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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Music General Discussion »

Permalink Playing with Eddie & the Showmen in the 60s - Who was Roberta Washburn?

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Today I was looking through some photos on my hard drive, and in the folder with surf music related images I found this image file named "Roberta Washburn":
image

That clearly is Eddie Bertrand on the left (with a Gretsch!), and judging from her hands, she seems to be playing lead in unison with him. Anyone know who she is and whether she played surf music or something else? (Eddie & the Showmen played with a number of acts from out of town in the 60s and were not limited to surf music on these occasions.)

I'm pretty sure that I downloaded this (along with a lots of others) from the copious photo albums of Randy Nauert (bass player for the Challengers) on Facebook. I also sorft of remember that Randy did not provide any further information along with the photo, and that I wanted to ask this question here then already but never came around to do it...

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

Last edited: Nov 19, 2024 08:46:08

Precious little is known about Roberta Washburn. Her name isn't nearly as familiar as Kathy Marshall, and yet both of them played with Eddie/Showmen (that's Jim Boyle on the right side of the posted photo). Washburn also occasionally played with The Chevells, and she was a later member of The Ladybugs.

l to r: Doug Hensen, Terry Hand, Eddie Bertrand, Jim Boyle, Bob Knight, and Washburn.

image

www.johnblair.us
www.soundofthesurf.com

Thanks John, I suspected that you probably know something about her!

In the same folder, I have an image of a band called "Ladybirds" (not the topless band of the same name!), and that could be Roberta Washburn with the black Strat:

image

Is this the band you meant or was there also a band called Ladybugs in Orange County? I guess these are the same Ladybirds that later evolved into The Daisy Chain?

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

Last edited: Oct 13, 2024 15:35:20

No, I don't think we're talking about The Ladybirds here. They were from Kentucky, I think. The Ladybugs were not from OC, but were an ad hoc band put together, as I understand it, for an episode of "Petticoat Junction" in 1964 (you can see a video of their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show a couple of days before that episode was broadcast...go to YouTube). If I'm right, Washburn joined this band later for a short time. Randy Nauert, if memory serves, posted a photo of The Ladybugs with Washburn in the group. I can't find it now.

www.johnblair.us
www.soundofthesurf.com

Last edited: Oct 13, 2024 15:29:42

Thank you for the correction!

As great as these photo albums by Randy Nauert on FB were, I agree that it is almost impossible to find specific information there (due to the structure of FB). It's a shame because there are so many stories burried in the comments for some of the images. I fear in the long run these things will get lost completely...

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

Last edited: Oct 13, 2024 15:39:15

I don’t know who she is/was, but she would have been a heartbreaker back in the 60’s.
I’ll bet she didn’t stay single very long.

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