Bobby stories would be welcome. Seemed like a good dude from what I've read. Lived really hard apparently.
He wasn't Carmine Appice or anything technically, but I really liked his playing style/sound and how it fit the tunes.
didnt really know Bobby - knew Greg Hawkes from my Berklee crew and they were in the same band. one of my favorite rock stories involved that band peripherally and i havent told it in a while, so i'll tell that.
spring '73. my HS sweetheart, who was out of my league all our lives but we fooled around now & then for over 40 yrs, was coming home from college in Michigan and i had a surprise for her. i had just made a connection (the one that would change my life) with the hottest band in town at the time - the
James Montgomery Blues Band. they were on a bill with a hot new folkie band from Cali who were playing a year-ending outdoor concert at the Univ of New Hampshire and i'd been invited backstage.
as usual, my gal showed me up. on the flight home from Chicago she had met the band Montgomery (and Greg & Bobby's band, Orphan) was opening for and they'd invited her to the gig, no plus-ones of course. dang.
Saturday, i go up to the show on my own. turns out, backstage was two trailers - one fancy one for the Eagles, one tiny li'l thing like from a 40s movie about a camping honeymoon for Orphan & JMBB, a cedar storm fence and a world of class dividing the two. at least the beer was cold.
Orphan had a nice set, then the Montgomery boys went out and did what they were doin almost everywhere those days- blew the doors off the joint. The 14,000 NewHampshirites boogied til their heads caved in. The party was on at the trailer afterwards but, when James heard the Eagles leaving their digs for the stage, he made a point of going right up to the storm fence and bowing a tada wave to send em to the slaughter.
Well after a hour and a half of boogeying, the crowd was in no mood for Taking it Easy or any other of the Cali boys' Peaceful Easy Feelings. not yet famous enough to hold the crowd on rep alone, by the time their set was over the 14K was down to about 3K. no encore and Montgomery was ready for their return. All of our party, Greg, Bobby and your humble servant spread out along the perimeter, hung hog over the storm fence and wizzed out a tribute for the Cali warriors' humble return.
you never seen a trailer get trashed so fast. everything - including my Betsy - went flying. down, up, out, gone. my baby had chose the wrong party for the first time in her life and i was of a mood to let her feel the full effect. turns out she actually had to hitch home. she, of course, intended not to speak to me forever for that, but i rode those JMBB coattails to my own success and a small career in music mgmt that summer and i got to see her tail between her legs again. dont know if i've ever been happier...