Bobby Lee

Shoshanah Marohn · From: Wisconsin, USA

This is b0b's daughter, Shoshanah. I'm writing about my dad's life. Please feel free to share your memories here, too, or at the memorial page we created. https://www.forevermissed.com/bobbylee/about

I first met Bobby Lee on the day I was born. I have no memory of the event, but I believe we were both equally delighted to meet each other. I was born in the same hospital he was, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

He was born Robert Paul Lee on August 4, 1949, when his mom, Ruth Lee, was still a teen, and his dad, Paul Lee, had just come back from fighting in the South Pacific a few years before. Bob was the oldest of six kids, all of them musical and creative in many ways. Bob formed a band with his brother, Dennis, in high school, but they had a hard time getting gigs. His sister, Virginia, had a manager and a slew of gigs lined up, and Bob and Dennis were a little bit jealous.

Bob was a poet, too, and felt somewhat out of place in the hills of Western Pennsylvania. He told me a few weeks ago, "It was no place for a sensitive boy who wrote poetry." He also hated the winters. 1967 was the Summer of Love and the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Bob felt drawn away. One day in fall, he left a note for his mom and hitch-hiked across the country, to San Francisco. And he never really went back home for very long, after that.

He loved California. He loved the music scene. He saw lots of bands in small venues before they were really big names. He had a brief marriage to my mother, Frances Blankenship, and I was born. And then they got divorced when I was two.

He started playing a lap steel somewhere around 1970. There are tapes of him when he first got it, just making weird noises with the bar going up and down strings. Once he taught himself to play, he moved on to pedals, and he played a regular gig at the one country bar in San Francisco at the time, the Castle Club. The Castle Club is where he met the love of his life, Jean Kay.

They were immediately smitten with one another. They got married in 1978, and not only did he get Jean, but a ready-made family of three more daughters: Lori, Kelly, and Kat. Bob would spend the rest of his home life surrounded by women, which he relished, I think. Or at lest, he made us feel like he enjoyed it, like we were the best. (He hated sexism in any form. He was always calling people out for being sexist, all his life- even the hospice nurse, a few weeks ago!)

In 1979, he moved the family up to Petaluma, California. Bob worked at the Mesa Boogie amp factory in Petaluma. He was in several bands. At some point in the early 1980's, the first incarnation of the Steel Guitar Forum came to be: he had a paper newsletter for musicians. I think it was quarterly. We stuffed envelopes and mailed them out.

Bob got an Atari 400 and started copying programs out of the backs of magazines, and after making more and more of his own programs, he got a job at a software company, Lumena. This was the beginning of what you might call his "day job," writing computer software. And writing programs by day made him better at creating a bulletin board system by night. The next iteration of the Forum was a BBS, an on line Bulletin Board System. And he was still gigging regularly, practicing eight hours on Sundays, and raising four daughters.

Bob really enjoyed making connections with people through music. The more the internet grew, the more opportunity he saw to connect everyone in the world who played steel guitar. He had a vision. And he just kept doing it, he kept making it grow, and grow, and here you are! The home page says that this iteration of the Forum has been going since 1997.

He believed that, if you made people pay a small amount of money, and everyone had to use their real names, people would be basically nice to one another. And he was right.

Some facts about b0b, in no particular order:

* He added the last name "Quasar," because, "I go to the convention and say my name is 'Bobby Lee' and the Southern guys say, 'Bobby Lee what?' so I added 'Quasar,' because it's a kind of a stellar object, and I would like to think of myself that way. As a stellar object. And then I can give them another name when they ask at the convention."

* He often said that music was his religion.

* He could make a pun or joke about anything at all. He could have a conversation of indefinite length that was nothing but jokes. Dad jokes.

* He said he was, "not very good at steel guitar," but he could hear a song once and play it back on the steel. He had an unbelievable memory for music.

* He is in the European Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. He never in his life left the United States. We all know why he's big in Europe, but it's still funny, isn't it?

* He once fired the Judds. He thought that "it wasn't okay to make little girls sing at a bar." So, he told the bar manager, "It's them or me," and the bar fired the Judds.

* He was homeless on and off when he first got to San Francisco. He squatted in a building slated for demolition. He sold newspapers enough to eat. He had one pair of pants, then, made from an American flag.

* He survived pancreatic cancer nine years ago.

* At his "day job," he headed the programming team that created the Printshop- the program everyone used in the '90's to make written documents.

* He liked to walk places.

* He couldn't get lost in San Francisco.

* His favorite musician of all time was Paul McCartney.

* He played steel guitar, guitar, bass guitar, marimba, and drums.

* It was difficult to take guitar lessons from him, because he would launch into a deep explanation of musical theory, and soon be over everyone's head.

* He told me once that he truly learned the theory behind music by being in the front row at a Grateful Dead show, and watching Jerry Garcia's hands go up and down the frets. He said, "Suddenly, it just all clicked. I knew the chords before, but it was like, after that, I knew why the chords were there and how they were all interconnected."

* He truly liked all kinds of music. He was just delighted when he heard a new piece of music he hadn't heard before that was different or interesting in some way.

* He was generous to a fault, almost. I've seen him give forty dollars to someone who asked for spare change. I'm writing this at the desk in his office, and I see a note here, to transfer "Shanah" money. That's me. The week before he died, I wanted to give him money, and he wanted to give me money. We ended up calling the whole thing off, so to speak.

* Bob died Tuesday, March 7, at around 10:30 AM. He was at home, listening to the Beatles, "All You Need Is Love." He took his last breath on the word, "love."

Bob said, before he died, that he didn't create the Forum, that you all created the Forum. The Forum isn't him, it's you. And all of you make his memory live on. And in that way, he is immortal.

He said it's just like the Beatles lyric:

"And in the end,
the love you take
is equal to the love
you make."

And he said he felt so much love.

Chuck Wilson · From: Colorado, USA

Thank you Shoshanah for your heartfelt and wonderful words and tales of your Dad.

Many of us have been around this forum for 20 years or so and have so appreciated bOb and how this forum was created and curated with a true love of music and community.

Your final lines ring so true and represent so well why I have so much respect for this forum and it's creator.

"And in the end,
the love you take
is equal to the love
you make!"

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Thank you, Shoshanah. That could not be sweeter.

Jim Fogle · From: North Carolina, Winston-Salem, USA

Elegant, sincere and heart warming. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories.
_________________
Remembering Harold Fogle (1945-1999) Pedal Steel Player
Dell laptop Win 10, i3, 8GB, 480GB
2024 BiaB UltraPlus PAK
Cakewalk by Bandlab software & Zoom MRS-8 hardware DAWs
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Andy DePaule · From: Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon

Bob At The Castle Club... With Johnny Johnson & Danny Rose.
This was after we'd met in 1978...
Sometimes I'd sit in on bass with them. Crying or Very sad

Great man. May he rest in peace with the lord,
Andy

_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I met b0b in the 70's while a member of Steel Guitar West, our steel guitar club in the Bay Area. I would run into him at steel guitar functions that Tom Bradshaw would put on. We would always tell each other how much we admired each other's playing. In the 90's when I started hosting steel jams in the warehouse where I worked, he was my biggest supporter.

His passing has affected me deeply. It's like I lost one of my own family. Many tears. Not being able to eat. He is one of my most cherished friends.

We, as a very close community, owe a great deal of gratitude to b0b and this forum for bringing players from all over the world together. We always hear how our instrument would not be where it is today without the greats like Emmons, Day, Green, and all the others the blazed the trail We all eventually followed, but how about the "behind the scenes" greats like b0b. He is at the top of that list in my mind.

Thanks and blessings to his family for supporting his love of the steel guitar and the forum.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Daniel Dickie · From: Queensland, Australia

Thank you Shoshana for sharing your memories of your Dad with us on the forum.
He was a very special man.

Raybob Bowman · From: S. Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

Thank you Shoshana. I 1st met Bob at the Castle Club on Geary in tenderloin in '76. I moved to SF as bass player in '785. Later met guitarist singer Bill Anderson. Naomi Eisenberg, from Dan Hicks Hot Licks, started "Naomi Vice" with Bill A. on bass and Bobby Lee was playing steel. Bill would take me to see Bobby playing with Tenessee on guitar at the Castle Club.
In '77,

I got my 1st pedal steel and Bob would help explain by rotary phone how to figure out what I was learning by Winnie Winston's book. I remember him starting the "Pedal Steel Pages" monthly newsletter. He had gig in La Honda on Sundays but got me to play that gig (too far for him) on steel, one of my 1st steel gigs. harry Moore and Landing party used me or Scotty Appleton or Gary Chiappetta. Bass player on that gig, Pete Charles, was in Cowpokes Suzie McKee vocals, Bobby Lee steel and Pete bass, Glenn on drums. They hired me as 2nd steel/lead guitar on bigger gigs including gig at Rancho Nicasio backing up the Judds in '78.

Bobby was so great to work with. We would play couple of instrumentals with twin steels like Steel Guitar Rag, Boot Heel Drag, etc. So blessed to have known Bobby Lee.
_________________
Sierra U12 4+5 / 1933 Dobro / homemade Tele B-bender

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

I am so saddened to here of b0b's passing. We emailed each other a number of times over the years. I always appreciated his efforts and positive attitude creating the SGF community. RIP.....
_________________
I survived the sixties!

Clark Doughty · From: KANSAS

MOST OF WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE STEEL GUITAR CAME FROM THIS FORUM. THANK YOU BOBBY AND TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE HELPED ME ALONG THIS JOURNEY. RIP BOBBY

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Shoshanah,
That was very nice. Very Happy

Erv

Ashley D\'Silva · From: Perth , Australia

Never met the MAN!!
But I sure as hell knew him.
He was always behind the words, praises, comfort, threats, advice, music, writings, poetry, tabs, songs, literally everything on this website.
I first got particularly involved in the Pedal Steel when I "accidently" connected to this website. That sure made me interested, even more, in this beautiful, and damn near difficult instrument but, without Bob's compassionate, fair and firm control I am sure this site would never have grown to be the "Bible for PSG", particularly for us NEWBE's and amateurs, that it has become.
Bob, my "FRIEND", may God Bless and comfort you, as you have done for so many, and may your life in the Heavens be as glorious and loving as I am sure you have earned on this earth.
Thanks you so much!!
Ashley

Larry Rafferty · From: Ballston Spa, NY

Bob,

You helped me so much over the past 12 years about tuning, chords, and playing the steel guitar that
I could never have learned without your help.

RIP my friend.
_________________
Mullen D-10 8x5; Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 8x6; PedalMaster 5 Star SD-10 3x5; Dekley D-10 8x4;
Sho-Bud S-10 3x1; Fender Lap/Floor Steel; Peavey Power Slide; Supro Lap Steel; Peavey Nashville 400;
pair of Peavey Vegas 400's; Peavey NV112; Webb 614E with matching extension cabinet; Fender Twin Reverb and 3 cats.

They laughed when I sat down to play, cause' somebody pulled my chair away...

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

What a beautiful heartfelt tribute to your Dad. bOb touched many lives and made it possible to forge thousands of friendships through the forum. His wisdom was surpassed only by his kindness and passion for connecting people throughout the world who share common interests.

To say he will be missed by all of us is an understatement. But his memory will live on through all of us who held great respect for him. We all wish peace and healing for your family.

Wiz Feinberg · From: Mid-Michigan, USA

Shoshanah;
That was a most excellent recap of a life I've ever read. You made him understandable to us in a way we musicians can relate to. You and your family have lots of friends here.

I send my condolences and wish you and the family all the best going forward.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog

Ron Hogan · From: Nashville, TN, usa

What a wonderful read.

He has helped us all.

Ross Shafer · From: Petaluma, California

Wonderful tribute to your Dad, Shoshanah. I will miss him so much...he was truly a guiding light for me! RIP Bobby!

Jim Shultz · From: Seneca,South Carolina, USA

What a great tribute. As a "newbie" I found the forum to be a great source of inspiration and assistance.

I was saddened to see this news.

Though I never met him, his legacy of the forum (and his love of family) will be a lasting tribute to him.

RIP, my friend.
_________________
working on being retired...
So far, so good.
Telecaster, 12 String and now a Taylor, too!
Flynn SD10 now with Nashville 400

Bob Shilling · From: Berkeley, CA, USA

Shoshana, that is a great write up. Thanks for sharing it with us. I only met your Dad a few times, but I always think of him as friendly and cheerful - and with a great sense of humor. Best wishes to you and the family.
_________________
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10, "Classic"

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

A loving tribute to a father and the father of the Steel Guitar Forum.

RIP

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Thank you, Shoshana.

I felt like I knew your dad, but we had never met. We exchanged dozens of emails last Summer about setups, tunings and related issues. He also touched on his impending medical problems and was sometimes in a very somber and reflective mood.

But your post has taught me more about b0b than than I'd learned in almost twenty-five years of Forum membership!

Certainly, we'd disagreed at times but always respectfully. The void left by his passing is felt here thousands of miles away in FL: I can only imagine the impact it's had on his family.

With deepest sympathy and heartfelt gratitude for your dad's vision in creating this digital home-from-home for all of us steel players, please accept my best wishes.
_________________
Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Drew Howard · From: 48854

b0b grew the community and industry with SGF like few others have. Kind, decent, honest. Rest in Peace!

Rose Sinclair · From: Austin, TX, USA

Beautiful words, Shoshanah.

Bob Watson · From: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

Shoshanah, thank you for sharing that wonderful tribute to your Dad with us. His deep love for the steel guitar was inspirational. My condolences go out to you and your family.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

A loving tribute to a father whose level of greatness is beyond measure. A large portion of my life was spent reading the entire postings of steel players around the world on this forum. Bob's vision and development of the forum has been a breath of fresh air and a beacon of light to me and so many developing musicians of all ages. God bless Bobby Lee and his family and friends for giving us a wonderful opportunity to share information and experience with our community.

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