All Current Photos: Alan Mercer
Bobby Bare scored nearly five dozen top 40 hits from 1962 to 1983. In a laconic vocal style that embraces both wry country wit and poignant folk storytelling, his literate, cross-cultural appeal has earned him the sobriquet "the Springsteen of country."
Born Robert Joseph Bare in Ironton, Ohio, he had a rough early life. His mother died when he was five in early 1941. He had two sisters, one was seven, one was two. His dad couldn't take care of all them. The younger sister was adopted to some people who lived down the road. Then, the other sister stayed with the grandparents and different relatives. To cope with the unease of being shifted around so much, the youngster dreamed of being a country singer and even made his first guitar.
By his own account a bright student--he was in eighth grade at age eleven--Bare never finished his education. He was still a teenager when he and his first group began playing on an early morning radio show in and around Springfield, Ohio. Eventually he parlayed that experience into a much better weekly radio gig approximately 59 miles away in Wilston.
After figuring that he had gone as far as he could in Ohio, Bare got a ride to the West Coast with a man who claimed to know famed country instrumentalists Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. After an adventurous ride that necessitated playing for tips to raise gas money, the singer arrived in California to a pleasant surprise. The driver did know them and Speedy was the one who got him a record deal with Capitol.
Recording for legendary producer Ken Nelson, who worked with Wanda Jackson, Buck Owens, Gene Vincent, etc., Bare's future seemed assured. However, the young singer's first country single--a cover of Buck Owens's "Down on the Corner of Love"--stiffed, so Nelson and Capitol decided to make his next outing a rockabilly record. It didn’t go anywhere.
Rebuffed when Nelson wouldn't let him pursue his own musical ideas, Bare asked for his release from Capitol so he could sign with the relatively small Challenge label. There he recorded with his friends the Champs (of "Tequila" fame), but these sides--released on the Jackpot subsidiary-- didn't click either. Friend and country legend Wynn Stewart helped keep him housed and employed in California clubs, but just as he was making headway in his own nightspot, he received his draft notice.
Back in Ohio awaiting induction, Bare ran into his friend Bill Parsons who was just being discharged from the Army. Parsons wanted a record deal and Bare advised him to cut some demos. At the same time, Bare quickly recorded 'The All-American Boy' so he wouldn’t forget the song. Harry Carlson of Fraternity Records made a copy off that tape. Bill and Bobby went back up to Dayton to a bar they used to hang out in. The record company got an acetate made and they heard the song and wanted to put it out. They offered 500 bucks. Bobby Bare said, “Hell, take it. Just don't put my name on it.”
The next time Bobby Bare heard ‘The All-American Boy’ was during his basic training stint at Fort Knox. By the time he came home on leave, the satirical allusion to both his and Elvis Presley's rise to fame and subsequent army hitch was one of the hottest records in the country, hitting number two on the pop charts in 1959. Fraternity had put Bill Parsons's name on the label--since Bare was still under contract to Challenge-- and had him lip-synch the record on tour. Although he never received any royalties for the song, Bare didn't begrudge his friend the hit.
During his two-year army hitch, Bare entered several talent competitions and even appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with an instrumental combo called the Latin Five. Many of his friends had moved back to Nashville, and became very successful when they all ganged up and told RCA vice-president and guitarist extraordinaire Chet Atkins how great Bare was. So, Chet wanted to meet him and said, “Come back in a week and we'll have you a contract and look for songs, cut you a record.”
At RCA, Atkins was willing to listen to Bare's ideas. When the singer wanted to use horns on a country record, a first for Nashville, and strings, the producer made it happen. The result was Bobby Bare's breakout hit ‘Shame On Me.’ Better still was his Grammy-winning rendition of the Mel Tillis and Danny Dill-penned ‘Detroit City,’ which became a classic anthem for displaced southerners everywhere. He had another million seller with ‘500 Hundreds Miles Away From Home.’
Bare's music became increasingly country with such hits as ‘"Miller's Cave’ and ‘Four Strong Winds’ and he became a regular, if not overwhelming, presence in that genre's top 40. He used his power as a hitmaker to introduce his friend Waylon Jennings to RCA. By decade's end, he'd scored a major hit with his former bass player Tom T. Hall's song, ‘(Maggie's at) The Lincoln Park Inn,’ which shocked listeners with its matter-of-fact approach to adultery. Despite the controversial hit, which he was not allowed to sing on a scheduled American Bandstand appearance, Bare's career had started to cool down.
In 1970, Bare switched to Mercury Records where he recorded Tom T. Hall's ‘How I Got To Memphis,’ along with Kris Kristofferson's ‘Come Sundown,’ and ‘Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends.’ Keenly appreciative of the great country songwriters, he produced albums on such legendary songsmiths as Harlan Howard, Mickey Newberry, and Billy Joe Shaver. That said, the songwriter most in tune with his own sensibilities was Shel Silverstein.
Silverstein figured prominently upon Bare's return to RCA where he wrote what many have claimed to be the first country music concept album, ‘Lullabys, Legends & Lies,’ in 1973 which contained the singer's duet with his five-year old son Bobby, Jr., "Daddy What If" and his lone chart-topper ‘Marie Laveau.’ Many other Silverstein songs figured prominently during Bare's renewed chart run, most notably ‘The Winner’ and the controversial ‘Drop Kick Me, Jesus (Through the Goalposts of Life),’ the latter said to be former President Clinton's favorite song.
Due to his outsider stance and willingness to record material by Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and the Rolling Stones, Bare has always had credibility with rock audiences. Acknowledging his ability to convey a song's story, famed promoter Bill Graham christened Bare the "Bruce Springsteen of country" in 1977. One of the few country veterans to regularly receive airplay on FM rock radio, he garnered a surprisingly strong following among college audiences of the era.
The early 2000's found Bare playing country legends tours, casino dates, and doing as much fishing as he desired.
Now in his early eighties, Bare continues to record. He recently released a stunning new album titled, ‘Things Change’ to great critical and commercial success. He can command the stage and keep an audience in the palm of his hand, not only with his music, but also with his sharp and irreverent humor that he sprinkles liberally throughout his show.
I photographed and talked to Bobby Bare before his show at the Texas Opry Theater in Weatherford, Texas on November 4, 2017.
Alan Mercer: Mr. Bare, I LOVE your new album, 'Things Change.' It’s incredible in every way.
Bobby Bare: Thank you. We just made a video for the new single, ‘I Drink.’
AM: Wow! That’s one of my favorite songs!!
BB: It’s a dark, dark video.
AM: The song is dark, but it’s great. In the song Things Change’ there is a line that says Women rule the world, not the men. Do you believe that now?
BB: Sort of…I got that from Hoyt Axton. That came from Hoyt’s lifetime experience.
AM: I love it. Are you enjoying this time in your life?
BB: Yeah, I find I’m getting more tired. (Laughter)
AM: Isn’t this your last show for a while?
BB: Yes, because now it’s Thanksgiving and that’s my daughter’s birthday and I plan to go fishing for a few days and then December 3 is our 53rd wedding anniversary and December 6 is my wife’s birthday and then Christmas. Then in January I go to Florida and fish nearly the whole month.
AM: You are working in Florida too.
BB: Yes, I’m doing the Orange Blossom Opry and then the Country Music cruise.
AM: Have you done one of those before?
BB: Two years ago, I did the same cruise with Kenny Roger and Alabama but I don’t know who’s on this one with me. So yeah, I’ve done it but I don’t like cruises, but they pay so much money you have to do it. I don’t ever leave my room except to do the shows and the signings. I don’t even get off the ship. I’m the world’s worst tourist. (Laughter)
AM: I bet you’ve already been around the world!
BB: I’ve seen it all. I’ve been there.
AM: You’ve been to Europe countless times.
BB: I’ve performed in every town in Germany. Me, Jim Reeves, Chet Atkins and the Anita Kerr Singers were the very first Country music tour of Germany in the Springtime of 1964. We played every big venue and they were all sold out instantly because they had never seen a Country music show before and we gave them a good one.
AM: The Europeans really love traditional Country music, don’t they?
BB: They love traditional Country music. It’s a passion. Many of them resent the kind of Country music that is happening now. The Europeans can be funny. If you bill it as a Country music show it better be that, or if you bill it as a Blues or Rock n’ Roll, whatever, it’s go to be that.
AM: Who else is big in Europe?
BB: Alan Jackson is big over there.
AM: Do you feel like a legend in Country music?
BB: Yeah, sure…it’s all I know. Everybody’s gone now. I go hang out with Tom T. Hall now and then. He’s still alive.
AM: You introduced Waylon Jennings to RCA didn’t you?
BB: Yeah, I got him his record deal with them.
AM: Wow that is so cool!
BB: He stayed at my house when he cut his first sessions. He eventually moved back to Nashville. We were close, up until he died. That was a sad, sad time.
AM: Do you ever see Jessi Colter?
BB: I see Jessi at all the gatherings. I run into Shooter every now and then. Shooter and my son are friends.
AM: I’ve always loved the duet with Rosanne Cash, ‘No Memories Hanging Round.’
BB: Yeah, wasn’t that a good one?
AM: It’s great.
BB: That was on her first record. Her second record was ‘Seven Year Ache’ and that one was huge. Rosanne and I are still close.
AM: She seems like such a solid good person.
BB: She really is.
AM: She seems different than many Country music artists today.
BB: She’s totally different. She’s the real deal. She’s not something the record companies created. She’ll be around a long time.
AM: And you sir, have done things your way throughout your entire career, haven’t you?
BB: Yep! I never played any of the games. I was very fortunate to start my string of hits with Chet Atkins. Chet was unbelievable. We became close friends through the years. I’ve been very fortunate through my whole career to be tied in with people that were good people that let me do my own thing. Chet allowed me to produce my own records.
AM: Is there anything left to do for you?
BB: I can’t think of anything I haven’t done. I had a dream when I was a teenager. I loved Country music and I had many opportunities to go in other directions, but I didn’t. When I was cutting my first hits I was living in LA. My managers were pointing me towards doing a TV series and movies.
AM: You could easily be an actor.
BB: I did a job for Warner Brothers. They had already singed me up to do the lead in a TV series and then I did a movie to get a little experience, but in the mean time I fell in love and wanted to get married and start a family and I didn’t want to raise my children in LA, so I pulled out of all the acting jobs. That wasn’t what I do. I put it all behind me when I quit. I am a singer. I went back to Nashville, joined the Grand Ole Opry, got married and had kids.
AM: And you lived your life.
BB: I lived my life as a Country Music Singer.
To learn more about Bobby Bare visit his web site https://www.bobbybare.com/