By 1979, Bobby had already become somewhat of a legend for his guitar prowess live and as a session player with The Guess Who as well as his own projects, trend setting recordings and various bands he formed. We found a very flattering letter from recording producer Jack Richardson which says quote;

I have known Bob Bilan for 10 years, and during that time I have employed him both as a recording session musician, and as a composer under assignment to create specific projects.

The compositions written by Mr. Bilan, some of which were used on projects for the Guess Who, show a solid understanding of the song writing craft. As a player, he is able to provide a superior level of performance and creative input to any project in which he is asked to participate.

I would recommend him highly to anyone wishing to align themselves with a talented, capable, musical professional.

Sincerely,
Jack Richardson
JAR/jw

Some very kind words from a world renown producer who not only took The Guess Who to stardom but also Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Bob Seeger and many others as well as launching the careers of several other producers. As a matter of fact, when the very young Bobby decided to resurrect the 7inch EP [extended play] vinyl disc format for his first solo recording in 1976, it was Jack's pressing plant JAMF that had the only working machine in North America and that was in mothballs so to speak so it was lucky it worked at all. This of course caused a huge resurgence in this 7inch EP recording/pressing format. Using this format seemed logical to Bobby since most A&R label people and radio program directors of the day only listened to demos which were 3-4 songs in length, so why not use a 7inch EP, two songs a side, far less expensive than a 12inch album. He immediately followed with a limited pressing of the same release but as a picture disc which also became an extremely popular packaging scheme. His inspiration - a childhood memory of an hysterical Alfred E. Newman burping record attached to one of his old MAD magazines.

More local CBC producers certainly took notice of Bobby's career, the very popular Jim Christie headed various recording sessions, Clive Bennett was quoted as saying of Bobby's playing, "He's the only guy I know who can make a Gibson sound like a Telecaster, and he can magically make a Telecaster sound like a pedal steel!", and for a while Clive enjoyed hanging out with the lads. Yet another CBC producer Phil Kusie and his production company QC3, produced this very same 1979 Pantages Playhouse show. And quite the show it was. The opening number featuring a Bilan improv composition in some mysterious open tuning for a single solo guitar that was improvised to by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Contemporary dancers. Definitely not what you normally see at a rock show. Bobby had the IATSE crew fly all his Marshall 4x12 cabinets which checkered the stage as his backdrop creating a very new look and unique sound quality never seen or heard before, backup vocalists and an amazing set of improvisations on seriously beefed up R&B songs by the Marvellettes, even one arranged for an electric sitar, mixed with originals penned by Bobby Bilan as well as a couple of tunes co-penned by James Harlton and Brian Gordon. Jazz great Steve Senyk joined in the latter part of the show for some very memorable sax and clarinet trade offs with Bobby's interstellar guitar stylings. There are not too many musicians of that or any time that could pull together such diverse and polar opposite styles, bring them together and make them work. As a crowning touch to the evening, Bobby grabbed the crowd completely by imitating the whisles of the audience during a slide solo, and as they say the rest is history for this concert. But there was more.

Winnipeg Free Press Reporter Brian Richardson (no relation to the producer Jack Richardson) had this to say; "The old Vaudeville house was rocked to its gilt painted rafters last Saturday night for the unveiling of the Bobby Bilan Band. The audience demanded rock and roll - loudly and frequently - and it was rock and roll that they got.
Although the volume of the Bobby Bilan Band was high it was a clean sound, allowing the individuals in the band to be heard to the full. It was driving rock and roll, but there was a sensitivity to the playing and the instrumentals had an intricacy and exploratory edge that made obvious the tight ensemble work of the band under Bilan's leadership.
The electric guitar was turned into a new sort of voice in the late sixties and early seventies. Echoing the sounds of the machine age as well as carrying the vast tradition of the guitar from classics to blues. Bilan incorporates much of this past into his playing, emerging as a stylist who is fully in command of his instrument. He is well supported by the imaginative bass work of John Ellis and the crisp drumming of Ron Muns.
The vocals were supplied by Brad Beauchemin, backed by Luba and Daria Bilash. Here, too, the ensemble work was obvious in the interplay between singer and band. One outstanding example was THAT KIND OF LOVE, written by Bilan in collaboration with James Harlton, which was introduced as a sort of country number but turned into an extended blues-influenced riff by Bilan.
The inclusion of saxophone and clarinet player, Steve Senyk, for OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN/SING SING SING added a nice touch of jazz to the proceedings and showed how exciting this crossings of musical forms can be. The staging of the Bilan Band's part of the concert was theatrical without resorting to theatrics. Beginning with the lyrical Bilan composition DA-DA-DA, danced by the Contemporary Dancers, the show moved into the harder rock and roll with ease."

The seeming turmoil of concerts, club dates, recording sessions and bands all came in the midst of Bobby finally accepting to go on the road with The Guess Who as their new lead guitarist replacing both Dave Inglis and old friend Kurt Winter. As subsequent live recordings show, Bobby played both their harmony parts with ease, something no other lead player in the history of the band would match. At one point earlier, Bobby had replaced both guitarists Winter and Inglis and also bassist Jim Kale for recordings, they were all fired for their indulgences.

Back to the '70s. Bobby had already done recording sessions for the Guess Who and even more recording sessions with it's individual members in varied manner often hiring them for recordings he produced, so to add to the musical whirlwind, he was also on tour with them during the time of the above mentioned BBB solo concert. A rather modest and tardy blurb finally showed up in the Winnipeg Tribune in Gene Telpner's entertainment news column simply stating Bobby was now touring with The Guess Who. Bobby had by then re-elevated the band to it's "A" list concert stature as pics will show, by being the first in the world to chainsaw his guitars nightly, a completely unheard of feat and extremely dangerous with live guitars but always impressive beyond words leaving audiences everywhere exhilerated/thrilled/gobsmacked and thoroughly entertained to say the least. Pics will also show how crowds would leap out of their seats, rush the stage, some would gaze, some would scream in a frenzy. No mention of that in Gene's column who gave all the appearances of an in touch "rat-pack" Vegas kind of guy with very little interest in longhaired high energy guitar players and most definitely not interested at all in chainsaws obviously. One has to wonder why he said anything at all since his column covered Hollywood gossip along side local big band type jazz tidbits, but kudos for the mention anyhow since no other local pen pusher did. We further found there was an odd media blackout on this point on a national level, but at least some US press!? More on the chainsaw performances can be found on the CHAINSAW link on the upper left of this page, with some inclusions in this history link section under the title THE GUESS WHO #1.

As already demonstrated, when Bobby was in between Guess Who recording sessions and tours, he continued to record and produce sessions as well as perform often as possible forming yet another Bobby Bilan Band expressly for this purpose. We found many old contracts, one such A.F.of M. union document shows 'Bobby Bilan (Bobby Bilan Band)' engaged to play at the Plaza Motor Inn [aka the Osborne Village Motor Inn, aka The Zoo] on April 11th 1979 through Showcase Productions. A note accompanying this contract talks of the "Beer Block". This is also referred to in other journal entries from a venue called the Norvilla frequented by University of Manitoba students, the Curtis Hotel, the City Centre, the Westminster Hotel and other very popular venues in their day, most of which are sadly devoid of live bands, only lonely stages remain, now occupied by strippers at best of times and frequented by cheap beer guzzling derelicts who largely ignore the strippers. FYI - In the '60s and '70s little ole Winnipeg was called the live music club capitol of North America having approx 60 venues in town alone that sustained as many live bands who made a good living solely from performing. ANOTHER FYI - A very young Maggi Robinson mentioned in the press clipping below right, attributed Bobby Bilan Band & Peter Dobo Band vocalist Brad Beauchemin as her main influence to become a singer. She often refers to herself currently as Maggi Mae, remaining a very popular Winnipeg soul and jazz artist/vocalist/pianist. Bobby's journal entries of that time refer to her as being "brilliant" and "under-rated".

The legendary "Beer Block" was devised by some crazed fans who attempted to keep the band on stage and playing, so to show their appreciation [and love of loud guitar music], they would block the band from walking off the stage for breaks etc... or at the end of the night, the crowd lined up beer in front of the chosen member or side to side and back to back across the front and sides of the stage. If the member(s) wanted to exit, they had to drink themselves a path off the stage through the "Beer Block" or face the mob and possible beer bath. It was all meant in good fun so they say and never was a band member ever doused. It was considered a supreme compliment to the band of a job well done. Winnipeg crowds are still notorious for being complacent, but if you get them wound up, it's next to impossible to calm them down. Apparently the lads were real good at getting them wound up! From all accounts, Bobby was happiest when he played all night long anyway, or until the venue would shut off the power, leaving the beer to the roadies and hysterical audience, consequently Bobby had ongoing drunken roadie complaints from venue management. If there was a party after a performance, Bobby was always off in a corner playing guitar or teaching someone to play along, or he would go home and practice quite often for 12 or more hours if there was such a time as a day off in his life. Just shortly before the July 2003 SARS concert, Randy Bachman's own guitar tech referred to Bobby as "Mr.Guitar." Bobby remains a huge inspiration to all the players we've spoken to during this site's construction, from guitarists to vocalists and everything between.

It should also be mentioned that all throughout this time, it's staggering to think that Bobby built more luthery shops and retail stringed instrument service/sales outlets than any one single person ever to date, and there would be more to come. He held a lengthy position with Canadian retail music chain Long & McQuade but also to follow in the early '80s with an appointment to the Yamaha Music Corporation where he designed guitars, developed revolutionary luthery techniques plus created teaching methods still popular today, all while unwittingly bound to an intellectual properties agreement. All this will be further covered in the LUTHERY link located on the upper left of this page.

So to this point we count 10 Bobby Bilan Bands formed as either specialized groups, for the club circuit only, touring, specific concert performances, various recording sessions, &/or broadcast performances. Not all can be covered because as mentioned on the onset, it would take a novel but we have quickly covered some interesting areas, amusing &/or historically important lineups with brevity to this point. In the early '90s one Bobby Bilan Band configuration appears as a specific recording project, one '80s version as a live/recording band project, one more live Bobby Bilan Band also appears later in California, and one resurrection/mutation mentioned at the end of the PETER DOBO history page which performed for the Museum of Man and Nature building expansion benefit mid '90s.