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Bob Birch
Robert Wayne Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American session musician, playing bass guitar as a sideman to a variety of notable artists. Early lifeBob Birch was born in Detroit and grew up in suburban Sterling Heights and St. Clair Shores, Michigan.[1] At an early age, he was inspired to pursue music by his father Chet, an upright bassist. Birch began playing the alto saxophone and mirroring the styles of Paul Desmond and Cannonball Adderley. Around seventh grade, he tried the electric bass because of his fascination with the Motown sound, and groups like Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He began playing on his junior-high band director's Mosrite bass at lunch breaks. Because he also had a passion for classical music, Birch focused his school studies on the bassoon. He was recognized by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association for his wins at music festival competitions and, as a senior at Lakeview High School, he won the Louis Armstrong award. Birch won a scholarship from the state of Michigan to enroll in Wayne State University, initially as a pre-med student.[2] In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in music education and performance and then spent some time as a music teacher in the Warren Consolidated Schools district. Through these years, he had been playing at night with his brother Dan in a band called Birch & Co., and in another called Lifeline.[3] CareerIn 1984, Birch joined the band Fortune, playing bass and saxophone on their first album Fortune, an album which is considered a classic in Progressive rock circles.[4] The album was a success in Japan and Europe, and the song "Stacey" was a hit in the US, but the band broke up soon after its release. Birch met keyboardist Guy Babylon, when they worked on the Luis Cardenas's 1986 Grammy-nominated album, Animal Instinct.[5] In 1987, Babylon recommended Birch for Mark Ashton's band and the two worked on the recording of the 1988 Ashton album Modern Pilgrims.[6] At that time, Babylon was asked to join Elton John's band. Birch was hired by percussionist Bob Conti for a spot in Jose Feliciano's band. He set off on a world tour with Feliciano which lasted four years.[citation needed] When Elton John ended his tour in 1989, Guy Babylon introduced Birch to John's longtime guitarist, Davey Johnstone. At that time, Johnstone, Babylon, and John's longtime drummer Nigel Olsson were planning to make a record together and asked Birch to join them. They named their band Warpipes, and their album debuted in 1990. The project was met with management and record company obstacles and stalled while Babylon and Johnstone were called to begin working on Elton John's The One in Paris. As The One tour was about to begin, John was searching for a bassist, asking Pino Palladino to join him, who declined. On February 14, 1992, John asked Johnstone to call Birch to join his tour.[citation needed] Being John's touring and primary recording bassist opened up more avenues for Birch in his musical career. In between gigs with John, Birch was back in L.A. looking for more playing opportunities.[7] In 1993, Birch met musician and composer Marc Bonilla and was asked to join his band, 'The Dragonchoir' for the time he had in between tours with John. Birch accepted, and with Bonilla he performed live and recorded with Keith Emerson, Steve Porcaro, Glenn Hughes, and Ronnie Montrose. He later played on Emerson's solo album, featuring Bonilla, alongside Gregg Bissonette on drums. Birch teamed up with Bonilla on a few other works. Together they worked on a comedy album, Fuzzatonic Scream by Bobby Gaylor, which Bonilla produced. Also with Bonilla, along with studio producer Mike Mason, Birch played on the soundtracks of the movies The Replacements and The Scorpion King for Los Angeles film composer John Debney. Bonilla also gave Birch the chance to play with one of his favorite vocalists, David Coverdale, at Mark & Brian's Christmas show.[citation needed] When Elton John teamed up with Billy Joel for multiple tours in which Birch participated, he met Joel's saxophone player Mark Rivera. Rivera and Birch quickly became good friends, and Rivera asked him to be the primary bassist at one of the first Rock & Roll Fantasy Camps. The camp gave Birch the opportunity to perform with Leslie West, Rick Derringer, Nils Lofgren, Mike Love, Lou Gramm, and as the third member of the 'Detroit Royalty' Grand Funk Railroad with Mark Farner and Don Brewer. Rick Latham, drummer and friend of Birch's, gave him the chance to play with Edgar Winter and the White Trash featuring Rick Derringer at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1999.[citation needed] While recording Made In England with Elton John at Air Studios in London, Birch was sitting in the studio lobby reading a magazine during a break when Beatles producer George Martin approached him and asked Birch if he "would be up for playing on a couple of tracks" he was doing for Larry Adler's album The Glory of Gershwin. After Birch "picked his jaw off of the floor", he answered yes.[citation needed] He also built a musical relationship with producer and songwriter David Harris. Harris asked Birch to play on Brian Doerksen's Juno Award-winning album, which was put together with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and Toto singer Joseph Williams. That led to the opportunity to co-write as well as play on a song for Joseph Williams' solo album, This Fall. Birch said that "being a huge Toto fan, it was an honor to be involved with Joseph. Seeing my name on an album alongside my all-time heroes David Paich, Steve Lukather, Steve Porcaro, and Bobby Kimball was obviously an added rush".[citation needed] InjuryIn 1995, Birch was badly injured in a car accident in which he was hit by a pick-up truck while walking the streets of Montreal with his fellow band members. After being hit, he was thrown over twenty feet before landing on the asphalt, breaking both his legs as well as severely damaging his back and spine. The doctors initially told him that he would never walk again, but within six months he was back on tour with Elton John, and continued for the next seventeen years.[8] Throughout those years, Birch struggled with constant headaches, dizziness, vertigo, and severe pain throughout his body. According to friend and colleague Nigel Olsson, he saw "hundreds of physicians, but nothing could reverse the damage which was already done. His entire body was knackered."[9] During his final tour before his death, Birch was forced to perform while seated on a chair because of the pain he was enduring,[10] which had been aggravated by a fall at the start of the tour.[11] Personal life and deathBirch was married with one son. During the last weeks of his life, he struggled with severe gastrointestinal issues brought on by his injury, losing over 20 pounds in a short period of time. On August 15, 2012, he died in an apparent suicide by gunshot wound near his Los Angeles home, at age 56.[12][13] References
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