Bobby Jameson

West Coast folk-rocker Bobby Jameson is best known -- or, perhaps, not known at all -- for Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest, the sought-after cult LP he recorded under the alias Chris Lucey. Born Robert Parker Jameson in Geneva, Illinois, Jameson cut his debut single, "I Wanna Love You," for the Talamo label in early 1964. The record was a regional hit, and even earned him an appearance on American Bandstand. Although the follow-ups "Okey Fanokey Baby" and "All Alone" went nowhere, Jameson nevertheless captured the attention of Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham, and in late 1964 he flew to London to record the Decca single "All I Want Is My Baby," co-written by Oldham and Stones guitarist Keith Richards. (The B-side, "Each and Every Day of the Year," credits authorship to Richards and Mick Jagger.) After a 1965 one-off for the Brit imprint, "I Wanna Know," Jameson returned to Los Angeles, where he befriended producer Marshall Lieb. At this time Lieb was in the midst of helming the debut Surrey Records release by folkie Chris Ducey, but with the album covers already printed and the disc ready to ship, contractual snafus forced the project into limbo. Lieb coerced Jameson into writing and recording a new batch of tunes based on Ducey's existing song titles, and after some creative tinkering with the cover art, Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest -- now credited to Chris Lucey and, for reasons unknown, featuring a photo of Rolling Stone Brian Jones -- finally hit retail. Promoted via what was then the most expensive and lavish Billboard advertising supplement ever printed, the album -- a deeply idiosyncratic psych-folk opus closely resembling the classic early LPs by Arthur Lee and Love -- nevertheless proved a commercial flop; in the U.K., it appeared under Jameson's own name and a different title, Too Many Mornings, but still stiffed. Jameson did not resurface until mid-1966, releasing "Gotta Find My Roogalator" -- arranged by Frank Zappa, and recorded with L.A. session virtuosos including Carol Kaye on bass and Larry Knechtel on piano -- on Pat Boone's Penthouse label. He then signed to Verve, where the Our Productions team of Curt Boettcher, Jim Bell, and Steve Clark helmed his 1967 LP Color Him In. That same year, Jameson also appeared in the infamous American International Pictures documentary Mondo Hollywood, sharing the screen with Zappa, sex goddess Jayne Mansfield, health-food pioneer Gypsy Boots, and Manson crony Bobby Beausoleil. A 1969 album for GRT, Working!, proved Jameson's swan song. During the '70s, his frustrations with the music industry manifested themselves in substance abuse and two suicide attempts. Though he recorded throughout the decade, most of his tracks were unreleased, except for a single he released under the name Robert Parker Jameson. After he left the music business in 1985, he lived so quietly with his mother in San Luis Obispo County, California that many thought he was dead. He didn't resurface until 2003, when he learned that Songs of Protest and Anti-Protest had been reissued unbeknownst to him, and music historian Steve Stanley conducted a private investigation to find him. Four years later, Jameson started a blog and YouTube channel that documented his life and his efforts to be paid for his music, both of which he maintained until his death in 2015 at age 70 from an aneurysm in his descending aorta.
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