Bobby Sheehan (1968-1990)
Bobby Sheehan (1968-1990)
Robert Vaughan Sheehan was born on June 12th, 1968 in Summit, New Jersey. Bobby was a musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and bassist of the band Blues Traveler; which he co-founded in 1987. He attended the Berklee College of Music.
Accomplishments:
Blues Traveler released their self-titled debut album in 1990, with the song "But Anyway" getting airplay on college radio stations. The album included Joan Osborne on backing vocals on two tracks.
A second album, Travelers and Thieves, followed in 1991. Upon Bill Graham's death that year, they released a live EP, On Tour Forever, as a tribute to Graham, which featured guitarist Carlos Santana. The group was becoming well known in the new wave of jam bands that was developing in the early 1990s.
Around this time, the mainstream national audience was exposed to Blues Traveler by television host David Letterman, who has introduced them as "[his] favorite band". The band has since made more appearances on The Late Show than any musical artist. Letterman's band leader Paul Shaffer has played on a number of Blues Traveler recordings.
In 1992, the group founded the H.O.R.D.E. festival as an alternative to others such as Lollapalooza, along with other bands such as Phish and Spin Doctors. Blues Traveler began recording their third album, Save His Soul. Recording was temporarily interrupted by John Popper's motorcycle accident, although the band resumed touring shortly thereafter with Popper in a wheelchair. Two singles were released from the album, "Defense & Desire" and "Conquer Me", which reached No. 34 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The band's fourth album, titled four, was produced by the team of Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson and released in late 1994. The upbeat pop single "Run-Around" became the group's first chart hit followed by the catchy "Hook". "Run-Around" won a Grammy Award and broke a record for most weeks on the chart.
Blues Traveler appeared at Woodstock '94 and later became an opening act for The Rolling Stones. The band played on the 1995 season premiere of Saturday Night Live as a last-minute replacement for Prince. They were featured in an episode of the sitcom Roseanne, and later recorded the show's theme song for its final season. The 1996 comedy film Kingpin featured the group playing their song "But Anyway" during the closing credits.
The group recorded the Johnny Rivers song "Secret Agent Man" for the film Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls at Icon Recording Studios in St. Louis, Missouri and the Bob Seger song "Get Out of Denver" for the film Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, as well as Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin'" for Rebel Highway: Cool and the Crazy. Several previously recorded Blues Traveler songs were included on film soundtracks, including The Last Seduction, Speed, Very Bad Things, White Man's Burden, and The Truth About Cats & Dogs. The band also appeared in the film Blues Brothers 2000 and on its soundtrack, playing "Maybe I'm Wrong", an original composition with a classic blues-rock sound. Blues Traveler recorded the Sly & the Family Stone song "I Want to Take You Higher" for the NORML compilation album Hempilation and the John Lennon song "Imagine" for the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero. The original song "Christmas" was included on the benefit album A Very Special Christmas 3.
The double live album, Live from the Fall, was released in 1996. It featured recordings from the band's autumn 1995 concerts and showcased the strength of the band's live performances.
The next studio album, Straight On till Morning, also produced by Barbiero/Thompson, was released in 1997. It achieved platinum status, reaching number 11 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, but did not perform as well as four. The single "Carolina Blues" peaked at number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.
By the end of 1998, the band had prepared a concept album called The Sun, The Storm and The Traveler, based on Aesop's fable of The North Wind and the Sun, and they planned to record it after a recess in the fall of 1999. That summer, John Popper had emergency heart surgery due to artery blockage, forcing the band to cancel their annual July 4th Red Rocks shows at the last minute.
Charities and Causes:
Abuse, At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, Disaster Relief, Family/Parent Support, Grief Support, Homelessness, Senior Citizen Support
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