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Bob Smith

Vocals, keyboards, drums 1967-1973+

Bob Smith portait 1973

About

Bob was born on July 7, 1944 in Jacksonville, Florida and grew up not far from there in Starke, Florida where he was the drum major of the Bradford High School marching band before graduating in 1962. Immediately after graduation he joined the US Navy where he learned to type – a skill on which he often relied during his life. In 1966 while working as a typist for the National Council of Churches in New York City, he began his musical career working on a music project with his future wife, Alice. Eventually Roy Michaels came on board and Bob had a musical partner.

At the same time, between 1966-67, Roy was singing and playing bass in the popular Canadian folk group, The Dirty Shames featuring Amos Garrett. Bob was hired as the drummer. The duo wrote a pair of 45s for the Shames with one of them, Walk Away, being covered by The Pozo Seco Singers as Gotta Come Up With Something. Perhaps simultaneously, they moved on to Charlie Brown’s Generation where they composed another 45 single, Trash/Fast Retreatin’ Woman.   

By June of 1967, Bob and Roy were fed up with their musical situations and, being inspired by a trip west to the Monterey Pop Festival, resolved to form their own band. By July of that year a nascent group of musicians were rehearsing in the Bowery and starting to play local gigs. The group eventually became Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, who recorded four albums for Polydor Records between 1968 and 1973. 

Sometime in 1974, after seven years of Cat Mother history, the band disintegrated. Bob continued the tradition playing with friends and former members of Cat Mother as The Gonzo Bandits and Smith or with Roy Michaels and friends in Rich and Famous. Though he and his family had moved to San Francisco, Bob continued to write and play music with his pals, visiting the Mendocino area as often as possible until his death on March 21, 1991.