Bob Rafkin
| Bob Rafkin | |
|---|---|
Bob Rafkin (far right) in 2012
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 30, 1944 |
| Died | May 2, 2013 (aged 69) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Bob Rafkin (30 March 1944 – 2 May 2013) was an American singer, songwriter and acoustic guitar player.
Rafkin was born in New York City in 1944. His musical career really took off when he moved to Greenwich Village in the mid-sixties. Here he met David Blue and together they formed The American Patrol. During this period in the Village Rafkin also met Phil Ochs and Eric Andersen and he played on Andersen’s 1966 album More Hits from Tin Can Alley on Vanguard Records and later on Phil Ochs’ legendary album Gunfight at Carnegie Hall.
Rafkin knew Erik Jacobsen - record producer for among others, The Lovin’ Spoonful and Tim Hardin - and in 1967 when Jacobsen moved to San Francisco Rafkin relocated there to work as a producer and session guitarist. In 1968 after breaking with Eric Jacobsen, Rafkin moved again, this time to Los Angeles. In 1972 he played on the David Blue album Stories and worked with producers Lenny Waronker, Henry Lewy and Larry Marks. Rafkin was a session musician for The Everly Brothers and Gene Vincent. In 1971 The Byrds covered Rafkin’s song "Lazy Waters" on the album Farther Along. Around the same time Rafkin worked on NBC TV’s BJ and the Bear. His song "Ain’t Gonna Rain No More" was featured in the 1996 movie Spree.
In 1973 Rafkin played guitar on the Tim Buckley album Sefronia and on Augie Meyers's Western Head Music Company on Polydor Records. By the mid-1970s Rafkin had enough of the pressures of the music industry and set up his own woodworking business. Rafkin moved again in 1991, this time to Florida, and started to release his own albums (see discography). In 1994 he won the Florida Guitar Finger Picking Championship. In both 1997 and 1999 Rafkin opened for Willie Nelson.
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