Bob Klose

Infobox musical artist

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Name = Bob Klose
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Rado Robert Klose
Alias = Bob Klose/Close
Brian Klose/Close
Born = 1944
Died =
Origin = Cambridge, Cambs
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Voice_type =
Genre = R&B
Jazz
Occupation =
Years_active = 1964-present
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Associated_acts = Pink Floyd
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Rado 'Bob' Klose (born 1944; sometimes referred to as Bob Close or Brian Close in various publications) is an English architect, musician and photographer. He was one of the earliest members of the rock band Pink Floyd, playing lead guitar; however, he left the band before they recorded their first released single, "Arnold Layne".

Abdabs

"The Abdabs" (also known as "The Screaming Abdabs"), with Roger Waters (lead guitar), Rick Wright (rhythm guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Clive Metcalfe (bass guitar), and Keith Noble & Juliette Gale (vocals), performed rhythm & blues under various names ("Sigma 6", "The Meggadeaths", and the Abdabs variations above) during their run with manager Ken Chapman, who also wrote some early material for the band.

Metcalfe, Noble and Gale left the band (though Gale would go on to marry Rick Wright in 1969). By the time they left, the line-up included Syd Barrett (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Bob Klose (lead guitar and vocals), with Roger Waters on bass and vocals and Rick Wright on organ and vocals. This new group used various names, often fluctuating between "Tea Set" and "The Pink Floyd Sound" (named after two old Carolina bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council). The word "Sound" was dropped from the band's name, with the definite article disappearing a few years later.

Klose was more focused on his studies than his bandmates and was more interested in jazz and blues than Barrett's psychedelia and pop, so he left the band sometime around July 1965. Barrett assumed lead guitar, lead vocals, and the bulk of the songwriting, while Klose went on to become an architect.

Recent years

Klose confirmed in John Edginton's BBC documentary "The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story" that his guitar can be heard on the unreleased early acetate single "Lucy Leave/"I'm a King Bee". In the documentary he also talked movingly about Syd Barrett: "If you had said to a young Syd, ‘Look, this is your bargain in life, you know, you’re going to do this fantastic stuff, but it won’t be forever, it’ll be this short period. There’s the dotted line, are you going to sign for this?’ I suspect, maybe, a lot of people would sign for that, for making their mark."

In 2006 Klose appeared as a guest performer on David Gilmour's album "On An Island" (as mentioned in the credits in the album sleeve).

In 2007 he took part in BBC Radio 2's program “Days In The Life”, which was dedicated to Pink Floyd. In the first part of this show he spoke about early days with Barrett.

He also played on "Blue River", a 2008 album by Smith & Mudd, a collaboration between musician Paul "Mudd" Murphy and Movedrill guitarist Mr Smith.

References

* [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B9qn8b5c4psqh All Music Guide] - (Note: Refers to Bob Klose as "Bob Close"; perhaps in error)
* [http://support.uni-oldenburg.de/~floyd/english/appendix/names.html#BobKlose People in Pink Floyd's History: Bob Klose] - (Note: this site also refers to the name confusion)
* Miles, Andy Mabbett (1995). "Pink Floyd: A Visual Documentary". Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-4109-2, (Note: Refers to "Bob Close" exclusively)
* Dallas, Karl (1987). "Pink Floyd: Bricks In The Wall". Shapolsky Publishers. ISBN 0-933503-88-1, (Note: Refers to "Bob Close' ' exclusively)
* Blake, Mark (2007) "Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd". Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1845132613 (published in the United States as Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd. Thunders Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1568583839)