BONAROO II: Children Of The Stars

Bonaroo II

Children Of The Stars

© 2004 R.P. Winkelman Tunes (634479081255)

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Former Steve Miller Band member joined by all world renowned artists.

notes

Sometimes we run across a CD that defies a single simple explanation. Bonaroo II is such a CD. It contains a diverse collection of well known artists with exceptional performances from the archives of Bonaroo leader, Bobby Winkelman. The songs are well written and infused with sounds of the stars' styles and many band affiliations. Each performance has been thus frozen in time across many years and performed in many studios. You are presented with the best digitally reprocessed mixes available even though in several cases the original multi-track session tapes were sadly no longer in existence. So, as a result some songs presented are the result of the best original rough mixes.

In this article I shall list the songs by title, a little of interest about each one, the artists with band affiliations, producers, and studios, along with the dates of the performances.

Bobby Winkelman has performed all vocals on all songs.

1. NOBODY ASKED ME. This party atmospheric, up-tempo song kicks off the album with guitar by David Denny (formerly of the Steve Miller Band, and writer of The Stake), drums by Jack King (formerly of the Steve Miller Band), and bass & vocals by Bobby Winkelman (formerly of the Steve Miller Band, bassist, singer, and writer of Good Morning, and My Own Space). The instrumentals were recorded by these original Frumious Bandersnatch members at their Walnut Creek, California studio. The melody, lyrics, cowbell, vocals, and arrangement were later contributions of Bobby Winkelman mixed in 2004, and using ProTools. It is strongly reminiscent of both the Who and the Steve Miller Band.

2. WE CAN MOVE. This super rocker has an all-star cast starting with Tommy Johnston (of the Doobie Brothers, Listen To The Music, etc.) on lead guitar; Keith Knudson (of the Doobie Brothers) on drums; the late great Nicky Hopkins (among his countless credits, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Steve Miller Band, & Quick Silver Messenger Service) on piano; Doug Killmer on bass (formerly of Norman Greenbaum, Spirit In The Sky, etc.); and Bobby Winkelman on rhythm guitar, & vocals. It was recorded at The Record Plant, the largest studio in Sausalito, and produced by Andy Johns (of his countless credits, Led Zeppelin, Stairway To Heaven, etc.) and Marty Cohn (of his many credits, The Doobie Brothers) in 1977.

3. MAGIC SPELL started as a power jam with Bill Andy on lead guitar (formerly of Oceola, a local San Francisco band), & introducing Tim Clark on drums. Bobby Winkelman performed on bass & vocals. It was recorded by the trio in 1972 at the Divisadero Street San Francisco studio of the Steve Miller Band while Bobby was still with the band; and was engineered and mixed on Miller's hot English eight-track recording console, which was a replica of the one provided to Paul Mc Cartney and used on one of his earlier albums. This threesome played only one live concert ever, which took place later that year at the old Inn At The Beginning night club, located in Cotati, California, and broke all attendance records at that time.

4. BE HERE NOW changes the tempo, but not the intensity, established by the first three songs. Bobby Winkelman's vocals are full of love directed toward you the listener. Both piano and organ were masterfully performed by late, great Nicky Hopkins, with drums by Keith Knudson, and bass by Doug Killmer. This was part of the same Sausalito super session as We Can Move, in 1977.

5. WHEN YOU TOUCH MY HAND is a beautiful floating love ballad written in 1994 with words by Linda Wallimann. The music, arrangement, electric guitar, bass, synthesized strings, flute, glockenspiel, & vocals were written, & performed, by Bobby Winkelman. In 2004 it was mixed using a Yamaha AW4416 digital audio work station.

6. WHERE SHIPS COME SAILING BY. This lovely song takes you for a ride on Bobby Winkelman's vocals to a tranquil Hawaiian seashore as he conjures up his sweetheart's image joining his own in a reflection on the water of the surf. He performed the acoustic 12 string, and electric slide guitars, as well as bass, to an electronic rhythm machine.

7. SPIRIT OF A DEAD MAN was originally conceived in 1968 by Bobby and later recorded at Elliot Mazer's Alembic Recording Studio in San Francisco. This version is a very dramatic and dynamically hotter arrangement of the same song later recut and released by Bonaroo on Warner Brothers Records in 1975. The players consist of three of Bonaroo later members, Michael Hossack (of the Doobie Brothers) on drums, Bobby Lichtig (formerly of Seal and Crofts, Diamond Girl flute and bass) on bass, and Bobby Winkelman on guitar, & vocals. Jay Winding, plays a wonderfully magnetic piano part. The session was also infused with the hot electric lead guitar of Steve Bussfield (formerly of Buddy Miles). Marty Cohn produced the song with Elliot; and the session took place in 1973.

8. CHILDREN OF THE STARS is the dreamy title track for the album, with beautiful, meditative four-part harmonies, doubled with eight voices, all performed by Bobby Winkelman. The lead guitar is performed by Darby Slick (formerly of The Great Society), writer of popular song recorded by The Jefferson Airplane, Somebody To Love.

9. OLD GLORY portrays the sorrowful loss of war, while honoring the endurance of Old Glory. It starts with Bobby Winkelman's lead vocals painting a picture of a serene red sunrise on the water, drawing us toward the blue ocean which surrounds us. The lyrics are supported by Bobby's guitar mantra, addition of the added background vocals, and David Lewark's (formerly of Eddie Money) hot lead guitar punctuations. Keith Knudson's machine-gun sounding drums bubble the song to a boil, peaking on the second verse, and followed by an increasingly powerful repeating chorus with timeless lyrics. It was recorded and mixed at the C.B.S. San Francisco studios, and produced by Marty Cohn in 1973.

10. OFF AGAIN ON AGAIN LOVE is about the fickle nature of love. It seems to be secure in one moment, yet sometimes lost in the blink of an eye. We're much better off when everything's on again love.

This album is respectfully dedicated to the loving memory of my friend, Nicky Hopkins.

by Bobby Winkelman

reviews

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  • One of the best cd's I have heard in many moons
    author: Peggy Pettigrew Stewart

    You can hear touches of the old Bandersnatch, as well as Steve Miller in these tunes (no surprise, of course). But it is wonderfully refreshing to hear new music that has great lyrics, music, harmony and passion. It is uplifting, enjoyable, passionate at times, and wonderful. It makes you want to listen to each word, and each note. Thank you for bringing back great music (in this day of pretty awful and mean music).

  • Fabulous collection from an unheralded writer-performer
    author: Alec Palao (producer, Ace Records UK)

    Ignore his pedigree as 60s psychedelic legend with Frumious Bandersnatch and the Steve Miller Band, ignore the parade of 70s heavies such as Nicky Hopkins and Tom Johnston that appear as sidemen here too - Bonaroo II (so named as it is a spiritual successor to Bobby's 70s outfit Bonaroo) is purely the work of Bobby Winkelman, and its ample and quite solid proof of this consummate writer-performer's distinctive and impeccable songwriting skills, an unheralded talent coupled to the voice of an angel. True, Bonaroo II is composed of material recorded at different stages in Winkelman's lengthy career, yet there is a freshness and enthusiasm that permeates the whole album to make it an well-rounded, homogenous whole, that transcends any associations one might try and come up with. And true, "Nobody Asked Me" or "Magic Spell" bring to mind Bobby's fluid songwriting of the 60s, "We Can Move" and the gorgeous, gospel-inflected ballad "Be Here Now" are reminiscent of the classic Steve Miller sound of the Sailor/#5 era - but those are merely sonic reference points. Above all else, Bobby's writing and "Bonaroo II" have an adroitly individual sound of their own. For lovers of 60s/70s classic pop-rock, inflected with a personal touch, this CD can't be beat.

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