Bob Smith

Bob Smith

Bob Smith is a name used by more than one artist. One is an American psychedelic rock musician from the Los Angeles area whose work centres on the album The Visit. That record is first recorded in 1970 and appears as an early-1970s psychedelic release originally issued on the Kent label as a deluxe gatefold double album. A later reissue includes a bonus LP recorded in 1971/72 and liner notes by Bob Smith.

The music combines guitar, violin and keyboard textures with melodic psych-rock elements and complex, obscure song structures. It is described as expanding the boundaries of psychedelia, with a lyric style and overall feel linked to figures such as Tim Buckley, Captain Beefheart and Jeff Fankhauser. The album is associated with Bob Smith’s backing group Silverskin, and Daryl Dragon and Don Preston of the Mothers of Invention also help record it.

Another artist with the same name is a gay stand-up comic who appears on the compilation Gay Comedy Jam.