Bob Wilson is an American keyboardist, arranger, songwriter and record producer. As a session player, Wilson recorded with many recording artists including Bob Dylan, J.J. Cale, Charlie Daniels, Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs and The Earl Scruggs Revue, [1] [2] Slim Harpo, Graham Bell, Carol Grimes, Fenton Robinson and Esther Phillips. [3] [4] He is best known for his contributions as a keyboardist on Dylan's Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait albums [5] and as a Nashville-based "session man." [6] As a primary artist he has released "All Turned On," "In The Midnight Hour", "Suzy's Serenade" and "After Hours." [5] [3] Wilson's single "All Turned On" is the title track for the 2022 Ace Records/Motown Records compilation album, All Turned On! (Motown Instrumentals 1960–1972). [7]
Bob Wilson grew up in Adrian, Michigan, and got his start in the music business in Detroit. He released his first single , "All Turned On" as Bob Wilson and the San Remo Quartet on Ric-Tic Records [5] in 1965 as B-side of "Hungry for Love" by the San Remo Golden Strings. He later moved to Nashville and met with John R. of the blues & soul AM radio station, WLAC who gave him a job playing in a Joe Simon session and convinced him to work with Sound Stage 7 Records in the in-house band the "Music City Four". [5] After working as a session musician in Nashville he got a gig working with Dylan on his Nashville Skyline album. [8] Wilson played alongside Charlie Daniels on Nashville Skyline and they became frequent collaborators including on Dylan's Self Portrait album and Daniels' debut album, Charlie Daniels . [9]