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File:BobbyAndTheMidnightsStarryNightPoster.jpg

Poster for the Bobby and the Midnites concert at the Starry Night in Portland, Oregon, August 8, 1984.

This article is about the band. For the album, see Bobby & The Midnites.

Bobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. The band was Weir's main side project during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work in the recording studio. With a rhythm section that included jazz veterans Billy Cobham and, for a time, Alphonso Johnson, Bobby and the Midnites played rock music that was influenced by jazz-rock fusion.

History of the Band

In 1978, Bob Weir had led a side project called the Bob Weir Band that played a number of concerts. Besides Weir himself, two members of the Bob Weir Band were in the initial lineup of Bobby and the Midnites. One was guitarist and singer Bobby Cochran, formerly of Steppenwolf. The other was keyboardist and singer Brent Mydland, who in the interim had joined the Grateful Dead. Matthew Kelly was another "Midnite" who had already played in a band with Weir — Kingfish, which Kelly and Dave Torbert had founded in 1973, and which Weir had played in full time from 1974 to 1976. Kelly played guitar, harmonica, and congas. Tim Bogert, who had previously been in the Vanilla Fudge and Beck, Bogert & Appice, was recruited to play bass guitar. The Midnites' drummer was Billy Cobham, a highly regarded jazz and fusion musician who had played with Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, among others.

Bobby and the Midnites played fifteen live dates from mid-1980 to early 1981. Then Alphonso Johnson replaced Bogert on bass. Johnson had been in Weather Report, then had played in Billy Cobham's band. This slightly revised configuration of Bobby and the Midnites recorded the band's self-titled first album.

The group did not play live again until the following year. Brent Mydland and Matthew Kelly had left the lineup, and Dave Garland had joined. Garland sang and played keyboards and saxophone.

Discography

• Bobby & The Midnites (1981)
• Where the Beat Meets the Street (1984)

Personnel

Following are the lineups for Bobby and the Midnites' live performances.

June 30, 1980 – January 31, 1981	Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Bobby Cochran - guitar, vocals Matthew Kelly - guitar, harmonica, congas Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals Tim Bogert - bass Billy Cobham - drums
January 12, 1982 – March 10, 1983	Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Bobby Cochran - guitar, vocals Dave Garland - keyboards, tenor saxophone, vocals Alphonso Johnson - bass Billy Cobham - drums
March 22, 1983 – September 30, 1984	Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Bobby Cochran - guitar, vocals Dave Garland - keyboards, tenor saxophone, vocals Ken Gradney - bass Billy Cobham - drums

References

• Bobby and the Midnites on All Music Guide
• Bobby and the Midnites on DeadDisc.com
• Rolling Stone biography of the Grateful Dead
• Selvin, Joel. "Dead Man Talking", San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2004
• Scott, John W; Dolgushkin, Mike; Nixon, Stu. DeadBase XI: The Complete Guide to Grateful Dead Song Lists, 1999, DeadBase, ISBN 1-877657-22-0, pp. 476 – 481.