Rugged individualism has always provided Bob Bernstein with the strength and stamina to follow through. When he was a baby doctors gave him 2 weeks to live; thankfully Bob's still with us and it's precisely that strong sense of life and his often rich yet sometimes quirky perception of it that characterizes Bob's music as well.

An accomplished musician on mandolin and guitar, Bob makes his home in California. He's had several CD albums released, with one in particular-- "Country Mobile Home Park" --Bob's musical answer to people who look at a bunch of ugly junk cars and see nothing but a bunch of ugly junk cars. Bob's view of life, then, is the view of the artist; seeing beyond the usual and delving into the heart while at the same time stretching our imaginations and emotions. His songs, often lush observations on relationships strained, are always poignant yet sometimes filled with whimsey and a great sense of fun as with "I Wish You Were There", (co-writer Alan Weckler), a song about a two-timin' woman who gets in between a bar room brawl and gets "knocked on her can". Pharaoh released this narrative version on the 5th volume of GOLD RUSH COUNTRY, along with 3 other songs of his, including John Moore's vocal rendition of "Women Are" (co-written with John Moore), a simple statement of the obvious, & rushed delightfully along by John's fast paced picking. Bob's other penned songs included those sung by Barbara Morrison: "I Wish I Could Say" and "Welcome Back Heartache". Each of Bob's songs as performed by John Moore, Barbara Morrison, and Bob, himself, received heavy airplay through out Europe off the #5 comp CD, and we expected nothing less and got nothing less than continued heavy airplay with Bob's releases on the sixth volume, which aired world-wide commencing in April, 2000.

GOLD RUSH COUNTRY has always had a special patina of success whenever Bob's songs have gilded Gold Rush Country. Jenny Richards' (daughter of original "Sons of the Pioneers" member) recordings, for example, of Bob's songs "For Better Or Worse", "The Way Things Might Have Been", "My Heart's With You", and "Leaving Is All There's Left To Do", as well as Jinney McLain's vocal rendition of Bob's song, "You Were Mine For All Time For Awhile" have all been released on the PHARAOH INT'L RECORDS label and have equally received heavy airplay through out Europe. While some have obviously been a little more heavily playlisted than others, each have had their high degree of public performance, which is a somewhat rare rate of good success any songwriter can expect from all his/her songs ... Bob is the exception as each and everyone of his songs continue to be well received in numerous countries.

A gifted writer with a slow laconic drawl, Bob also periodically performs his work in local resturants. His songs always get an excellent response from appreciative audiences.

phar_rec@bellsouth.net

BOB BERNSTEIN

"I HAD TO SAY I'M GLAD YOU CAME"

Everyone who knows BOB BERNSTEIN is well aware of his passion for country and bluegrass music. Although he didn't write his first song or release his first album until after he turned fifty, singing country songs has been a vital part of his identity all his life.

Born in Chicago in 1931, Bob almost died of bronchial pneumonia as an infant. His health was poor throughout childhood, and his mother, "in her never-ending effort to get me to amount to something," he says, had him taking piano and violin lessons at a very early age. He would listen to Gene Autry and Roy Rogers on the radio, and his favorite show was the WLS National Barn Dance. On his 10th birthday his parents bought him a Gene Autry guitar, and he started taking guitar lessons. His formal lessons were cut short when he got hit by a car while working his paper route, but as he recovered from his injuries a neighbor who was a big fan of country music taught him some chords and melodies.

When Bob's parents sent him to a private school in the mountains of North Georgia (for his health), he took his guitar with him. Soon he was spending his spare time jamming with the "hillbillies" who worked at the school. He traded in his guitar for a small harmony guitar and kept learning country songs off the jukebox and radio. "I guess you could say I had become a country singer," says Bob.

After his sophomore year in Georgia, Bob went to California, where his family had moved. "My acquired Georgia accent sort of gave me a lot of undeserved attention," he says. "I started making friends with the Okies and Arkies I went to school with, and on account of my guitar playing and singing they called me 'Tex'".

Bob joined the California National Guard after he graduated from high school. One night at the entertainment hall, he recalls, "There was a guy playing guitar and singing, and he asked if anybody wanted to do a number. My buddies pushed me over to the mic and I sang 'Rye Whiskey.' Everybody screamed for an encore, so the guy took his guitar away from me and kicked me off the stage!"

Bob took his guitar with him when he went into the Air Force, "and jammed with all kinds of guys from around the country," he says. "I learned mandolin from one of the guys who was from Oklahoma, and he could play all kinds of country music. I bought a mandolin for myself and taught myself how to play it."

Years later, when his son was taking guitar lessons, Bob took some more advanced lessons on the mandolin. "Playing my mandolin got me involved in bluegrass music and festivals, and more and more country music," he says. "I picked up the banjo, fiddle, and steel guitar, and kept playing mandolin and singing."

In 1981 Bob was involved in a head-on auto collision on a back road in Vista, California. A friend recommended that he write a bluegrass song about his wreck, and Bob wrote the lyrics to "Bob Bernstein's Country Mobile Homepark Song", his very first attempt at professional creative writing. "Everyone at work laughed," he says. Then he wrote, "Women Are Where You Find 'Em". John Moore, Bob's mandolin teacher (and country music mentor), wrote the music.

Bob wrote the words and music to his next song, "The Day You Came To Town," about a girl at work. Then he wrote, "Remember I Love You" for a girl in his songwriters' club. He was by this time hooked on the idea of songwriting. "More experiences and more songs later, I put them together and borrowed a lot of money, mortgaged the farm, and with the help of John Moore and my demo engineer, Alan Weckler and an enormous amount of cooperation with the local artists, I was able to publish my first album," Bob explains. The album, "Bob Bernstein's Country Mobile Homepark Record Album", was released in November, 1983.

Bob Bernstein and Tom Woodard (Pharaoh Records) met at a country music awards event held in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1995. Bob hand delivered some of his work to Woodard, and upon listening to the work later on, Tom contacted Bob and made arrangements for Bob's first of many releases that followed on the Pharaoh label.

Bob Bernstein was featured on the sixth volume (April, 2000) of GOLD RUSH COUNTRY with four self-penned songs, including "I Sold My Horse Today" (Bernstein & Weckler), "Country Mobile Home Park" (Bernstein, Brown, & Moore), and "You Remind Me Of My Wife" (Bernstein & Weckler)...each song vocally performed by Bernstein, and a fourth song with artist Barbara Morrison, "My Heart's With You" (see Morrison's page this web site). All of these received heavy airplay on a great number of overseas radio stations and continue to enjoy good airplay.

For Bob Bernstein's last releases on the entirely new compilation CD series entitled "A LIL THIS 'n THAT", the new compilation CD series, Bob was featured singing and narrating a very unique and enjoyable/cleverly written song (cut #9) entitled, "A ROBOT'S GONNA BUY MY HOUSE", as well as a great example of "traditional country" with a song he shared the limelight with his daughter on, Jaqualine, entitled "REMEMBER I LOVE YOU" (cut #16). Additionally, he was the writer on three other songs featured on that new CD series volume and performed by Jenny Richards, Barbara Morrison, and Donna Becket: respectively entitled "My Heart's With You" (a re-release by Richards which is very contemporary pop style), "Welcome Back Heartache" (another re-release by Barbara Morrison), and the third Bernstein song as performed by Pharaoh newcomer, Donna Beckett, entitled "Leavin' Is All There Is Left To Do" (this song was previously released by Jinney McLain). This particular compilation CD was released the latter part of last year (2000), and as customary - all of Bob's songs received a hearty welcome abroad.

NOW IN THE WORKS - "A LIL THIS 'N THAT"/vol 3"......BOB BERNSTEIN REJOINS THE SERIES WITH ADDITIONAL SELF-PENNED SONGS: "Women Are", "My Old Boss (Con Ben Dollar)", and "Young Girl's Dream"And... we expect the new releases to do extremely well as all of his have done on the Pharaoh compilations.

Bob Bernstein ... you're going to be hearing a great deal more of his work as Pharaoh will be working hand-in-hand with Bernstein on a new album project featuring the extremely talented BARBARA MORRISON, due for immediate release. Among numerous albums that Bob, himself, has been both writer (or co-writer) on as well as artist, one example is a fun and entertaining album that features twenty of Bob's best written songs and is sure to become a COLLECTOR'S ITEM. Pharaoh Records A&R Department head, TOM WOODARD, spearheads a lot of the promotion on Bob's works, and anyone who is interested in purchasing a copy of this "real country" album or any of Bob's other releases should look him up on MP3, where many of his albums are currently offered for sale (go to: http://www.mp3.com, then do an artist search for "Bob Bernstein". Once there, it will list all that is available, and you can enjoy listening to several of his songs while visiting that site).

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