Bob and I go back to ’78, when I was a young, skinny staff engineer at the Capitol Records Studio in the Hollywood tower. I was there when the Eagles sang “Who wants to go to Fire Lake?” and many other great moments during the “Stranger In Town” album. I was blown away by this guy’s intensity and drive as an artist, singing take after take live with his band as they learned the songs, pouring his heart into each take.
I’ve been involved with most of his albums since then in some capacity, including Co-Producing the “Like A Rock” album. Years later, I would chop up the title track to make numerous versions for one of the longest-running ad campaigns in history, which sold a lot of Chevy trucks and kept a few factories open.
Bob was gracious enough to thank me from the podium when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, apologizing to my wife for trapping me in the studio all that time!