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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 "Robert 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!

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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