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-- Bob Laughton --
Bob played Bass Guitar and sang
lead or backup vocals for most songs . Occasionally he
would switch to slide guitar for songs such as
"Bullfrog", which he wrote. Bob
wrote or co-wrote many of the band's original songs
and did occasional graphics work such as designing a
band logo for an equipment stencil and designing posters
(e.g., the posters for the Hippodrome and the Rock Jam at the Santa Rosa
fairgrounds which can be seen on the Photos page)
Before the band:
Bob's background is shrouded in
mystery, but we do know that he was already proficient
on a half dozen instruments - mandolin, banjo, guitar,
bass, harmonica, oud and ocarina when he showed up on
campus in Carbondale. Bob actually graduated from SIU
with a degree in Design. Bob is a polymath who has
published extensively and patented an astonishing
portfolio of his designs for things as diverse as
furniture, transportation hubs, musical instruments, and
industrial processes.
He was active in many music groups
on and off campus. He played for several years
with a bluegrass group, the "Dusty Roads Boys". In
that group he played guitar, banjo, mandolin and sang.
The Dusty Roads Boys won many campus
talent shows and were popular performers at Folk Arts
Society events and local barn dances.
He played
bass and blues harp with a Chicago Blues style band,
"The Nite Owls" who were later renamed "The
Nickel Bag". The Nite Owls were very popular
at local bars and parties.
Interesting side note: Other players in that
group included: Jon Stocklin on lead guitar, John
Jeremiah on keyboards and Gary Miller on guitar and lead
vocals. Stocklin and Jeremiah went on to play and
record with Rotary Connection. John Jeremiah later
joined Mitch Aliota and Skip Haynes to form the
eponymous group "Aliota, Haynes & Jeremiah" who had a big
hit in the Chicago market with "Driving on Lake Shore Drive
(LSD)".
A few recordings from the Nite Owls/Nickel Bag are now available on
"Chicago Garage Band Greats" and online.
After the band:
After the band
broke up, Bob joined a Buddhist monastery for a while
before marrying Fran and raising two boys while settling in Redwood Valley,
CA. He plays with
a Celtic music group, The Boys of the Bog, and co-hosts a local radio
program on technology. Bob regularly posts his
amazingly sophisticated and elegant photography on Flikr,
and manufactures new memes in his home lab, outsourcing
distribution to teenagers in Tucson AZ; Boston MA; Bern
Norway; Lyon France; Galway Ireland; and Ashville NC.
Some
links to Bob related sites:
More about:
Robbie
Brett
Steve Stories
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