Charlie Souza is a bass player, vocalist, musician, writer and producer. He is best known for playing bass in

Mudcrutch Mudcrutch was an American southern and country rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They are best known for being the band that began Tom Petty's rise to fame. Mudcrutch formed in Gainesville in 1970 and soon became a popular act across Florid ...

. He is married to Barbara Benischek Souza.

Career

Souza toured with

The New Rascals The New Rascals are an American musical group featuring Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish from the original band The Rascals, with Bill Pascali of Vanilla Fudge 2001 and Charlie Souza formerly with Mudcrutch and ...

, featuring

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

inductees

Dino Danelli Dino Danelli (July 23, 1944 – December 15, 2022) was an American drummer. Danelli was best known as an original member and the drummer in the rock group The Young Rascals. He has been called "one of the great unappreciated rock drummers in his ...

and

Gene Cornish Gene Cornish (born May 14, 1944) is a Canadian-American guitarist and harmonica player. He is an original member of the popular 1960s blue-eyed soul band The Young Rascals. From 1965 to 1970, the band recorded eight albums and had thirteen si ...

The Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, with Bill Pascali (formerly with the

Vanilla Fudge 2001 Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist a ...

) from 2006 to 2011. In 2008, the group performed on a live video recording, ''New Rascals Reloaded'' with

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young Ra ...

, and on a digital audio recording titled ''New Rascals LEGENDS'' covering songs of the

Young Rascals Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

(also known simply as

the Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

), such as

Groovin' "Groovin" is a single released in 1967 by American rock band the Young Rascals that became a number-one hit and one of the group's signature songs. It has been covered by many artists, including the Young Rascals themselves in other languages. ...

and

Good Lovin' "Good Lovin is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a #1 hit single for the Young Rascals in 1966. Original version The song was first recorded by Lemme B. Good (stage name of singer Limmie Snell) in March 1965 and written ...

. He also toured, collaborated and recorded with musicians including

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...

;

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

;

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. H ...

of Chicago;

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre H ...

;

Mike Pinera Mike Pinera (born September 29, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who started professionally in the late 1960s with the group Blues Image, which had a number 4 hit in 1970 with their song " Ride Captain Ride". After t ...

, Malcolm Jones and Joe Lala of Blues Image; The New Cactus Band

Cactus (American band) Cactus is an American hard rock band formed in 1969, and currently comprising Jimmy Kunes as lead singer, guitarist Paul Warren, drummer Carmine Appice, bassist Jimmy Caputo and Randy Pratt on harmonica. History Original line-up (1969–1 ...

;

White Witch (band) White Witch was an American hard rock band from Tampa, Florida, United States, that made two albums for Capricorn Records in the early 1970s. Their name was a paean to "white magic", contrary to the "black magic" of groups like Black Sabbath. As ...

; Gale Force with producer

Wayne Henderson (musician) Wayne Maurice Henderson (September 24, 1939 – April 5, 2014) was an American soul jazz and hard bop trombonist and record producer. In 1961, he co-founded the soul jazz/hard bop group The Jazz Crusaders. Henderson left the group (who by then ha ...

of The Jazz Crusaders; Native American actor

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Floyd Westerman, also known as ''Kanghi Duta'' ("Red Crow" in Dakota) (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), was a Dakota Sioux musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life ...

; Santana keyboardist Leon Patillo; The Darrell Mansfield Christian Band; comedian

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wai ...

, and

The Tropics (band) In 1964 in Tampa, Florida, the band, The Tropics, emerged by Buddy Pendergrass along with Wayne Guida, Ronnie Ferer, and Spencer Hinkle. Not long after, the Tropics began to perform all over Florida and the Southeastern US where they toured alo ...

, a '60s pop group from Tampa, Florida, winning first place at the International Battle of the Bands in Chicago in 1966, which led to a Columbia Records recording played on Dick Clark's ''American Bandstand''. Souza's music has been released on Columbia,

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 ...

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

Laurie Records Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), T ...

. ''Fortress on Atlantic Records'' was an '80s melodic metal group with a release on

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists, including Paul Butterfield, Cactus, Herbie ...

in 2008, Fortress "Hands in the Till". Souza recorded his solo albums ''Live Your Dream'' and ''9 Ball in the Corner Pocket'', together with former Robin Trower drummer

Bill Lordan Bill Lordan (born May 22, 1947 in Minneapolis, MN), is an American rock music drummer who has been in a number of bands, such as The Mystics, Gypsy, Robin Trower Band and Sly & The Family Stone. He began playing in sixth grade when his teacher o ...

, and Tropics guitarist Eric Turner of Fortress. These two CDs were recorded in Anaheim and Hollywood, California. Souza's song ''Carry Me Back to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

'' off the ''Livin' in Paradise'' CD, recorded by his band ''The New Tropics'' in Tampa Bay area studios, was voted the winner of the official city song contest.

Bibliography

* ''Live Your Dream'' A Music Autobiography. Janson Media Group, 2011. Tales of The Tropics, Tom Petty's Mudcrutch, New Rascals, Gregg Allman, Cactus, many Rock 'n' Roll friends! A story of real musical roots! The Life and times of Charlie Souza http://charliesouza.com * "Florida's Famous and Forgotten" by Kurt "King of the Oldies" Curtis. Softcover, (2) Book Set 1024 pages. The Tropics chapter, pages 828 - 842. * "Tampa Bay Music Roots" Charlie Souza, Author ( 100 years of Music History in the Tampa Bay Area) Arcadia Publishing, The History Press

References

www.charliesouza.com

External links

Interview with Charlie Souza
at Alt Guitar Bass
For Bass Players Only: Interview

Music Dish: Interview

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110903073132/http://psychedeliccentral.com/60sbandsartist/newrascals.html Psychedelic Central: New Rascals review* https://web.archive.org/web/20120322211323/http://www.worldsoundproductions.com/artists/charlie_souza/web_pages/charlie_home.html * http://charliesouza.com * http://voices.yahoo.com/sixties-hit-makers-young-rascals-carry-as-new-352762.html?cat=33 * http://LiveYourDreamBook.com * http://TampaBayMusicRoots.com * http://TampaBayMusicHall.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Charlie 1948 births Living people Musicians from Tampa, Florida Writers from Tampa, Florida Mudcrutch members Guitarists from Florida American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians