RICHARD
BOWDEN
VITAL STATISTICS:
BORN: 1945, Linden, TX (Pop. 2,373).
MARRIED: 31 years as of June 21, 2002, same woman (Karen).
CHILDREN: two dogs (James & Marsha) and 3 cats (C. C.,
Blaze & Snugglepuss)
(for those of you remembering that I recently had six cats,
thanks to the
coyote's, I am now down to three).
PETS: none.
HEALTH: smoker, get over it!
WEALTH: unknown.
LIFE HISTORY:
[1] 1945 through 1968
My mother once said, in response to some of my reported behavior,
"The first
time I ever saw him, he was naked...and hungry". I guess I
didn't change much
during those years. I went to college in '64 and had to learn to
cook.
College was a great place to be naked, so I did a lot of that
there, too. I
was an honor student in high school and my parents were always
supportive
whenever I showed an interest in anything creative, so by my
Junior year, I
had my own band, eventually called "Shiloh". We got to
be one of most popular
bands in Texas, and by the time all the band members got out of
college, we
were making enough money performing to not have to get jobs. I
think one of
the reasons we were so good, is that Don Henley was our drummer
and lead
singer. “It don't get much better than that.”
[2] 1968 through 1977
We wanted a shot at the big time. We met Kenny Rogers and The
First Edition
in Dallas in '68 and he offered to help us, so we all decided to
move to L.
A. where we recorded and released the album "Shiloh",
which is now among the
highest priced records in the "Rare and Hard-to-Find"
catalogs. We had a
regional hit, but things didn't work out. We got into a bad
management deal
and broke up in 1970. Later that year, Don, our bassist (my
cousin Mike
Bowden) and I landed a job backing Linda Ronstadt. Glenn Frey was
the
fourth guy in that band. That's how the Eagles got started (I'm
mentioned
in the book, "Eagles, To The Limit"). I left Ronstadt
in early '74 and tried
to start another band. It didn't work out. Shortly after that, I
was
honored to replace the late Clarence White in the Byrds' Roger
McGuinn's solo
act. We did one album, "Roger McGuinn and Band" (CBS
Records) and toured
until '76. McGuinn hooked up with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder
Review (I'm
mentioned in the book, "On The Road With Bob Dylan")
and let the band go.
Dan Fogelberg was looking for a guitarist and I got the job. It
was a great
gig for a while, but I wasn't satisfied with being a sideman. I
left Dan,
went to the beach, broke my wrist on a dune buggy and took a year
off for
being stupid.
[3] 1978 through 1982
In '78, I started another band, "Blue Steel". We
recorded an album, "No
More Lonely Nights"(Infinity Rec.), and toured with the
Eagles on their "Long
Run" tour in 1980. In the middle of the tour, our Record
company folded.
We regrouped, went to another label, cut a second album, "Nothing
But
Time"(Elektra Rec.), and then the band folded. I decided to
move to
Nashville to write songs. The "band business" was just
not working out.
[4] 1982 through 1998
I hit Nashville in the fall of '82 and met a songwriter named
Sandy Pinkard.
He'd had several hits and wanted to write together. It didn't
work out.
We started having too much fun making up stupid lyrics to our own
songs, as
well as others, and without really trying, we found ourselves
with a comedy
act. It worked out. For lack of a better name, we called
ourselves "
Pinkard and Bowden". We recorded four Warner Bros. albums,
"Writers In
disguise", "PG-13", "Live, In Front Of a
Bunch Of D-dkh--ds", and "Cousins,
Cattle and Other Love Stories". We toured the country making
people laugh
for almost 16 years. We were frequent guests on all the great
morning radio
shows and eventually got our own late night TV commercial (the
kind I really
hate but secretly always wanted to have), for a compilation album
called
"Gettin' Stupid". Our songs can still be heard today
and our records are
still available on the web at http://www.pinkardandbowden.com/.
[5] 1999 through 2000
In mid '98, tiring from almost thirty years of touring, and
feeling the need
to tend to my widowed and aging mother, I moved the family, four-legged
and
all, to Linden, Texas, my hometown. I am now the preferred host,
banquet
speaker and entertainer for all community activities and local
functions,
and I won a seat on the City Council. My move into politics has
not
pre-empted my involvement in the entertainment business. I have
three album
production projects in the works and I am playing music with some
of my old
friends. And everybody still thinks I'm funny. This past summer (2000),
I
went on the road with my old friend, Don Henley. I signed on as a
guitar
tech, and ended up playing trombone on Hotel California (see
photo page at
http://www.richardbowden.com/). I've also been appearing as "Special Guest
Star"
with the Bob & Tom Band on occasion.
[6] 2001 through 2002
After touring again early in 2001 with Don Henley, I signed on to
do the
Eagles European tour as a guitar/bass tech. I also performed as
an auxiliary
guitarist on stage during "Hotel California". The tour
ended late summer and
I returned to my City Counseling duties at home, also helping
with our annual
Lion's Follies (a local variety show that was produced by my
father for many
years) and our Wildflower Trails of Texas Festival. In the three
years I've
been back home, I've brought in celebrity friends to participate
in the
festival; Kenny Rogers in 2000, Don Henley in 2001 and Jackson
Browne in '02.
As 2002 kicked off, I managed to slip into the recording studio
and complete
a new CD before leaving for my summer job on the Eagles North
American Tour
which started in May and ended in early August with five Don
Henley solo
shows. At this writing, my new CD entitled "Big Bad Johnson"
is in the
process of being released. I am at home awaiting eminent
fame and fortune
and scheduling some weekend performances with my band, Moon and
The Starz, of
which two members were with me in the Roger McGuinn Band in the
mid ‘70s
(check my tour schedule link for future updates. There is
information
regarding the new CD at http://www.bobandtom.com/ as well).
While I'm planning strategies for 2003 and chairing a
nonprofit organization
that is soon opening a concert venue called Music City
Texas Theater (we
have commitments to date for performances from several name
artists such as
Jackson Browne, John Anderson, T. Graham Brown and others), it's
good to be
back home in Linden, TX, sleeping with my wife again, taking care
of my Mom,
my civic duties and rehearsing for the upcoming comedy shows. Now
that I am
eating a lot of Mother's cooking again, I'm not hungry very much,
but I still
like to get naked every chance I get. I'm at the age now where my
wife
prefers me in clothes, but I'm not worried. It's gonna work out.
2004 Update:
Things have really "worked out" now in 2004. I
signed on for one last tour
with the Eagles in May and The Music City Texas Theater is
rolling right along.
In June, Jackson Browne performed a solo acoustic show that
was utterly
magnificent. Then on September 14 and 15, Don Henley and
his band played here to
two sell out crowds. Both the Henley and Jackson shows were
done as benefits
for the theater and now I am being compensated for my work here
at home.
Things are lining up nicely for '05 and we have many great acts
coming to perform
at the theater. If you have read this far, then you should
go ahead and check
out the website for the theater: www.musiccitytexas.org. There is quite a
bit of information on the site that you may find interesting and
some great
pictures of the acts that have performed here. Thanks for
dropping in. I hope to
see you in Linden, TX for one of our great shows.
As far as my recording career is concerned, I plan to record
another CD, but
not until I've sold all the copies of Big Bad Johnson that I have
left, so if
you want to hear more from me on CD, then I suggest that you tell
your friends
to spread the word and let's get those CDs sold. As far as
live performances
are concerned, I am now, along with my fabulous band Moon &
the Starz,
performing the First Saturday of Every Month at our Music City
Texas Theater. I'm
still available for bookings and will be happy to travel to your
fair city to
perform if the price is right. RB
Richard Bowden
___________________________________________________________________
Richard Bowden Album
Credits
Shiloh - Shiloh
Linda Ronstadt - Linda Ronstadt,
Don’t Cry Now and Greatest Hits I & II
Roger McGuinn - Roger Mc Guinn
& Band
Cold Steel - Sneaky Pete and Cold
Steel
Blue Steel - No More Lonely Nights and
Nothing But Time
Stevie Nicks - Belladonna
Pinkard & Bowden - Writers In Disguise,
PG-13, Live In Front Of A Bunch Of D*ckh**ds,
Cousins, Cattle and Other Love Stories and
Gettin’ Stupid
Richard Bowden - Big Bad Johnson
Other Richard Bowden recording credits appear on albums by:
Commander Cody,
Doug Kershaw and Johnny
Rodriguez.