Bob Jackson (musician)

This article is about the musician. For the English footballer, see Bob Jackson (footballer).

Robert 'Bob' Jackson (born 6 January 1948, Coventry, England), is a keyboardist/guitarist whose career has been interwoven with various rock and pop bands since the early 1970s.

Jackson formed his first professional rock group in 1969, called Indian Summer. The group released the album Indian Summer in 1971, and then disbanded the following year. Jackson joined John Entwistle's new band "Rigor Mortis" in 1972 and played on their debut tour. Jackson and fellow bandmate Alan Ross decided to put together their own group in 1973, calling themselves "Ross". They released two albums on RSO Records; Ross in 1973, and The Pit and the Pendulum in 1974. This hard rock group failed to capture an audience and disbanded after the release of its second album.

Jackson was hired by the group Badfinger in August 1974, the first time he had joined an established rock act. Although originally secured as a replacement for one of its members, Pete Ham, Jackson was retained as an additional member when Ham withdrew his resignation. Following a British tour supporting the group "Man", Badfinger recorded the album Head First for Warner Brothers in December. Due to legal entanglements and mismanagement, Head First was unreleased at the time. Jackson was finally able to release the recordings on CD in 2000.

Badfinger disbanded following Ham's suicide in 1975. Jackson remained in contact with Badfinger's bassist Tom Evans, and the two joined "The Dodgers" in 1976. The Dodgers released a handful of singles and one album by 1977, the year Jackson was released by the band due to management disagreements.

Jackson was hired by The Searchers in 1979, contributing to the group's tours and two subsequent album releases, The Searchers (1979) and Play For Today (1980). In 1980 Jackson joined "The David Byron Band" formed by Uriah Heep's former lead singer. None of the group's recordings had been released by the time Jackson left the band in 1981, and the group continued to tour until Byron's death in 1985.

Jackson and Tom Evans reteamed in 1982 and formed a new version of Badfinger for several U.S. tours. This version of the band rivaled another version created by former Badfinger member Joey Molland, also touring in the same market. Evans committed suicide in late 1983, which ended Jackson's Badfinger. He later teamed with Molland and Mike Gibbins (original Badfinger drummer) for a Badfinger outing in 1984 for a specialty tour in the U.S., after which the members went their separate ways. Jackson was apparently idle for several years after 1984, making some home recordings for demonstration records but did not tour.

Jackson appeared on two CDs in the 1990s; 7 Park Avenue and Golders Green, which are posthumous releases by Jackson's old bandmate from Badfinger. He was subsequently hired by The Fortunes in 1995, and he remained with the group off-and-on for the next 10 years, releasing three albums and performing on several tours. On 18 May 2006, Jackson rejoined the Fortunes and has performed with them recently at Potters Holidays on the East Coast June 10.

Discography

Indian Summer by Indian Summer, 1971
Ross by Ross, 1973
The Pit And The Pendulum by Ross, 1974
Head First by Badfinger, recorded 1974 (released 2000)
Love On The Rebound by The Dodgers, 1978
The Searchers by The Searchers, 1979
Play For Today by The Searchers, 1980
7 Park Avenue by Pete Ham, 1997
Golders Green by Pete Ham, 1999
some bridges... by The Fortunes, 1999
The Fortunes...Live by The Fortunes, 2001
Heroes Never Die by The Fortunes, 2004

References

Dan Matovina: ISBN 0-9657122-2-2
Dan Matovina: Badfinger Biography Pages
Tom Brennan: Badfinger Library