4/3/2023 0 Comments Robin malody singer tucson![]() Soon, the disciples of that sound became foundations-from The Byrds and Mike Nesmith's Monkee country sides, to the Beau Brummels, Flying Burrito Brothers and even The Band. Meighan worked it as hard as anyone, and later, as much emotional and physical suffering saw his music fade, he miraculously reinvented himself in a difficult career.Įven as I boy I knew The Eagles a slick sham, but they opened doors for truer electric-pop stoner cowboys, and The Meighan Band fit loosely into the era's country rock, that mostly California sound whose roots trace back to Bakersfield and Buck Owens, and Gene Clark's Missouri bluegrass youth, and The Dillards. "Capitol was full of iconic people and iconic recording studios," Meighan says today, "and for a guy in my position it was as big an opportunity as anyone could hope for." Didn't hurt Meighan sported pop-star looks. In those pre-internet days, signing to a major label was all-in, the only way to take your music to the masses, the one chance to butterfly your wildest dreams. Perry and Palladino loved The Bob Meighan Band. The world would sound different if Palladino hadn't existed. His mixing, editing and production work, from Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole to McCartney and The Band, and so many more, helped shape the entire pop spectrum, the '50 through the '70s. Palladino, a golden-eared record producer, mixer and studio innovator, was the first engineer Capitol ever hired (in 1949), and later named A&R chief, who spent 33 years at the label. The record deal, helmed not by some company upstart, but by seasoned label men Rupert Perry and John Palladino. They were convinced when they heard Meighan, saw the packed Pawnbroker houses, the mad Tucson Citizen press, learned of heavy local airplay (KWFM and Phoenix' KDKB), that they'd resonate emotionally in a national and international consciousness. First, John "Johnny D" Dixon, then a Capitol sales rep (now an Arizona music historian), forwarded Meighan's Tucson-recorded indie album The Dancer to the label's A&R department. It is easy to see how The Bob Meighan Band landed their major-label recording contract with Capitol Records, signed right out of The Pawnbroker on Tanque Verde Road. How circles of life are built on resilience of great songs. Only years later did I realize I was listening to the same band on the radio, at the same time.īeyond that era's context, Meighan's tunes still sway on emotional levels. Barry off at his first dishwashing job at The Pawnbroker bar-restaurant, hearing the Bob Meighan Band live, and he'd return home woozy, telling of an insanely packed house of Meighan fans, how he thought the band "total rock stars" and gushing of what lives they must lead. ![]() ![]() Bob Meighan supporting Little Feat, Phoenix Giants Stadium, 1973.īob Meighan's voice has come full circle and I can ascribe his songs to familiars time-stamped to adolescence, hiding from my parents in my big brother Barry's bedroom on Tucson's eastside, the window crammed with the sad suburban evening, KWFM radio on. ![]()
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