Charlie Souza is an American bass player, vocalist, musician, writer and producer. He is best known for playing bass in

Mudcrutch Mudcrutch was an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida, whose sound touched on southern rock and country rock. They were first active in the 1970s and reformed in 2007, and are best known for being the band which launched Tom Petty to fa ...

. He is married to Barbara Benischek Souza.

Career

Souza toured with The New Rascals, featuring

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

inductees

Dino Danelli Dino Danelli (born Robert Daniel; July 23, 1944 – December 15, 2022) was an American drummer. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group the Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated ...

and

Gene Cornish Gene Cornish (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian-American musician. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band The Young Rascals. From 1965 to 1970, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen singles that reached Bill ...

The Rascals The Rascals (originally known as the Young Rascals) are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, southeast of Paterson in 1965. The original lineup featured lead vocalist and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, vocalist and percussion ...

, with Bill Pascali (formerly with the Vanilla Fudge 2001) from 2006 to 2011. In 2008, the group performed on a live video recording, ''New Rascals Reloaded'' with

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young Ra ...

, and on a digital audio recording titled ''New Rascals LEGENDS'' covering songs of the Young Rascals (also known simply as

the Rascals The Rascals (originally known as the Young Rascals) are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, southeast of Paterson in 1965. The original lineup featured lead vocalist and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere, vocalist and percussion ...

), such as

Groovin' "Groovin" is a song written by the American singer songwriters Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati, initially recorded by their group the Young Rascals in 1967. Cavaliere was inspired to compose the song by his girlfriend Adrienne Buccheri, whom ...

and

Good Lovin' "Good Lovin" is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a #1 hit single for the Young Rascals in 1966. Original version The song was first recorded by Lemme B. Good (stage name of singer Limmie Snell) in March 1965 and writ ...

. He also toured, collaborated and recorded with musicians including

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

;

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

;

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1 ...

of Chicago;

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre ...

;

Mike Pinera Carlos Michael Pinera (September 29, 1948 – November 20, 2024) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who started professionally in the late 1960s with the group Blues Image, which had a number 4 hit in 1970 with their song ...

, Malcolm Jones and Joe Lala of

Blues Image Blues Image was an American rock band. They had a hit in 1970 with " Ride Captain Ride", which reached No. 4 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM magazine charts. Career Blues Image was formed in Miami, Florida in 1966 ...

; The New Cactus Band

Cactus (American band) Cactus is an American rock band formed in 1969. It is currently comprising Jimmy Kunes as lead singer, guitarist Paul Warren, drummer Carmine Appice, bassist Jimmy Caputo and Randy Pratt on harmonica. History Original lineup and initia ...

;

White Witch (band) White Witch was an American hard rock band from Tampa, Florida, United States, that made two albums for Capricorn Records in the early 1970s. Their name was a paean to "white magic", contrary to the "black magic" of groups like Black Sabbath. A ...

; Gale Force with producer

Wayne Henderson (musician) Wayne Maurice Henderson (September 24, 1939 – April 5, 2014) was an American jazz fusion and soul jazz trombonist and record producer. In 1961, he co-founded the soul jazz/jazz fusion group The Jazz Crusaders. Henderson left the group (who by ...

of The Jazz Crusaders; Native American actor

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Floyd Westerman (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007) was a Sisseton Dakota musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life he became an actor, usually depicting Native America ...

; Santana keyboardist Leon Patillo; The Darrell Mansfield Christian Band; comedian

Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

, and The Tropics (band), a '60s pop group from Tampa, Florida, winning first place at the International Battle of the Bands in Chicago in 1966, which led to a Columbia Records recording played on Dick Clark's ''American Bandstand''. Souza's music has been released on Columbia,

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

Laurie Records Laurie Records was an American record label established in New York City in 1958, by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separa ...

. ''Fortress on Atlantic Records'' was an '80s melodic metal group with a release on

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists. Most of the Wounded Bird catalogue is licen ...

in 2008, Fortress "Hands in the Till". Souza recorded his solo albums ''Live Your Dream'' and ''9 Ball in the Corner Pocket'', together with former Robin Trower drummer

Bill Lordan Bill Lordan (born May 22, 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota), is an American rock music drummer who has been in a number of bands, such as The Mystics (band), The Mystics, Gypsy (band), Gypsy, The Robin Trower Band and Sly & The Family Stone. He be ...

, and Tropics guitarist Eric Turner of Fortress. These two CDs were recorded in Anaheim and Hollywood, California. Souza's song ''Carry Me Back to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

'' off the ''Livin' in Paradise'' CD, recorded by his band ''The New Tropics'' in Tampa Bay area studios, was voted the winner of the official city song contest.

Bibliography

* ''Live Your Dream'' A Music Autobiography. Janson Media Group, 2011. Tales of The Tropics, Tom Petty's Mudcrutch, New Rascals, Gregg Allman, Cactus, many Rock 'n' Roll friends! A story of real musical roots! The Life and times of Charlie Souza http://charliesouza.com * "Florida's Famous and Forgotten" by Kurt "King of the Oldies" Curtis. Softcover, (2) Book Set 1024 pages. The Tropics chapter, pages 828 – 842. * "Tampa Bay Music Roots" Charlie Souza & Keith Wilkins, Author ( 100 years of Music History in the Tampa Bay Area) Arcadia Publishing, The History Press

References

External links

Interview with Charlie Souza
at Alt Guitar Bass
For Bass Players Only: Interview

Music Dish: Interview

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110903073132/http://psychedeliccentral.com/60sbandsartist/newrascals.html Psychedelic Central: New Rascals review* https://web.archive.org/web/20120322211323/http://www.worldsoundproductions.com/artists/charlie_souza/web_pages/charlie_home.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Charlie 1948 births Living people Musicians from Tampa, Florida Writers from Tampa, Florida Mudcrutch members Guitarists from Florida American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians