June 1 is the birthday of Bob Walkenhorst, singer, songwriter, painter, friend, husband, dad and granddad, and this year he turns 70. His work with the Rainmakers meant so much to so many people, and his 15-plus years of Wednesday night gigs with Jeff Porter and Norm Dahlor helped create a musical community that lives on. An album with his daughter, Una, was a highlight of 2018, and Bob continues to write a song a month for his Patreon fans and to play live at least a couple of times a month at the Westsider. So, happy birthday, Bob, and many more! This was written 10 years ago, for his 60th, and tweaked for today.
Emptied the junk drawer
Unpacked the memory banks
Bob-O’s 7-O
That calls for epic
And the longer the better
Yeah, that’s what she said
Smalltown Missouri,
Norborne, a dot on the map,
Framed Bob’s early life
Mable and Ray gave
Him love, lots of work to do,
Things to write about
They flipped newspapers
And burgers, too — anything
To help earn a buck
The carpenter’s son
Took their advice and found those
Better things to come
College, the Ozarks,
A crazy electric band,
Stumpwater by name
And then the big move
To the brightest lights around
Kansas City town
Steve, Bob & Dave burst
Out of the chute, played oldies
With intensity
They burned things up fast
From priests-and-strippers parties
To Uptown and down
Some originals
Worked their way into the mix
“Kissin’ Time,” “Christine”
That first trio split
Regrouped as Steve, Bob & Rich
Roots rockers unbound
KC, Wichita,
Springfield, Fayetteville, St. Lou,
Lawrence, Manhattan
The depths of Blayney’s
To Parody’s fire-trap heights
The boys played them all
Wore their pants backwards
Played toy-raygun “synth” solos
Whatever it took
“Baba O’Riley,”
“… Coming to Take Me Away,”
They’d try anything
Too fun, too funny
Who knew what to make of them?
So we danced and danced
Then built their own sets
Of rockin’ originals,
Showed us they had “Balls”
Pat joined in on drums
Band filled out its sound, ready
To take the next step
Renamed Rainmakers
Mercury/Polygram signed
Big-time record cut
Local fans rejoiced
Newsweek, Rolling Stone took note
Robert Christgau, too
New songs and synth sounds
Roared, but “Tornado” didn’t
Take the charts by storm
Good news: next CD
Got back to band’s roots. Bad news:
No label support
Worse news: it detailed
In “Battle of the Roses”
Bob’s breakup story
Then reckoning day:
Time for band to hang it up
Fun had become grind
Eventually
Bob got that itch — naturally
To write, play again
“Another Guitar,”
Others with Gary Charlson
Rang at Buzzard Beach
Orbison high notes
And Everly harmonies
Yes, remarkable
And life turned again
Bob found his Missouri Girl
Waitin’ down those stairs
Una made the scene
And Norway fans still beckoned
Steve, Rich, Pat came back
Band reminded us
Of someone, good times “Flirting
With the Universe”
Bob got serious
Rich split, not quite furious
“Skin” band found its Bliss
More videos, gigs
Though again the Rainmakers
Ran their course, it seemed
But music still played
In his head and heart, in work
At video job
Helped start a project
Wrote a song with Una’s class
Honoring hero
Extraordinary
“Primitivo Garcia”
Still brings us to tears
More songs came, found time
To be recorded, found Jeff
To help play them live
Wednesday night gigs born
Along with “The Beginner”
Proof that Bob was here
Norm joined in on bass
The Westport love affair Buzzzed
for 15-plus years plus
Bob played on with Jeff
And “No Abandon” — they took
Duet to Norway
“Almanac” looked back
As if Rainmakers were through
But “Almanac” lied
Rainmakers re-formed
But didn’t reform — not with
Jeff replacing Steve
25 years on
Band honored its first CD
And made brand new one
Bob mined some memories,
Mature themes about aging
And getting it right
But on stage the guys
Were as crazy as ever
Band of knuckleheads
So Bob rocks, rolls on
Playing, painting, and working
To create, help, love
Album with Una
A 2018 highlight
With song of the year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Mol9O1eTk
Bob still hears the muse,
Turns laughs, tears, a grandson’s smiles
Into magic notes
What is a hero?
One kind grows where he’s planted
Blesses those he knows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze_z2uCgnyw
So take a bow, Bob
Not bad for 70 years
Here’s to decades more