ventura. Michele's mother, Patty King Stanley, walked in
wearing a red dress that caught the musician's eye. Although her parents
never married, Michele split her time between her dad's ranch and her mom's
home in Ventura.

"I remember laying in my bed at the ranch and hearing his music through the
walls," she said. "It was controlled chaos. My Mamo (grandmother) was
cooking greens and making sweet tea for all the musicians who came to record
in my dad's studio."

Lanier Bramlett maintains she did nothing to drive a wedge between Delaney
and his daughters.

Instead, she said, Michele lived in New York during the past several years
and visited her father only a few times in a space of six years, so she had
little opportunity to observe him.

Lanier Bramlett argues that her husband was of sound mind, writing songs and
recording up until the time of his death.

"He would be mortified that his daughter is making this claim. It is
dismissing all his later work," said Lanier Bramlett, an actress whose
credits include a recurring role on the TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter."

The petition also questions whether Delaney and Lanier Bramlett were legally
married. If Lanier Bramlett's role was that of caregiver - not of spouse - a
state probate statute prevents her from inheriting the estate, according to
Lang, who added he has been unsuccessful in finding a marriage license for
the pair.

Widow says marriage legal

Lanier Bramlett said she and Delaney had known each other for 30 years after
they met when he was playing the Troubadour in West Hollywood. They were
married April 20, 2005, at the Shadow Hills Presbyterian Church in Sunland,
she said, adding that she would prove that in court.

When asked to present a copy of the marriage license for this article,
Lanier Bramlett declined to do so on the advice of her attorney. She instead
e-mailed a photo she said was taken on their wedding day.

Michele Bramlett counters she flew into Southern California at least once a
year, and in the past few years her visits increased to around four a year.
She is sure of that because her grandmother Iva "Mamo" Bramlett - who lived
at her father's ranch - was in failing health so she wanted to spend more
time with her. Iva Bramlett died in March of last year at age 92.
During each of those visits, the father she observed was "totally
emotionless, and he would look like a zombie," she said. "He'd be sitting on
the bed and looking like there was nothing in his eyes."

'Sharp as a tack'

Delaney's brother John disagrees. "He was as sharp as a tack until maybe a
month before his death," said John Bramlett, who lives in Norwalk and said
he visited his brother's home three or four days a week for the past few
years.

"Even in the hospital, my brother would say, 'Hand me a pencil and paper. I
got an idea for a song,'" said John Bramlett, 71.

While John Bramlett said he is sympathetic to his niece's concerns, he
points out Delaney was not a man who was easily led. "Nobody ever made my
brother do anything he didn't want to do," he said.

Attorney Lang admits the extent of Delaney Bramlett's estate at the time of
his death is only a guess at this point.

At least one of the most valuable instruments is long gone. The BBC reported
in September 2004 that the Telecaster given to Delaney by George Harrison
had been auctioned for almost $435,000.

John Bramlett's wife, Yolanda, said she worked as Delaney's bookkeeper and
helped arrange the sale of the vintage Les Paul given to Delaney by the late
rocker Duane Allman a few years ago to save Delaney's home from foreclosure.

Michele Bramlett believes her father meant for his daughters to inherit his
prized instruments, recalling how he assembled the girls, told them that he
was getting older and had selected guitars for each to own after his
passing.

Neither of Michele Bramlett's sisters - Suzanne or Bekka - gave interviews
for this article, although both were offered the opportunity to speak on the
record through attorney Lang. Both women are children of Delaney's marriage
to singer Bonnie Bramlett. Suzanne Bramlett lives in Los Angeles; Bekka
lives in Nashville, and she records and tours with country artist Vince
Gill.

Michele Bramlett believes her father would want his daughters to share in
the rewards of his distinguished music career.

"I know this wouldn't be his wishes. Everybody who knew him knows how much
he loves his girls," she said.

The matter is scheduled to be heard in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 15.