A friend called me yesterday with the news: Bobby Neese had died. It came as a shock, as he was only 54.
I didn't know Bobby as well as I would have liked. I played in a couple of bands with him in the early 80's. He was an excellent guitarist. He had a good singing voice that sounded a lot like Roy Orbison. His rendition of "Crying" was powerful and moving. I have a tape recording of him singing "An American Trilogy" and it just gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it. He never tried to impersonate Elvis on that song. Instead, he infused it with his own unique style that could make you forget who Elvis even was.
Bobby had a great sense of humor. One time, during a rehearsal, our drummer, Kenny, was getting on his nerves. Bobby said, "You know the bumper sticker you see that says 'I rode the bull at Gilley's'? Kenny's got one that says 'I bred the bull at Gilley's'." I'm laughing even now as I type this.
Then there was the time when I told Bobby I was going to buy a rhythm machine with 15 programmable rhythms, "seven more than Kenny's got!" Bobby didn't miss a beat: "That's 14 more than Kenny's got."
He played music all of his life and travelled all over the country in different bands. If memory serves, I think he was the bass player in Stonewall Jackson's band for awhile, but I may have that mixed up with how he opened for Stoney Edwards. He put out a record and tried hard to gain success in the Nashville circuit, but it eluded him. One night he was telling us about experiences he'd had on the road. He said there was a rowdy bar he played at where someone threw a pool ball at him and beaned him on the forehead. Ouch! That had to hurt! For a long time I was afraid to play in bars, frightened of flying pool balls.
He had his faults, and it wasn't hard to tell that he was fighting off some personal demons. But practically all the memories I have of him are good ones. He encouraged me greatly. He gave me opportunities to hone my musical skills with him in the bands he invited me to join. I daresay I am a better musician as a result of his friendship.
He will be missed.
Here is his opfficial obituary:
Robert Neese, 54
September 19, 1953 - June 22, 2008
Longtime Seminole resident Robert “Bobby” Neese passed away on Sunday, June 22, 2008 in Shawnee, Oklahoma at the age of 54.
He was born in Perry, Oklahoma on September 19, 1953 to Robert Fulton and Johnny Lenora (Lewis) Neese.
He was a musician and opened for many bands such as, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner, Buck Owens, Gene Watson and Stoney Edwards. He was a member of the Tri-City Christian Church in Seminole.
He is preceded in death by his parents, brother, Robert Fulton Neese, Jr., sister, Susan Ann Neese and uncle J.D. Neese.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law: Ashley Neese currently serving in the military in Iraq and wife Karri Neese of Shawnee, Oklahoma, daughter, Krystal Neese of Wewoka, Oklahoma, brother and sister-in-law: Scott and Paula Neese of Seminole, two sisters and a brother-in-law: Linda and Lonnie Knight of Seminole and Judy Robbins of Seminole, Oklahoma, several nieces and nephews; Terry Carter, Angie Adams, Londa Robertson, Melanie Yerby, Scott Fulton and Brendan Neese. He is also survived by two grandsons: Rhett and Hunter of Shawnee, Oklahoma.
3 comments:
hi, this is krystle.....robert's daughter. i know you didnt expect to hear from me, but i hardly knew my father and was wondering if you could tell me some more about him? he was an absent father. he was in and out of my life for a short time. so, it would be appreciated if you tell me some memories u have of him and you together and stuff like that. thank you.
Hi, Kristie. Thanks for visiting my blog.
I wish I had more to tell you about Bobby. When I played in bands with him it was a case of him "hiring me on", and so he was more or less the "leader" of the groups. As such I wasn't really a part of Bobby's "chain of friends" or privy to much of his personal life. Don't get me wrong...I did consider him a good friend and I have no doubt he felt the same towards me, but the only times we ever "hung out together" was when we were rehearsing or performing in the bands. Sometimes I would run into him at a club where I was playing and we'd always let him up on stage to sing a couple of songs...which is a testament to how much we all respected him and his talent because normally we would not let anyone sit in. He'd usually do "Pretty Woman". He had a real knack for Roy Orbison songs.
One night we were doing a New Year's Eve party at an Elk Lodge in Holdenville, I think it was. It was Bobby, Kenny Childers on drums, C.E. Redwine on saxophone and I think we had a couple of horn players recruited from the SJC lab band (I played bass). There was also a girl named Diane who sang on several of the songs. She was an incredibly gifted vocalist who had a deep Patsy Cline style of singing.
Bobby was infatuated with her. He was OBSESSED with her. He tried just about everything he could to win her over, but she had a boyfriend, a self absorbed snob named Shaun. Shaun was also a guitar player, who was part of the lab band. He was pissed off that night because he felt like he should have been the one to play guitar...but Bobby was infinitely more talented than he was and could sing. Bob knew a lot of songs he could just throw out at us to play, whereas Shaun could barely play with sheet music in front of him.
Shaun hated Bobby and trust me, the feeling was more than mutual. Bobby had no time for his kind. A situation that was made worse by the fact that Shaun stood in the way between he and Diane.
Anyway, back to the New Year's party. The tension between them was pretty high throughout the night. When the last song had finished I guess Bob said something that really pissed Shaun off, because he walked up to the stage and got in Bobby's face. I don't remember exactly what he said, but Bobby gave him a verbal lashing that he would never forget. He had to be restrained and Shaun was ushered from the room. I think Bobby expected him to be out in the parking lot so he could hook it up with him. But he wasn't there. He was in his car with Diane, peeling out and hitting the road at a fast rate of speed.
Bobby quickly got into his car and his friend got behind the wheel (I don't remember his name, but Bob always travelled with this guy, who was pretty cool, as a "designated driver")...Kenny and I had a ride home with him, so we were in the back seat.
It took a little while before we came within view of Shaun's car. Bobby told his friend to hit the gas and tailgate them. Which is exactly what he did. I mean to say that he had that car within INCHES of Shaun's, and we were flying down the road going at LEAST 75 miles an hour. I was scared, as you might imagine, yelling "Slow down!"...Kenny was actually PRAYING (ha!). This went on for several minutes before either Bobby or his friend got tired of it. I don't know what happened after that, but I would guess that Shaun didn't taunt Bobby ever again.
I wish I had more memories like this to share, but I don't. I do have some cassette tapes of rehearsals of out bands. I think I have a tape of the show I've been talking about...Unfortunately I don't have any "digital audio" CDs to transfer them onto (digital audio is different from regular cd-rs and are necessary for use in component burners). I'm not sure if I can transfer them into mp3 files, but if you'll leave your address I will try to get something to you...no guarantees, of course, but if I can get it done I would be glad to do so. Send me an e-mail at jackory69@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll see what I can do.
Wow! This is Ashley, Bobby's son. I for some reason decided to google my dad's name today...no reason really. The holidays make me miss him more. But I just wanted to thank you for your kind words about our father. He was an amazing man, an amazing artist and an amazing friend. He was not the best father, but I never held that against him because what he lacked in fathering skills he more than made up in being an awesome friend. I am so thankful for the people who had the pleasure of experience that was my father. Thank you again.
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