Robert "Bobby" Winkelman (January 26, 1948 – December 26, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and bassist. He was a founding member of the East Bay band The Epics.

Career

At age 17, the band released its AM hit single record, with its side A, "Humpty Dumpty", and side B, "Homesick", on radio station KFRC, in 1966. In 1967, he became a founding member of

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band Frumious Bandersnatch. While together, the band released only a three-song EP in 1968 before splitting a year later. Winkelman's unreleased recordings with the band would later be compiled on the ''A Young Man's Song'' (1996)'' and Golden Sons of Libra'' (2003) albumshttps://www.allmusic.com/artist/frumious-bandersnatch-mn0000741430#discography. He later became a performing, recording member in the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

, for which he wrote, sang, and played his original song, "Good Morning", as well as other album tracks that appeared on their 1970 album ''

Number 5'', on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. He also played and sang on

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

's 1972 ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' album. In 1975, Bobby got a solo record deal with Warner Bros. Record Company, and they released his album with Bonaroo, ''Bonaroo'', with his original songs, "Life's Sweet Song", "Dream On", Melody Maker", "Spirit of a Dead Man", "I See the Light" and "Let's Go Down to the River". In 1977, he contributed a co-authored song titled, "My Own Space", with lyrics by Jason Cooper, to the Steve Miller ''

Book Of Dreams ''Book of Dreams'' is the tenth studio album by Steve Miller Band. The album was released in May 1977 on Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and by Mercury Records in Europe. Three singles were released from the album in 1977 ...

'' album. In 1995, Bobby, as a record producer and music publisher of the band, Frumious Bandersnatch, released ''Nuggets From The Golden State: The Berkeley EP's''", on the Big Beat Records label. In 1996, Big Beat Records released Frumious Bandersnatch's ''A Young Man's Song'', containing: Jack King's' "Hearts to Cry", Bobby Winkelman's "Chain Reaction", and "Misty Cloudy", with Jack King's, and George Tickner's "Cheshire". Bobby self produced & released his ''Bonaroo II'' CD, which included his original songs: "Nobody Asked Me", "We Can Move", "Magic Spell", "When You Touch My Hand" (lyrics by Linda Wallimann), "Where Ships Come Sailing By", and a new version of "Spirit of A Dead Man". The title track was called "Children of the Stars". That CD also contains "Old Glory" and "Be Here Now" with piano and organ performed by

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, for his keyboard work on their original song entitled "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Lastly, "Off Again On Again Love", according to the label, is actually another original song entitled, "Rainbows (The Phantom Messenger)". In 2002, Bobby and

Alec Palao Alejandro "Alec" Palao (born 1962) is a British musician, music historian, writer, and reissue producer. In addition to his musical output with groups like the Sting-rays, the Sneetches (band), the Sneetches, and Mushroom (band), Mushroom, his wo ...

produced a full-length re-issued LP album entitled ''Frumious Bandersnatch: Golden Sons Of Libra (The Studio Outtakes)'', which quickly became a collectors' item after it was released by Get Back Records. Bobby's song "Humpty Dumpty" was re-released in 2007, on the Big Beat Record label, on ''You Got Yours! East Bay Garage 1965-1967'' CDWIKD 268. "Hearts to Cry", was re-released, after it was released by the band back in 1967, on their clear purple, transparent, 33 1/3, four-song, LP album published by R. P. Winkelman Tunes. The song was originally penned and lead-sung by the band's original drummer, Jack King. The song appeared again on, ''Love Is The Song We Sing (San Francisco Nuggets)'' on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

. The package included a four-CD, 65 song set, inside its 64-page book, photographed and illustrated in full color, and chronicling the "

flower power Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence. It is rooted in the Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The ex ...

" years of the San Francisco bay area music scene from 1965 through 1970.

References

External links

Allmusic.com entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkelman, Bobby American rock guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock bass guitarists Living people 1952 births Steve Miller Band members Frumious Bandersnatch members 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Bonaroo (band) members