ffred
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25,193 views
We broke up in 1974, but had our first album produced in 2001 when World in Sound, a small label operating from Schwetzingen, Germany, found us after hearing a 45 rpm single we releaased in 1971. Since then, we have released "fred" and "Notes on a Picnic", and "live at the bitter end", recorded in New York City in the summer of 1974, and released March 20, 2004.
George Graham, long time Disk Jockey for WVIA-FM in Wilkes-Barre, PA, had these kind words in his review of music released in 2003 about "Notes on a Picnic":
"The Best Archaeological Find Award goes to three CDs released for the first time in 2003 of material dating back decades. One was the Willie Nelson demo sessions, another was the live recording by the famous Bloomfield-Kooper Super Session band recorded live at the Fillmore East in December 1968, and the other was a regional gem by the Lewisburg, PA, based art-rock band Fred, called Notes on a Picnic, recorded in the mid 1970s but never released until now, thanks to the interest by a European collectors label."
http://georgegraham.com/reviews/gdgawd03.htmlBand/artist history
fred came to be as part of the turn on, tune in and drop out culture of the late 60's and early 70's, when several of us were students in very rural east-central Pennsylvania. We started playing music together in the autumn of 1969. From what started as a lyrical, almost art rocky band featuring David's violin, we became a jazz rock fusion band, inspired by the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. When we parted ways, we were playing primarily instrumental jazz-rock with classical elements of composition and arrangement, but where improvisation and risk taking were the orders of the day.Have you performed in front of an audience?We last played ensemble in 1974, and our virtuouo violinist, David Rose, and innovative bassist, Mike "Bones" Robison, have long since passed to the heavenly combo, once referred to as "St. Peter's Band" in Mike's Beach Boys send-off, "Get 'em Up, God,". Our album, "Live at the Bitter End", caught us at the top of our form before we parted ways in late 1974.
Your musical influences
Early on, we modeled ourselves after Procol Harum, the Band, Traffic, and Frank Zappa. Later on, we gravitated toward Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. We were similar to Dixie Dregs, but with more of a jazz feel to the compositions.What equipment do you use?
David played a violin made by a craftsman named Waltersdorf in York, PA through a custom system assemebled by Charlie Bozenhard. Bo played Rogers drums. Joe played a Gibson SG Standard through Fender Bassman or Sun Coliseum amp. The keys, shared by Pete and Ken, were Fender Rhodes through Fender and Farfisa through Leslie for live shows, some acoustic piano in the studio. Mike initially played a Gibson bass through Fender, but wound up on a fretless Fender bass.Anything else?
The players:
In memoriam:
David Rose, violin and vocals
Mike "Bones" Robison, bass and backing vocals
Gary Rosenberg, lyrics
Dick Joseph, management
Charlie Bozenhard, Dave's rig for violin
Alive and kicking:
Bo Fox, drums, percussion and vocals
(honest, the drums on "live" are just Bo, proving the rumor that like his favorite super hero, Spider Man, Bo is no mere mortal, but a near divine being with super-human powers!)
Ken Price, keys and vocals
Peter Eggers, keys, saxophone, percussion
Joe DeCristopher: guitar
The crew: Roger Brown and Pat Biggs
Graphics and photos: LJ Kopf
extra kudos to Pete for technical assistance on the album cover work for live at the bitter end, not to mention those amazing tunes.
last but not least: Thanks to Wolf and Miguel for taking old tapes out of the can and making 3 albums available after 30+ years on the shelf, and for the engineer at WIS who brightened up that monoral live recording from the Bitter End.GlobalCitizen's station
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Just a word from a friend long ago. I remember Bones well from the Lewisburg days. Tall, slim, quiet, serious, but with an infectious laugh. A great bass player. A fine human being and a gentle soul. Miss those days a lot and Mike, too.Thirty years later Fred is a musical presence; simply amazing. Mike Robison aka Bones died in 1995 from Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW)syndrome, a congenital defect involving the electrical pathways in the heart. When the first signs of WPW appeared in his mid-twenties, the doctors thought Mike was just another white punk on dope who damaged his heart with drugs. In his apartment in LA while practicing bass he went into cardiac arrest. His girlfriend at the time, Pamela Stonebrook, known not only for her great voice but also for her cartwheels off hotel diving boards, saved Mike by calling 911. Afterwards, Mike told me of the peacefulness he experienced while in cardiac arrest. Years later, a cardiologist recognized the WPW pattern on his EKG and told my brother that his problem could be fixed. He had an ablation treatment that was unsuccesful about two weeks before he died. His doctors were planning to try again. If I had to pick my poison, I would be like Mike...lose consciousness unexpejust another carpenteri love you mike and i miss you
very much and thanx for all you have done for me
i always said you were the best
wdrAll comments (5)
1,784 plays
25,194 views
25,194 views
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Joe
@joe solo
I knew Mike back in 1981, and by then he was sporting short hair, black suit and playing with an excellent cover band in the northwest. We became friends and he would visit whenever he was in town. I too found him to be a gentle soul, very sweet and thoughtful. I have been looking around online to see what became of him, and I'm so sad to come across this post. I'm grateful that you told us how he died, though --at least I know the story. It's a loss of a wonderful man.