Robert Wayne Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American musician, best known as the bass player for

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Early life

Bob Birch was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and grew up in suburban

Sterling Heights Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Sterling Heights is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had ...

and

St. Clair Shores, Michigan St. Clair Shores is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, St. Clair Shores is located roughly northeast of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,874. History ...

. At an early age, he was inspired to pursue music by his father Chet, an

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

ist. Birch began playing the

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

and mirroring the styles of

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed the group's biggest hit, " ...

and

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul ...

. Around seventh grade, he tried the

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

because of his fascination with the

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

sound, and groups like

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He began playing on his junior-high band director's

Mosrite Mosrite was an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists. Mosrite guitars we ...

bass at lunch breaks. Because he also had a passion for classical music, Birch focused his school studies on the

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

. He was recognized by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association for his wins at music festival competitions and, as a senior at Lakeview High School, he won the Louis Armstrong award. Birch won a scholarship from the state of Michigan to enroll in

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, initially as a pre-med student. In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

and performance and then spent some time as a music teacher in the

Warren Consolidated Schools Warren Consolidated Schools is a public school district serving the cities of Warren, Michigan, Warren, Sterling Heights, Michigan, Sterling Heights and Troy, Michigan, Troy, Michigan. It operates 25 schools including two specialized partial ...

district. Through these years, he had been playing at night with his brother Dan in a band called Birch & Co., and in another called Lifeline.

Career

By 1984, Birch was living in Los Angeles, where he joined the band

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

, playing bass and

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

on their first album ''Fortune'', an album which is considered a classic in

Progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

circles. The album was a success in Japan and Europe, and the song "Stacy" was a hit in the US, but the band broke up soon after its release. Birch met keyboardist

Guy Babylon Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009) was an American keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John. Babylon was born in New Windsor, Maryland. He attended Francis Scott Key High School before moving on to th ...

when they worked on the Luis Cardenas's 1986 album, ''Animal Instinct''. In 1987, Babylon recommended Birch for Mark Ashton's band and the two worked on the recording of the 1988 Ashton album ''Modern Pilgrims''. At that time, Babylon was asked to join

's band. When Elton John ended his tour in 1989, Babylon produced an album for Warpipes, a side band that he had started with John's guitarist,

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone was born in Edinburgh. At the age of s ...

, and John's drummer

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist. Ca ...

. Babylon hired Birch to play on the album, which was released in 1991. Babylon, Johnstone and Olsson were then called to begin working on Elton John's '' The One''. At that point, John had been working with different bass players, including Romeo Williams,

David Paton David Paton (; born 29 October 1949) is a Scottish bassist, guitarist and singer. He first achieved success in the mid-1970s as lead vocalist and bassist of Pilot, who scored hits with " Magic", "January", "Just a Smile" and "Call Me Round" b ...

and

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

, but he had yet to settle on one musician. Birch was asked to join ''The One Tour'', which commenced in May 1992. While he would become a busy session musician when not working with Elton John, Birch would stay with John for the rest of his life. In 1997, Birch met Marc Bonilla and briefly played with his band Dragonchoir. Through Bonilla, Birch was hired to play with

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 194411 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He be ...

and Glenn Hughes. He worked with Bonilla on Bobby Gaylor's comedy album, ''Fuzzatonic Scream'', and on the soundtracks of the films '' The Replacements'' and '' The Scorpion King''. Bonilla included a track featuring Birch on his 2019 album ''Celluloid Debris''. With his 2022 album ''Deeper Than My Roots'', Davey Johnstone would do the same. During the Elton John and Billy Joel's

Face to Face 1994 Beginning in 1994, Elton John toured extensively with Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature son ...

tour, Birch met Joel's saxophone player

Mark Rivera Mark Rivera (born May 24, 1953) is an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, musical director, and corporate entertainment provider who is mostly known for his work with Billy Joel. In addition to playing soprano, alto, tenor, a ...

. In 1997, Rivera asked him to play at the inaugural Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp in Miami Beach, where Birch played with Rivera,

Leslie West Leslie Abel West (born Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. West was named the 245th greatest guit ...

and Liberty DeVitto. In 1999, Birch was part of

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American multi-instrumentalist, working as a vocalist along with playing keyboards, saxophone, and percussion. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group and their pop ...

's opening band at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. He also built a relationship with producer and songwriter David Harris, through which he did session work on several

Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...

albums. Birch's last album was ''Remember'', released by

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. ( ; born March 8, 1945) is an American musician and actor. He was the drummer and one of two primary vocalists for the pop rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and reunions until 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''T ...

in 2012.

Injury

In 1995, Birch was struck by a pick-up truck while walking along the street in Montreal. He broke both of his legs and two vertebrae in his back. He was left in constant pain, and dealt with headaches, dizziness, and

vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

. According to his friend and colleague

, he "saw hundreds of physicians, but nothing could reverse the damage. His entire body was knackered." At the beginning of his final Elton John tour, Birch had a fall which exacerbated his back pain; he had to perform while seated.

Personal life and death

Birch was married with one son. During the last weeks of his life, he struggled with severe

gastrointestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...

issues brought on by his injury, losing over 20 pounds in a short period of time. On August 15, 2012, he died in an apparent suicide by gunshot wound near his Los Angeles home, at age 56. Upon learning of his death, Elton John released a statement saying that he was “devastated and shocked” by the loss of his friend. "To me Bob was family,” he said. “He had been a member of my band for 20 years; we played over 1400 concerts together. He was one of the greatest musicians I have ever worked with, and in all our years on the road he never played or sang a bad note. I cannot find the words to describe this tragic death, and how much I loved him. May he rest in peace.”

Discography

– ''Fortune'', 1985 * Luis Cardenas – ''Animal Instinct'', 1986 * Mark Ashton – ''Modern Pilgrims'', 1988 *Jerry Williams And

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

– ''Let's Fight For A Generation'', 1991 *Warpipes – ''Holes In The Heavens'', 1991 *The Inheritance – ''The Inheritance'', 1991 *Pocket Change Featuring David Patt – ''Intimate Notions'', 1991 *

– '' Live in Barcelona'', 1992 (video) *Pocket Change Featuring David Patt – ''Mediterranean Affair'', 1993 *Elton John – ''Europe 1992'', 1994 * Gianni Bella – ''Vocalist'', 1994 *'' The Glory of Gershwin'', 1994 *Daniel Ryan – ''Daniel Ryan'', 1995 *Ghosts of the Open Road – ''Ghosts of the Open Road'', 1995 *Pocket Change Featuring David Patt – ''Higher Altitude'', 1995 *Elton John – '' Made in England'', 1995 *Warpipes – ''War Pipes'', 1995 * Diego Torres – '' Luna Nueva'', 1996 *The Inheritance – ''Southwest'', 1996 *Chill Factor – Some Like It Cold, 1996 *

Graeme Revell Graeme Revell (born 23 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician and composer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the industrial rock/ electronic rock group SPK. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer. ...

– '' The Craft'': ''The Original Motion Picture Score'', 1996 *Paul Ventimiglia - ''Il Bacio'', 1997 *

Lauren Wood Lauren Wood (born Ilene Rappaport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), also known as Chunky, is an American singer-songwriter, voice-over artist, and producer. Her 1981 single "Fallen" from the album ''Cat Trick'' was used in the 1990 movie '' Pretty W ...

– ''Lauren Wood'', 1997 * The Hellecasters – ''Hell III: New Axes To Grind'', 1997 *Elton John – '' The Big Picture'', 1997 *Kerry Moy – ''East West'', 1998 *Heather Sullivan – ''Sturdy'', 1998 *'' Divas Live '99'', 1999 *Connie Salazar – ''Journey Of Faith'', 1999 *Bobby Gaylor – ''Fuzzatonic Scream'', 2000 *Elton John – '' Elton John One Night Only – The Greatest Hits'', 2000 *

Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...

– ''

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

'', 2000 *Elton John – ''

The Road To El Dorado ''The Road to El Dorado'' is a 2000 American animated musical adventure comedy film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, as well as additional sequences directed by Will Finn and ...

'' soundtrack, 2000 * John Debney – '' The Replacements'' soundtrack, 2000 *Mercy Malick – ''Just Be'', 2001 *John Debney – '' The Scorpion King'' soundtrack, 2002 *Elton John – ''Live at the Royal Opera House'' (video), 2002 *Heather Sullivan - ''Bound'', 2003 *

Ryan Malcolm Ryan Michael Malcolm (born October 13, 1979) is a Canadian singer and realtor best known as the winner of the first season of ''Canadian Idol''. In 2003, he released his debut solo album ''Home (Ryan Malcolm album), Home'' which was certified Pl ...

– ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

'', 2003 *

David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, ...

– '' Seven Years – Ten Weeks'', 2003 *David Patt & Peggy Duquesnel – ''Tropical Breezes'', 2003 *Elton John – ''Elton In 2003'', 2003 *Elton John – '' Peachtree Road'', 2004 *Elton John – '' Dream Ticket'', 2004 * Liberty N' Justice – ''Welcome To The Revolution'', 2004 * B. B. King – '' B. B. King & Friends: 80'', 2005 * Steve Archer – ''Call it Grace'', 2005 *'' From the Big Apple to the Big Easy'', 2005 *Elton John – The Captain & the Kid, 2006 *'' Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino'', 2007 *

, Glenn Hughes & Marc Bonilla – ''Boys Club, Live From California'', 2007 * Joseph Williams – '' This Fall'', 2008 *Elton John – Gnomeo & Juliet (soundtrack) (2011) *Elton John – '' Elton 60 – Live at Madison Square Garden'', 2007 *Christina & The Whipping Boys – ''Christina & The Whipping Boys'', 2007 *Elton John – '' The Red Piano'', 2008 *Elton John – ''Elton John In Japan'', 2008 *Elton John – ''Live 2009 -

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, founded in 1870, is one of 18 first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, hist ...

'', 2009 *Keith Emerson – ''Keith Emerson Band Featuring Marc Bonilla'', 2008 *

– ''Remember'', 2012 * Marc Bonilla – ''Celluloid Debris'', 2019 *The

Band – ''Deeper Than My Roots'', 2022

References

External links

Bob Birch Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More

Elton John: News: Article

Elton John: News: Article

Elton John — Vancouver Plus.ca

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Bob 1956 births 2012 deaths American male composers American session musicians Wayne State University alumni American rock bass guitarists Suicides by firearm in California 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists Guitarists from Detroit American male bass guitarists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Elton John Band members 2012 suicides