Arts & Entertainment

Local Music Teacher’s Incredible History Surfaces with Re-Release of Two Albums

Published 9 years ago9y ago • Bookmarks: 48

September 3, 2015

| by Tess Weitzner |

Neighbors-PAGE-23 — Bobby Lance (right) and his son Mitch at Freelance studio.

“I can’t talk right now, I’m at school,” said Greenburgh music teacher Bobby Lance. It was nearing lunchtime when the phone rang.

“Just tell me, are you Bobby Lance?” pressed the man on the other end. “I’ve been looking all over for Bobby Lance!” When Lance replied, “Yes, that’s me,” the record label representative hardly paused before adding, “Atlantic Records is re-releasing your albums!”

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Though Lance, 60, has been the Choral Director at Richard J. Bailey Middle School for more than 14 years, few, if any, students or colleagues might have ever known of his brief but remarkable history with not one but two of the biggest American record labels. The Tarrytown resident’s albums, titled First Peace and Rollin’ Man, which debuted in 1971 and 1972, respectively, are now being re-released as a double album by Real Gone Music. Under Atlantic Records, Real Gone Music aims to resurrect the albums believed to have been underexposed or wrongfully lost from the public eye. “I feel like I’m Jesus!” exclaimed Lance. “I remember everything like it was yesterday. I feel 12 years-old again.”

Born in Brooklyn, Lance was orphaned at age 11 and raised by his sister, Fran Robins, who is 17 years his senior. A talented concert pianist, Robins instilled in Lance a passion for music at a young age; he learned to play guitar and discovered a knack for songwriting. When Lance was 13, he and Robins co-wrote “The House that Jack Built,” which later became Aretha Franklin’s 1968 hit.

As Lance’s songwriting ability strengthened, so did his connections in New York. He wrote and sang for friend Richard Perry’s band, The Escorts. Perry, a successful music producer, introduced Lance to record label owner George Goldner. It was Goldner who called up Jerry Wexler, the president of Atlantic Records, and insisted Lance visit the studio. Red hat and box guitar in hand, Lance made his way to 60th Street and Broadway, played for Wexler, and was signed on the spot. He was 17.

Though a New Yorker, Lance’s music has a strong Southern R&B style. He not only wrote, produced and arranged both albums but also provides vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard and percussion. His debut album, First Peace, was recorded with Muscle Shoals’ Sound Studio house band, The Swampers, and features saxophonist King Curtis and the backup group Sweet Inspirations. Duane Allman also makes an appearance playing slide guitar in “More Than Enough Rain.”

Lance’s second album, Rollin’ Man was recorded with a band that Lance hand-picked himself. It is described in a review by the online magazine REBEAT as “…the superior album, tamping down the previous album’s florid blue-eyed soulisms and focusing on a tighter rock groove.”

“Every song has a meaning,” said Lance in a radio interview on WVOX with Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. “‘Somebody Tell Me’ was written when Vietnam was happening, and the same thing seems to be going on today with people hurting, killing, not trusting each other, and somebody tell me—when is it gonna stop? And I guess that’s basically what we were writing about, how people don’t trust each other. Rather than the positive in life, everybody finds the negative to talk about or to blame.”

While both albums had the serious potential to appeal to a wide fan base, they experienced minimal exposure due to a contract dispute. Still a self-described “kid looking for love,” Lance was lured to the music scene in Detroit by Eddie Holland and had his sister sign him to Motown Records. The two labels wrestled over the rights to Lance’s music and reached a compromise that promised each company half the cut. Atlantic Records had little interest in promoting an album for which they would receive a limited profit, so Lance remained under the radar. “In those days, the radio play meant everything,” remarked Lance.

Lance continued to write for Atlantic, but when his contract expired, he decided his time with the music industry had come to an end. He received his master’s in education from Mercy College and has been teaching ever since. “I realized that I can make a big difference by teaching literacy through music,” said Lance.

As Choral Director, Lance writes most of the songs performed by his 4th, 5th and 6th grade students. “All that time I’ve never stopped writing,” he said, noting that he writes about “…what the kids feel in real life; bullying, friendships…”

Keira Skjezeland, a seventh grade student in the Greenburgh Central School District, believed Lance’s songs were “fun and educational.” Skjezeland also recalled when her class discovered a CD on her music teacher’s desk with his name and face on it. “He played a song of his once for us, and I thought it was cool.”

“I think it’s really exciting that here at RJ Bailey school [there is] a celebrity music teacher. You don’t really get that in most schools,” said Feiner. Despite the rising fame, Lance affirms that he is “not going anywhere. My children and my students are an extension of myself.”

Lance will, however, begin performing again. He is rehearsing a new band and will be joined by his son, Mitch Lance, who will play on the keyboard. “This is…a good thing for me to get out there and perform because I love doing it. That’s when I get the exposure,” said Lance.

In the age of YouTube, the music that was originally released in the 1970s has the opportunity to attract a new audience. Though he claims he cannot know for sure who will be opening their ears to his albums, Lance believes that his music “transcends different audiences. I know the blues/rock audience will like it.”

First Peace/Rollin’ Man is currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Excerpts from Bobby Lance’s interview on Paul Feiner’s “The Greenburgh Report” are available on the The Hudson Independent website at www.thehudsonindependent.com.