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GYPSY TODAY 

Tom Campbell's tribute to Ida Rosenbaum
January 6, 2008
[Word document ]

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Wikipedia page on GYPSY



*******Live Gypsy, 2007: Around You mp3******

Ida Rosenbaum:
May 20 1920-Dec 21 2007

From Tom Campbell:
The Twin Cities musical community has lost an avid music lover, a former singer and dancer, a long time supporter of local bands and the mother of Enrico Rosenbaum. Enrico was considered by many to be one of the best musicians ever from the Twin Cities area. 
Ida Rosenbaum passed away Friday morning, 12-21-2007 at The Sholom House East in St. Paul where she had been a patient for the past 2 years or so.
Ida never tired of going out to see the local bands and she made it a point to be at every Gypsy concert she could make, always wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Enrico on the front. 

A funeral service was held Sunday, 12-23-07, at 2:00 PM at the Hodroff-Epstein Memorial Chapel, 671 South Snelling Avenue. St. Paul.    

Diane & I hosted a party for Gypsy at ep atelier on April 28, 2007.

It celebrated the induction of the band into the Midwest Rock Country Hall of Fame the day before.
Below are some shots from this party & the Medina show. Mouse click for full size...

Wikipedia article about Enrico Rosenbaum links to this website.

James Calvin Johnson's songs as listed by BMI: Songlist

Enrico Rosenbaum's songs as listed by BMI: Songlist for Rico

James Walsh's songs as listed by BMI: Songlist for Walsh

For you hardcore Gypsy fans:
Short clip video, 30.5 meg, mp4 format, Taste of MN, July 2002.
Long download time!   Right click, then "save target as". Needs a video player on your pc that runs mpeg4.
Gypsy Warning...Warning Video

* 4-12-07 Willie Weeks: Fab ex-Gypsy bass player and Lordan's pal. An article about Mr Weeks: article
* 6/18/07 Wikipedia short on Weeks
* Willie Weeks (bass: In the Garden) is in the "Rising Low" video DVD tribute to Allen Woody (ex ABB and Gov't Mule)

* Joe Lala played on the "In the Garden" LP.
His new website  gives one an update.

(Updated 4/17/06)
An open letter to Owl (James Walsh):
For six years this website has tried hard to promote this band.
There is only one reason. We feel the music is wonderful.
We don't receive compensation of any kind.
End of story.

p.s      Many people tell me this webpage has the best Gypsy info anywhere!

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Except for above, all official Gypsy CD's are out of print. Expensive used and new copies are sometimes on Amazon and Ebay.

Amazon "In the Garden"

Amazon 1st Gypsy album

Dec 2004--New member: Billy Davis gtr/voc, replacing Al Mevisson

James "Owl" Walsh keys/vocals Original member One of the top vocalists ever from this area.

Bob Jones bass/vocals Goes back 30+ years with Owl

Stan Kipper drums/vocals/percussion A skilled drummer and a member of the "New Primitives" band

Mark "Chico" Perez percussion Goes back many years with Owl

Al Mevisson lead & rhythm guitars/vocals A newer member, has written several songs used in the shows. Also member of "the Law" band. Dec 2004: Al is on hiatus and working with his "The Law" band

Randy Keeley lead & rhythm guitars/vocals Re-creates many of the guitar parts originally done by James Calvin Johnson

Jerry Archambault drums

John Domagall acoustic guitar

Ida Rosenbaum, mother to Enrico "Rico"
7/5/2004 Taste of Minnesota

Her home in St Paul was the practice space
for the Underbeats. Her son was the main
songwriter who wrote insightful, deep lyrics
and was blessed with fabulous vocals.
The heart and soul of the band; a
tremendous loss when he passed in 1979.

Tim McCarthy
Hard working, loyal roadie from the
start of the band
7/5/2004

(B.L.) The musicians in the band Gypsy were Enrico Rosenbaum, vocals and guitar, Jim Johnson, vocals and guitar, James Walsh, keyboards and vocals, Willie Weeks was bass player on IN THE GARDEN album. The other albums had Randy Cates on bass, who was from Texas. We always said that we played "Gypsy Music, our own creation". Gypsy had unique sound with three-part vocal harmonies and double lead guitar solos done in harmony. We used some unusual time signatures. We originated in Minnesota, but moved to Los Angeles where we became the house band at the Whiskey A-Go-Go on Sunset Blvd. We were seen by record people and were soon signed to a recording contract with Metro Media Records (Bobby Sherman). That was in the early '70s. Most of the band lived in a "band house" in Laurel Canyon, which is just outside Hollywood. On a typical day, we rehearsed right in the house a few hours everyday. The work we did together really showed because we were a tight band. When we were in L.A., we got a new manager, Don Hunter, from the Guess Who. Don took us on the Guess Who tours as their opening act. He also got us a record contract with RCA, the same label as the Guess Who. The last Gypsy album that we did for RCA, UNLOCK THE GATES, we used Chicago's horn section on a few cuts. I thought that working with the horns was fun and the sound was outstanding! The horn section did a free-form sound effect piece where they used the horns to make the sounds of a big city, like car horns blowing.

(S.S.) The Guess Who were from my home town of Winnipeg. I remember in the early '70s seeing Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman at a club called The Fireplace . What album were the Guess Who promoting during the tour you were on?
(B.L.) I can't remember which album the Guess Who was promoting at the time; I think that it was the album that had "American Woman" on it. I remember coming to visit in Winnipeg at that time and to hang-out with the Guess Who and with our new manager, Don Hunter. We were there for about a week. We made arrangements to have road cases made to go on tour with the Guess Who. We did go for a beer with the guys from the Guess Who at..... The Fireplace! We also went to a golf driving range to hit a few balls. It was warm, so we spent time swimming in the pool at the motel. I think that the motel was connected to The Fireplace and I think that is where we stayed.
Don Hunter just wanted us to come up to meet the Guess Who. While we were there, Don had us over to dinner to see his new house and to meet his wife. It was his wife who encouraged Don to sign up Gypsy. She loved the first Gypsy album so much that she encouraged Don to pursue the band. Don and his wife were very nice people. They were respectful and polite towards us. It was a pleasant and positive experience to have them become involved with the band. It might be interesting to note that Don Hunter had a very famous nickname which was given to him by the Guess Who. The name they christened him with was "Quasi-Moto". It was an affectionate name which stayed with him.