Robert L. Comstock (December 29, 1941 – January 9, 2020)
Retrieved 20 March 2013 was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

and pop singer and musician who had success in the late 1950s and early 1960s both as a solo singer and as a member of Bobby Comstock and the Counts. His biggest hits were a version of "

Tennessee Waltz "Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" � ...

" in 1959, and "Let's Stomp" in 1963.

Biography

Comstock was born in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

, and began singing and playing

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

as a child. At the age of seven, he started appearing regularly with his brother on a local radio station, and then on

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

radio in

Sayre, Pennsylvania Sayre is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the principal city in the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. It lies 18 miles southeast of Elmira, New York, and 30 miles southwest of Bing ...

. In 1958, after hearing rock and roll broadcasts from

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, he formed his own band, Bobby and the Counts. The band had Comstock on guitar and lead vocals, Fred Ciaschi (vocals & piano), Gus Eframson (rhythm guitar), Dale Sherwood (drums), Chuck Ciaschi (bass) and (initially) Bill Lucas (bongos & vocals). The group recorded their first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Too Young"/"Tra-La-La", for Marlee Records in

Trumansburg, New York Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2010 census. The name incorporates a misspelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman. The Tremans spelled their surname several different ...

, and in 1959 were signed to a national deal by Triumph Records, established by

Herb Abramson Herbert C. Abramson (November 16, 1916 – November 9, 1999) was an American record executive, record producer, and co-founder of Atlantic Records. Life and career Abramson was born in 1916 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He studied to be a den ...

after he left

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. The group's moderately rocked-up version of the

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

hit "Tennessee Waltz" was released on the subsidiary Blaze label in late 1959 - with the group now being billed as Bobby Comstock & The Counts - and rose to no.52 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

. As a result of its success, the group appeared on several package shows promoted by

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

, toured nationally with artists such as

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

and

Freddie Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", " Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and " ...

, and appeared on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

''. Their follow-up record, a version of

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

' "

Jambalaya Jambalaya ( , ) is an American Creole and Cajun rice dish of French (especially Provençal cuisine), African, and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice. Ingredients Traditionally, the meat includes sau ...

", released on the Atlantic label, also made the national pop chart, reaching no.90. Bobby Comstock at MusicMinder.com
. Retrieved 20 March 2013 The group, with several changes of personnel over the years, continued to release singles on Abramson's label until 1962, with diminishing success, before signing with

Lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

. Their first record for the label, "Let's Stomp", released as a Bobby Comstock single, reached no.57 on the US pop chart in early 1963. The song was written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and

Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. In 1997, he co-founded the Orchard with longtime business partner Scott Cohen, an independent music distribution company. His career began as ...

, who later recorded as

The Strangeloves The Strangeloves were a band created in 1964 by the New York City, New York-based United States, American songwriter, songwriting and record producer, production team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein (producer), Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Got ...

. It was reputedly performed by

the Beatles in Hamburg The original lineup of the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in ...

, and was certainly performed by

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

and recorded by

Lee Curtis and the All-Stars Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were a beat group from Liverpool. They were contemporaries and briefly local rivals of the Beatles in the early 1960s. Led by Peter Flannery (born 31 October 1939, Norris Green, Liverpool), who used the stage name ...

, a beat group featuring ex-Beatle

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...

. Follow-ups were less successful, although the group broke into the US charts for a final time in 1963 with "Your Boyfriend's Back", an

answer record An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...

to " My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels, a female group recording on the same label. Comstock also played guitar on the Angels' album, along with Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer. He stayed with Lawn Records until 1964, and performed as a support act to

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

that year. He then signed to Ascot Records, who continued to release singles by the group until 1966. Comstock also recorded a solo album, ''Out of Sight'', in 1966. Gary James, ''Bobby Comstock Interview'', undated
Retrieved 20 March 2013 In 1968 Comstock formed a short-lived band, Zebra, which recorded for Phillips Records, and then established another band, Comstock Ltd., which released several singles for

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

between 1969 and 1972. He also established himself as a regular member of

rock and roll revival The rock and roll revival was a back-to-basics musical trend of the late 1960s and early 1970s, in a sort-of backlash against the heavier and psychedelic rock sounds then in vogue. History As the Sixties ended, several early rock and rollers like ...

tours, especially as part of Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars", where he performed with

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing ...

The Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McFadd ...

and many others. Comstock continued to perform on such tours, both with his own band and as a backing musician, until the late 1990s. Comstock's son, Bobby Jr., was an on-air personality and program director at WXHC-FM in Homer, New York from 2004 until 2014. Bobby Comstock died on January 9, 2020, at the age of 78 at his home in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.Mark H Anbinder, "Online concert will remember Bobby Comstock, who died this morning", ''14850.com''
Retrieved 10 January 2020

References

External links

Discography at rcs-discography.com
*
Discography at 45cat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comstock, Bobby 1941 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Ithaca, New York American male pop singers American rock singers