Bob Sworaski..
About me..
I started playing in bands when I was 14 years old, which was a very long time ago. The first band I was in was called the "Blue's Illusion." I had my first "portable" organ. It was a Farfisa Compact Deluxe. It was my pride and joy at the time. Quite a difference from today's keyboards, I started writing original material while I was in that band and that got me hooked. Oh, did I mention that I started on Accordion when I was 8 years old before I moved to the organ. I still have two of my original accordions today.
After high school I left to go to college, but after two years I decided it wasn't for me and I got an offer to play in another band that was starting up. The band's name was "Great Pride". What a great name for a band! I moved up in the world and had some stars in my eyes. I moved up in equipment too. At one time I was carrying a Hammond B-3, 2-147 Leslie's, a Wurlitzer Electric Piano, a Freeman String Synth, and 2 Mini-Moogs along with miscellaneous amps and mixers. I took up half the truck on the road.
Great Pride - A seven-piece band that at one time carried two drummers plus a Latin percussion player and two front men. We lived together in the same house and wrote a lot of original material. We had a single released in 1974 on MGM records called "She's a Lady". It got some airplay mostly in the West and we sold some records but never got an album deal. We have all stayed friends although we don't see each other very much. Unfortunately 2 of the original band member have passed away since. It was a great experience. The band members were me, Gene Leone, Bruce Rudd, Linwood Burns, Farley Pressley, Kenny Stlll, and Donovan Roberts.
After a few years and some great times I had a chance to work in a local studio called Quad Recording and SoundSstage in Pennsauken, NJ. I had an idea for a Rock Opera which was the rage at the time. My good friend and the drummer of Great Pride and I co-produced an album called "Fantasy Suite". Gene was honing his engineerng chops in the studio and we recruited other musicians to work on the project including Linwood Burns who was the bass player in Great Pride. Needless to say it was an exciting learning experience for me.
Magic Dragon - This was a studio project put together by myself and my partner Gene Leone. He was the drummer in Great Pride and a friend since high school and was becoming a talented recording engineer. I wrote a "Rock Opera" of sorts called "Fantasy Suite". It was a sci-fi/fantasy piece that ran about 25-30 minutes. That's back when albums were "vinyl" and it took up side A. It was recorded by 5 of us and the band was called "Magic Dragon". There are still some copies floating around out there and frankly there has been a resurgence of interest lately. The Executive Producer of the album has recently put together a site on MySpace dedicated to the band and to the album "Fantasy Suite". The link is http://www.myspace.com/magicdragonband The band members were me, Gene Leone, Linwood Burns, Saul Fineman and Greg Hill.
Sex Rodeo - What an intereresting name for a band huh? The back story here is that I was out of the business for a long time. I hardly even touched a keyboard during those years. I got a call from a friend of mine and he said a band was looking for a keyboard player. They were working on an album and were in the process of signing a record contract. I was reluctant but he talked me into it and I went and auditioned for the band and got the job. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to get back into the business and I was still a little jaded about the industry in general. The guys in the band were great and I got some spark back. We started rehearsals and I did manage to play on a couple of the tracks on the CD titled "Walk the Razor". In my opinion it was a damn good record. We actually opened up for a couple of national acts and I was signing autographs and everything. For a few month's I had a great time but the record company folded and things didn't go too much further. It was still a great experience and I enjoyed playing live again in front of big crowds. I have recently reconnected with a couple of the guys from the band and we talk about the experience. I am thinking about posting some of the tracks from the record in the future because I would like the world to have access to them. The band members were Freddie Baker, Donnie Baker, John Shively, PM Eaton, Dave Anthony, Lenny Gordon and...me. It was a great time!
