(Gibson) Dick Sims, a Tulsa-based keyboardist who was a longtime member of Eric Clapton's band, has died. Details regarding Sims' death have yet to be revealed, but tributes are pouring in to his Facebook page. Sims and his self-designed Hammond B-3 first appeared with Clapton on the 1974 album, 461 Ocean Boulevard. He and fellow Clapton backers Carl Radle (bass) and Jamie Oldaker (drums) had previously been members of the Tulsa County Band. Together, they helped pioneer the so-called "Tulsa sound.""461 Ocean Boulevard was Eric Clapton, but that was [also] the Tulsa County Band," Sims told Tulsa People, in 2010. "They weren't going to name it 'Eric Clapton and Tulsa County,' because Eric was already a solo act. And the bands he'd been in before, they only lasted one album and then they'd break up. And we were with him for nine years."
"It was a great band," Sims added. "I was blessed to get to experience that quality of music." Sims went on to record with J.J. Cale, Peter Tosh, Vince Gill and others. He released a solo album, titled Within Arms Reach, in 2008. more on this story
