Bobby Comstock born 28 December 1943

Robert L. Comstock (December 29, 1941 – January 9, 2020) was an American rock and roll and pop singer and musician who had success in the late 1950s and early 1960s both as a solo singer and as a member of Bobby Comstock and the Counts. His biggest hits were a version of "Tennessee Waltz" in 1959, and "Let's Stomp" in 1963. 

Comstock was born in Ithaca, New York, and began singing and playing mandolin at the age of five. By the age of seven, he started appearing regularly with his brother on a local radio station, and then on country music radio in Sayre, Pennsylvania. He performed rock versions of old country and rhythm & blues tunes in the auditorium of Ithaca's Boynton Junior High School. In 1958, after hearing rock and roll broadcasts from Nashville, he formed his own band, Bobby and the Counts. The band had Comstock on guitar and lead vocals, Fred Ciaschi (vocals & piano), Gus Eframson (rhythm guitar), Dale Sherwood (drums), Chuck Ciaschi (bass) and (initially) Bill Lucas (bongos & vocals). 

The group recorded their first single, "Too Young"/"Tra-La-La", for Marlee Records in Trumansburg, New York, and in 1959 were signed to a national deal by Triumph Records, established by Herb Abramson after he left Atlantic. The groups moderately rocked-up version of the Patti Page hit "Tennessee Waltz" was released on the subsidiary Blaze label in late 1959 - with the group now being billed as Bobby Comstock & The Counts - and rose to no.52 on the Billboard pop chart. 

As a result of its success, the group appeared on several package shows promoted by Alan Freed, toured nationally with artists such as Bobby Vinton and Freddie Cannon, and appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Their follow-up record, a version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya", released on the Atlantic label, also made the national pop chart, reaching # 90. 

                                  

The group, with several changes of personnel over the years, continued to release singles on Abramson's label until 1962, with diminishing success, before signing with Lawn. Their first record for the label, "Let's Stomp", released as a Bobby Comstock single, reached no.57 on the US pop chart in early 1963. 

The song was written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, who later recorded as The Strangeloves. It was reputedly performed by the Beatles in Hamburg and was certainly performed by the Searchers and recorded by Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, a beat group featuring ex-Beatle Pete Best. The 1973 single, The Ballroom Blitz by British Glam Rock Heavy Rock band The Sweet bases its initial guitar riff and drum patterns on Comstock’s "Let's Stomp". 

Follow-ups were less successful, although the group broke into the US charts for a final time in 1963 with "Your Boyfriend's Back", an answer record to "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels, a female group recording on the same label. Comstock also played guitar on the Angels' album, along with Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer. He stayed with Lawn Records until 1964 and performed as a support act to The Rolling Stones that year. He then appeared on National Television along with Chubby Checker on Shindig- August 16, 1965.He then signed to Ascot Records, who continued to release singles by the group until 1966. Comstock also recorded a solo album, Out of Sight, in 1966. 

Then he disappeared from recording for two years until he joined Zebra who signed with Phillips Records and recorded the single "Miss Anne" in 1968. He then established another band, Comstock Ltd., which released several singles for Bell Records between 1969 and 1972. He appeared in the 1973 Columbia Pictures concert film Let the Good Times Roll hosted by Richard Nader. He also established himself as a regular member of rock and roll revival tours, especially as part of Dick Clark's "Caravan of Stars", where he performed with Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, Gene Pitney, The Coasters, The Shirelles and many others. Comstock continued to perform on such tours, both with his own band and as a backing musician, until the late 1990s. 

In 2000, legendary guitarist Link Wray (and former Swan Records label mate) saw Bobby in the audience and called hm on stage during a performance in Buffalo, NY. Bobby Comstock returned to Central New York on June 6, 2008 and treated his fans to a performance at The Haunt in Ithaca. His band that evening consisted of Joel Warren, Al Hartland, Duke Shanahan along with singers Helen Jordan & Mabel Evans. In 2009 Bobby recorded with Stan Wycott on his cd release "Daytime Srinker." 

Comstock died on January 9, 2020, at the age of 78 at his home in Southern California. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Ron Wray’s blog)