Bobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

. The band was Weir's main

side project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize ...

during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work in the recording studio. With a

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhyth ...

that included jazz veterans

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the ''Mode ...

and, for a time,

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

, Bobby and the Midnites played rock music that was influenced by jazz-rock fusion.

History of the Band

In 1978, Bob Weir had led a side project called the Bob Weir Band that played a number of concerts. Besides Weir himself, two members of the Bob Weir Band were in Bobby and the Midnites. One was

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

and singer

Bobby Cochran Bobby Cochran (born 1950) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with many bands, including Steppenwolf, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Leon Russell, and Bob Weir's band Bobby and the Midnites. He was in ...

(

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

's nephew), formerly of Steppenwolf. The other was

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

and singer

Brent Mydland Brent Mydland (October 21, 1952 – July 26, 1990) was an American keyboardist and singer. He was a member of the rock band The Grateful Dead from 1979 to 1990, a longer tenure than any other keyboardist in the band. Growing up in Concord ...

, who in the interim had joined the Grateful Dead.

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as '' Game for a ...

was another "Midnite" who had already played in a band with Weir — Kingfish, which Kelly and

Dave Torbert David Edwin Torbert (June 7, 1948 – December 7, 1982) was a Bay Area musician, best known for his associations with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He played bass for the latter group, replacing Phil Lesh during the ses ...

had founded in 1973, and which Weir had played in full-time from 1974 to 1976. Kelly played guitar,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

, and

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

Tim Bogert John Voorhis "Tim" Bogert III (August 27, 1944 – January 13, 2021) was an American musician. He graduated in 1963 from Ridgefield Memorial High School in his hometown of Ridgefield, New Jersey. As a bass guitarist and vocalist he was best ...

, who had previously been in

Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' " You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist ...

and

Beck, Bogert & Appice Beck, Bogert & Appice was a rock supergroup and power trio formed by English guitarist Jeff Beck, evolving from the Jeff Beck Group. It included bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, Americans who had played together in Vanilla Fudge a ...

, was recruited to play

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

. The Midnites' drummer was Billy Cobham, a highly regarded jazz and fusion musician who had played with

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

and

the Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 a ...

, among others. The first Bobby and the Midnites concert was at the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

, in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, mak ...

, on June 30, 1980. The band played a number of live dates from mid-1980 to early 1981. Then Alphonso Johnson replaced Bogert on bass. Johnson had been in

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocalis ...

, and had played with Cobham in the CBS All-Stars. This slightly revised configuration of Bobby and the Midnites recorded the band's self-titled first album. The Midnites did not play live again until the following year. Brent Mydland and Matthew Kelly had left the lineup, and Dave Garland had joined. Garland sang and played keyboards and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

. Starting in January 1982, this group toured extensively when the Grateful Dead were not on the road. A 60-minute concert video of this Midnites lineup was released on VHS in 1991. On November 27, 1982, Bobby and the Midnites performed in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore, all of which form the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, h ...

at the Jamaica World Music Festival. They were one of many acts, including the Grateful Dead,

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

the B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

the English Beat ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and ...

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...

, and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

. The Midnites' set occurred after midnight of November 26, in the early hours of November 27. They played songs such as "Man Smart, Woman Smarter", "Heaven Help The Fool", "Thunder and Lighting", and "Book of Rules". Billy Cobham was given an introduction by the festival MC, and took an extended drum solo leading into "Josephine". In March 1983, the band had its final change of personnel, when

Kenny Gradney Kenny Gradney, (born February 25, 1950) a native of Baton Rouge, is an American bassist and songwriter, best known as a member of the band Little Feat. He joined after their second album, replacing founding bassist Roy Estrada in 1972. Gradney ...

, formerly of

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving m ...

, replaced Johnson on bass. The band continued touring, playing many live dates, and in 1984 released a second studio album. The last Bobby and the Midnites concert was at the Rio, in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

, on September 30, 1984. After Bobby and the Midnites, Bob Weir's next non-Grateful Dead musical appearances were with Kingfish, sitting in on a number of concerts in 1984 and again in 1986. Weir also played several solo acoustic shows in 1985.

Discography

Albums

*''

Bobby and the Midnites Bobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. The band was Weir's main side project during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work ...

'' (1981) *''

Where the Beat Meets the Street ''Where the Beat Meets the Street'' is the second studio album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and his side-project, Bobby and the Midnites. The album reached number 166 on the Billboard 200. Track listing #"(I Want to Live in) Ameri ...

'' (1984)

Single

*"Too Many Losers" / "Haze" (1981)

Concert video

*''Bobby and the Midnites'' (1991)

Personnel

Following are the lineups for Bobby and the Midnites' live performances.

References

* Bobby and the Midnites on Allmusicbr>Bobby and the Midnites on DeadDisc.com
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100327151938/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thegratefuldead/biography ''Rolling Stone'' biography of the Grateful Dead*''San Francisco Chronicle'', March 21, 2004. Selvin, Joel
"Dead Man Talking"
*Scott, John W; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. ''DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists'', 1999, DeadBase, , pp. 476 – 481.

External links

Ratdog and Bob Weir official web siteBobby Cochran official web siteBilly Cobham official web siteAlphonso Johnson official web siteTim Bogert official web site
Rock music groups from California Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Grateful Dead Arista Records artists Columbia Records artists Musical quartets Bob Weir {{authority control