@boxer12, I’m disappointed in myself for not going to The San Jose Civic Auditorium on the night in the fall of ’65 that Bob & The Hawks performed live ;-) . I know a couple of guys who did, and I’m SO envious. To think they were at that point in time already making such advanced music, while The Beatles were still singing boy/girl love songs to crowds of screaming teenage girls, greatly amuses me.
I had heard only Bob’s single "Subterranean Homesick Blues", which left me completely bewildered---I had no idea what to make of it. Hey, I was only 14! The fact that he recorded a song as astounding as "Desolation Row" that Summer just astounds me. He was light years ahead of EVERYONE else in Pop music.
@mapman, that Old & In The Way album is not only good music, but recorded in audiophile quality sound! I bought it when it was first released, my first Bluegrass album from the current generation (I already had LP’s by Bill Monroe and the other old-timers). I knew of David Grisman (O&ITW member), as a bassist I knew (we were both members of the same San Jose/Cupertino musician clique) had in 1971 started going up to Mill Valley to take mandolin lessons from Grisman. David told him there were plenty of mandolin players, but a shortage of upright (acoustic) bassists. So Todd (Phillips) got himself an upright, and ended up becoming one of Bluegrasses busiest bassists, working with Grisman himself. I jammed with him a few years back, and his 18th Century upright sounded amazing!
