Bobby
Lee & The Edsels
Seattle,
Washington
1989
- 1993
1996
- 2000
Members
Dave
Chapman ~ Guitar, Vocals
George
Clark ~ Drums, Vocals
Scott
Drexler ~ Guitar, Vocals
Frank
Feetham ~ Drums, Vocals
Robin
Feetham ~ Bass, Vocals
Marty
Gray ~ Guitar, Vocals
Scott
Hamilton ~ Drums
Clint
Hooper ~ Drums
Tom
Lund ~ Drums, Vocals
Tim
Malloy ~ Drums
Bobby
Lee McMurray ~ Grand Piano, Keys, Timbales, Vocals
John
Neighbors ~ Drums
Mel
Oliphant ~ Keyboards, Vocals
Ray
"Raybo" Omstead ~ Drums, Vocals
David
Payne ~ Bass, Vocals
Gary
Perez ~ Guitar, Vocals
Gina
Perez ~ Keyboards, Vocals
Jamie
Pullar ~ Guitar, Vocals
Steve
Trembley ~ Guitar, Vocals
Don
Van Etten ~ Drums, Vocals
Darrell
"Rabbit" Warren ~ Bass, Vocals
Bobby Lee
McMurray
came to the Great Pacific Northwest from Las Vegas and Los Angeles
where
he obtained a degree in music from the University of Southern
California.
Bobby was a well-respected piano bar musician and played the Nevada
circuit.
In 1989 he moved north and purchased the old "Idle Hour" tavern on the
outskirts of Burlington, Washington on old Highway 99. He
converted
the old tavern into a class restaurant and dancing establishment and
embarked
on forming what would become "Bobby Lee and the Edsels" as the
house
band. Bobby's 50's and 60's theme plus his enormous repertoire of
songs and his ability to attract quality musicians to his venue made
"Bobby
Lee's Bar & Grill" with "Bobby Lee and the Edsels" not only a great
local Skagit Valley dancing venue but also made it a calendar nightspot
attraction on the I-5 corridor for people from Seattle to Vancouver,
B.C.
In 1993, Steve
Trembley
came on board the Edsels and with his blues contributions turned the
Edsels
into "Bobby Lee's Rhythm & Blues Band". This variant of
Bobby's
music machine continued to attract people from all over the region
until
the Burlington club was sold in 1994 and the band moved north to the
Slo-Pitch
Club in Bellingham.
Bobby then
moved
the band to his new club in Everson, Washington, "Bobby Lee's Cozy Inn"
and returned the old name "Bobby Lee and the Edsels" to the band
.
"Bobby Lee and
the
Edsels" continued to play to generous crowds until Bobby's retirement
from
band activity in 2000. Everyone had fun when an occasional local or
national
artist would drop by to jam with the band.
Bobby was known
for
his generous attitude towards musicians and jamming. Acceptance
into
his fraternity of musicians was one of the "king of the hill"
mentalities.
If you could hold your own with the band and show confident mastery of
your instrument, no problem. But if you gummed up the gear works, Bobby
could be heard yelling "NEXT!" usually with a big grin. Bobby was
best known for entertaining his fans with expertly performed piano
concertos
during band breaks. He continues to entertain at his piano bar in
Everson
on Saturday and Sunday nights for casual listening enjoyment.
Robin
Feetham, November 2002
In
Memory of
Marty
Gray
Darrell
"Rabbit" Warren
Darrel (Rabbit)
Warren
also was the founding member of the Briar Patch Band that consisted of
Recording artist Charlie Gearhart of Goose Creek Symphony, recording
artist
Wayne Marshell from Nashville, Recording artist Fred Weisz from
Goosecreek
Symphony & Even Dozen Jug Band, Fred Cooper from Nashville and Mark
Warren from the Pacific Northwest Future Pastures Band. They were a
very
well received band that had many area musicians from Seattle to
Bellingham
stop in and play with them from time to time. Each week was something
different.
Rabbit (Darrel)
also
Played with recording artist Charlie Gearheart in the Charlie
Gearheart Band. We all miss Rabbits energy, smiles and creative
juices
very much.
Mark Warren,
July
2009
Darrel "Rabbit"
Warren's
credits are far and wide. He worked with many Nashville greats
such
as Billy Joe Shaver, Hank Thompson, Merle Haggard, and many, many
more.
He also worked with "Over The Edge", and was a founding member of the
Anacortes
based "Watertown Blues Band".
Darrel was a
wellspring
of talent, a great blues bassist, and a riot to work with. We
miss
him very much.
Jamie Pullar,
March 2003
Some of the other
Pacific
Northwest music groups represented in this band include:Calculated
Risk, Hotel Texas, Good
Ole Boys, Thunder Road, Jimmy
Winkler and the Translove Airlines, Blue 55,
Bum's
Rush, and many others NW bands.
