History The Bold

Hailing from Springfield, Pioneer Valley in Western Massachussetts, The Bold trace their beginnings back to the mid-1960s when band members met while attending the University of Massachussetts in Amherst. As The Esquires, the group recorded a single in 1965 on Salem SR-003 (Shake A Tail Feather / Down The Track). As The Bold, the group recorded and released a 1966 single, Cameo 430[/blue] (Gotta Get Some( A track that has featured on Pebbles,Garage Beat '66 and more comps)/ Robin Hood.

That was followed by a 1967 single released under the name of Steve Walker & The Bold, Dynovoice 232[/blue] Train Kept A Rollin' / Found What I Was Looking For.

They were the house band at the Playboy Club in NYC in 1968 where they played 7 nights a week (and jam sessions on Sunday afternoon to boot!) for a full year. It is during this time that guitarist Bob La Palm is said to have met and taught Joe Walsh (then of The James Gang) his techniques for using the echoplex effect on guitar (as is so elegantly exemplified on track "Free Fugue", from the ABC album). It's also around this time that as the band was moving with the times to a more psychedelic style, they dropped the "the" from their "the Bold" billing. It is interesting to also note, perhaps uncoincidentally, that producer Bill Szymczyk (who later went on to produce Joe Walsh's other band, The Eagles) took an interest in Bold during this time period and went on to produce their only full length LP, self-titled "Bold", on ABC records, (ABCS-705)

After Bold broke up, Bob La Palm then joined Connecticut's premier band, The Wildweeds (featuring Al Anderson of NRBQ fame) for a short time towards the end of that band's career, and he is known to have played on at least one recording session with them, as well as numerous gigs.

Then Bob La Palm and Timothy Griffin, went on to found a band called Clean Living with Norman Schell.

Tim Griffin also played drums in James Taylor's road band very briefly. Steve Walker moved to Lake Tahoe where he played bass in a band called Amazing Grace after which he formed the Steve Walker Band and has played on the Tahoe Queen for last 26 years or so.

Creative Commons By-SA License