Musical Past Keeps Barber Rockin'
Front Page Story
TIMES RECORD
MONDAY, MAY 29, 2006
By John Lyon

Before he retired from the road and settled down to cut hair full time in his hometown of Fort Smith, Bobby Goodwin's career as a rock musician took him to some unusual places, including an Air Force base 200 miles from the North Pole.

His strangest experience on the road, though, may have been the tour of Holiday Inns he did in the 1970's as part of a "clean-out band."

"They hired us to go into these Holiday Inns and run off all the old people that were sitting there drinking chanpagne, and blast them out of that place and bring in a young audience," Goodwin said.

The reason was that young people go out more often and stay out later than older folks, so a younger clientele would bring more money into the hotel lounges. It was the job of Goodwin's band (all former members of the CHONTELS) to drive out the older members of the audience by playing hard rock.

Goodwin chuckled as he recalled the sight of shocked elders rushing for the door as his band launched into its opening number, Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy."

"It was bizarre," he said.

In a recent interview at The HairStyle Shop in Phoenix Village Mall, Goodwin, 61, reflected on his musical past and on his latest project, which he described as "the first-ever literary musical."

The self-published work, "SNAKEWEED," is a book that comes with a companion CD containing songs and comedy skits that the reader is suppost to listen to at certain points while reading the book. The humorous story follows the adventures of a tabloid reporter in the backwoods of Arkansas.

Goodwin wrote the book and recorded the music himself in his home studio, playing all the instruments and singing lead vocals on all the songs. A CD ROM version is also available.

Goodwin says he prefers home-recording to working on the road, which he did for 13 years, starting two weeks before his 21st birthday.

"It takes its toll after awhile," he said.

Over the years, he was in several bands, one of which, BOSCOE, recorded a single in 1972 that became a regional hit in the Midwest but never achieved national exposure. Goodwin wrote and sang lead vocals on the song, Softly," which also appears in "SNAKEWEED."

Goodwin said a major label made an offer for the record, but the band's manager, who had released the single on his own Joplin, Mo. based label, turned the offer down without consulting with the band.

"Needless to say, when it was all over, we did not re-up our contract," Goodwin said.

Later, while Goodwin was under contract to play Holiday Inns, another big break almost happened when he and his bandmates received an offer to do a 32-week tour with Three Dog Night and the Righteous Brothers. They had to turn it down because they were unable to get out of their contract.

"It's almost like that same deal in Joplin, you know?" he said.

Around 1976, Goodwin was living in Modesto, Calif., and writing songs with Dick Holler, who wrote the song "Abraham, Martin and John" and the novelty hit "Snoopy v. the Red Barron," when he decided he wanted out of the business.

"He (Holler) was encouraging me to stay out there and keep writing," Goodwin said. "He had made promises that I would have a nationwide album within six months. At that point, I was burned clear out. I didn't want nothing even to do with music. I said, 'That's it. I'm going back to Arkansas.'"

Goodwin came home and became a radio DJ, a job that allowed him to develop his gift for creating characters and doing impressions. This talent is evident in the songs of "SNAKEWEED," which are sung in several different voices, including a dead-on Bob Dylan impression.

After three years of radio work, Goodwin went back to Modesto, where he joined a band called LIBERTY and ran a succesful nightclub (The Backroom) with his bandmates. By the mid-80's, though, he was ready to do something else.

Goodwin got a license to cut hair and did that for a year in California, then came back to Fort Smith and took the job he holds today.

The concept of "SNAKEWEED" began as an idea to add new lyrics to one of Goodwin's songs, "The Old Stoned Hippie." Goodwin challenged his wife (Karla), son-in-law (Michael Greenfield), and daughter-in-law (Stacy), to write stories about the title character that might inspire new verses.

"All of a sudden, I'm realizing, 'Wow, this is almost like a literary musical - the written story with music.' And I'm thinking, 'Musical. Hmm. Why I couldn't take a whole album of music and write a story around them instead of the other way around, like a regular musical?"

For help with his writing, Goodwin took a creative writing class taught by Anita Paddock at the Miller Branch Library. He and Paddock became friends, and on May 18th, as a favor to Paddock, he gave a public performance (of two songs from SNAKEWEED) at the library - his first in about 11 years.

"I think Bobby is a real character, and he's got a lot of talent in different areas," Paddock said.

Backing vocals on the "SNAKEWEED" (soundtrack) are provided by Goodwin's wife, Karla, and his friend and former bass player, Mark Goembel of Fort Smith.

Goembel said he conciders Goodwin "one of the most talented people I know."

Paddock said Goodwin sometimes calls her using a phony voice, and he fools her every time.

"He is a character and a half," she said.

Goodwin will be signing books - but not performing - at the main library on June 9th from 2-4 p.m. He said he would like to see "SNAKEWEED" picked up by a major publisher, but even if that happens, he will continue to cut hair.

"Dont leave your day job. I learned that years ago," he said, smiling.