A dear friend of the Blasters, Bobcat Cavett, passed away last night.
He was a very good friend of Phil's and would usually accompany him to most of our SoCal gigs. If you ever went to a Blaster gig between San Diego and Santa Barbara, there's a good chance Bobcat was there. His last cameo with us was at the Thunder Thursday gig in downtown Long Beach this last Thursday.
A contemporary and friend of legendary Blaster saxophonist Lee Allen, Bobcat was part of the "old guard" and was originally introduced to all of us not too long after first meeting Lee back in the late '60's.
Phil claims that Bobcat was one of the nicest, most helpful people he had the pleasure of ever knowing.
Although a musician, Bobcat had retired from playing the saxophone years ago, but always kept his sax in the trunk of his car - just in case!
At the 2001 Hootenanny, the ONLY time Chuck Berry's window came down on his limousine that afternoon was when Chuck said hello to Bobcat as he walked by.
Bobcat had also been a baseball player, playing for the Kansas City Monarchs at the end of their last year (1958?) and then bouncing around a farm team for a few years in Canada playing for the Montreal Royals, a farm division of the LA Dodgers.
Bobcat will be missed. Dearly.
Rest in peace old man.
Blasters