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Campbell, Richard (7th December 1958-Present)

He is a bassist, singer, composer and recording engineer often known as “Rich” born in Van Nuys, California and living in Paradise, California from the time he was around 7 or 8 years old.

His education in music began when he started learning the piano when he was around seven and then once he was in grammar school he played the trumpet. When he was attending high school he began to concentrate on the bass guitar and performed with his band Music Company at venues in North California. Glynnis Talken, the author and musician, joined the band for an appearance on a television telethon in Chico, California, and they would later become husband and wife in 1983.

He took further studies at California State University in Chico and then Northridge and soon found himself working on educational films as well as ones for industry as a composer and recording artist. He also worked on the technical side of things in various studios in Los Angeles and in 1983 he became the Music Director of The Pinups.

He joined Natalie Cole as a backing singer and bassist sometime in the mid-1980s and toured with her on a national and international basis, including appearing at London’s Wembley Stadium for the 70th Birthday Tribute to Nelson Mandela. In 1989 he joined the band Three Dog Night and made may appearances on tour with them over the next seven years until 1996. At the same time he would make occasional appearances with The Edgar Winter Group and The Dave Mason Band.

In 1997 he was given the position of tour manager with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band and then he got together with ex-Three Dog Night member Chuck Negron and they collaborated on tours and recordings until the end of the 1990s. In 2000 he became a touring member of The Dave Mason Band and then in 2003 he joined up with the group America and once again found himself internationally touring and recording.  He appeared on their double CD Here & Now which debuted at No.52 in January 2007′ Billboard top 100 Album chart.

Over the course of his career he has worked with many artists and just a few of these include Stephen Bishop, Jim Capaldi, David Foster, Peter Frampton, Andrew Gold , Smokey Robinson and Tiny Tim.

Living in California, he resides in Los Angeles with his family and holds a position as a voting member of NARAS and membership of SAG-AFTRA and the American Federation of Musicians.

Here he is on bass and vocals with America performing “Ventura Highway”….

Sources:

  1. http://www.accessbackstage.com/
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Campbell_(musician)
  3. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2553024/
  4. http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/music/artists/three_dog_night/biography/3.html
  5. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gcfixqqkldke~T4