Bobby began playing the
guitar at the age of seven. He formed his first band, The Torpedoes, in
high school in Bellflower, California, where they performed with the
Johnny Otis Show at El Monte Legion Stadium and the Harmony Park
Ballroom.
He recorded his first
record in 1963 with The Illusions, a surf hit called Jezabel. He was
signed by Liberty Records and was produced by Mike Curb and Bob
Summers. In 1967 he joined The Happy Medium, playing at such Los
Angeles music scene venues as PJs, Whiskey A-Go-Go and Gazzarris. They
performed with The Beach Boys, The Grassroots and The Fifth Dimension.
They went on to open the heralded Hilton International in Las Vegas.
At that time, Mark
Gordon, who also handled The Fifth Dimension, managed The Happy Medium.
Their album, Wells Fargo, was recorded on Bell Carousel Records.
In 1969, Bobby moved to
Aspen, Colorado at the beginning of Aspen's heyday. A year later he
joined the legendary group, Black Pearl, as one of the lead singers and
lead guitarist.
After Black Pearl, he
collaborated with Bob Carpenter, now keyboardist for The Nitty Gritty
Dirt Band. Together they formed Homebrew. At that same time, John Denver
was putting together a new record label called Windsong Records, a
subsidiary of RCA. John asked Bobby and Homebew to be among the
initially signed groups who were recording all original material. Their
work was covered in the 1970s by a number of other successful groups,
including Three Dog Night, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and John Denver
himself.
Homebrew's manager, Bill
McEuen, booked them at the Roxy in Los Angeles, where they were
showcased for all the major labels in the L.A. music scene and signed
with Columbia Records. Shortly thereafter, the group was renamed
Starwood by their new manager, Jerry Weintraub. Their next record was
produced by Bruce Bodnick at the famous (and sometimes infamous) Caribou
Ranch in Nederland, Colorado; the home of many of that eras greatest
hits. They toured extensively with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Santana,
Journey and Eddie Money, playing such places as The Cow Palace in San
Francisco, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. They
appeared on several television shows including The Merv Griffin Show
with John Denver and The Starland Vocal Band.
By 1977, Bobby formed
his own band, The Bobby Mason Band, featuring good time rock n roll to
the delight of the Rocky Mountain region. From time to time, Bobby would
be regularly joined by the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Dan Fogelberg, New
Grass Revival, various members of The Eagles, Dave Mason, and John
Denver.
In 1982, his career
expanded and Bobby began doing commercials in New York City for Saatchi
& Saatchi for such clients as Jeep, Duncan Hines, Budweiser and Kodak.
In 1983, Bobby became the voice of Jeep. He continued for the next few
years to constantly travel for different clients, doing voice-over work
in the advertising business.
In the 1990s, Bobby
played with such artists as Kenny Loggins, Buddy Miles, John Oates and
Bo Diddley. One day Don Johnson called and said, We're opening the
Phoenix location of Planet Hollywood. Youve got to put a band together
and get down here! Bobby made a few phone calls and Planet Hollywood
opened with the Bobby Mason Band, joined by Don Johnson, Stephen Stills,
Whoopi Goldberg, and Jim Belushi.
Bobby has had a long
and distinguished career and is listed in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame
Anthology. Bobby has been working in his home studio on four new
projects. Two were just completed; an album of original songs called 'Acoustic',
and an album of spoken word with Kim Nuzzo, and painted music by Bobby
called 'Buddha's On The Back Road'. The other projects include an album of poets of the Roaring
Fork Valley, which the proceeds will benefit world hunger and the Africa
Project. Also, Bobby is composing music for Gary Crabtree's new film,
"Fixing Tom."
At the end of March
2005, Bobby made the decision to bid Aspen farewell and opened his own recording studio in
Paradise, California. Now Bobby has returned to Colorado and will spend the winter in Paonia, where he will continue to create extraordinary music.
