Bob Long (now professionally known as “Flint Long,”), was born in 1951 in Santa Barbara, California, where his father taught school and his mother worked in a doctor’s office. They were avid music lovers and played records in the home, morning, noon and night. Long’s earliest memories include listening to Louis Prima, the Mills Brothers, Count Basie, Liberace and Mantovani, all day, every day.
At age six Bob Long started piano lessons, but after one year his teacher told him that he had no aptitude for music and would never be a pianist. He even refused to teach him anymore, saying he was wasting his time. At age 10 Bob Long heard live ragtime piano music for the first time and was enthralled. He devoted hours daily to mastering the art of ragtime piano and by age 16 he was working professionally as a ragtime pianist while still in high school. Long soon became interested in other forms of piano such as boogie-woogie, blues and rock n’ roll.
He moved to Hollywood, CA in 1970 to pursue his dream of becoming a performer. He was introduced to Tina Turner and recorded with her. She wanted to take Long and his band on tour with her in 1971, but even in those years the idea of a solo black artist backed by an all-white band seemed too controversial to Tina’s management team. Long also met and played with Ray Charles in 1976. The seventies for Long were filled with encounters and sessions with many of the top artists of the period. Burt Bacharach was a frequent visitor at Casey’s Bar in Westwood to hear Long. So was Eric Burdon of The Animals fame.
In 1973, 100 year old Eubie Blake became friends with Bob Long and would often visit venues where Long was playing in Los Angeles, taking turns at the piano. Blake was one of the pioneers of ragtime, knew Scott Joplin, and praised Long’s playing, saying it was “the real
deal.” In 1973 Bob Long recalls moving a piano into Eubie Blake’s house in Watts, California so Eubie could practice for his upcoming appearance on the Tonight Show.
1974 was the year Bob Long won first prize in the International Scott Joplin Piano Competition. This led to a friendship with 100-year-old Eubie Blake, who actually knew Scott Jopin! (Joplin died in 1917.) Blake told members of the Maple Leaf Club (a ragtime piano society in Hollywood, CA) that “Bob Long has the most authentic feel for Scott Joplin’s music that I have ever heard.”
Throughout the seventies Long was associated with Annex Studios in Hollywood. This iconic studio was the recording center of Frank Sinatra, Liberace, The Lawerence Welk Orchestra and many more. Long recorded the soundtrack for a Dolly Madison Christmas television commercial at Annex. He also recorded with many prominent musicians of the time, including Jerry Yester of the Association, and JoAnn Castle of the Lawrence Welk show.
In 1980 Long began playing clubs and bistros all along the San Diego coast, amassing a following there, and eventually taking up residence. He opened for Helen Reddy at San Diego’s Town and Country and was voted Entertainer of the Year in San Diego’s North County Times. He was featured in a 3 page article in the entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times, San Diego edition, and because of a long association with the Belly-Up Tavern, where his band played weekly for 3 years, he was offered the opportunity to open for, and/or to back up Etta James, Taj Mahal, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Big Mama Thornton (whose Hound Dog song was covered by Elvis), Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulsom, and other legendary blues artists.
On one of Bob Long’s 10 concert tours of Europe (between 1982 and 1994) he was joined onstage by Champion Jack Dupree, the famous New Orleans blues pianist, who was living in Hanover, Germany. Later in Hamburg, Bob Long was featured in a 3-man concert along with Champion Jack Dupree and Germany’s #1 boogie-Woogie pianist, Axel Zwingenberger. Long was also featured in PikNik Molo, a nationally televised music festival in Poland in 1986. Bob Long was featured on many local German television and radio stations, playing boogie or ragtime. Long and his band, the Bob Long California Band, performed in 326 cities in Europe during the eighties.
In the 1990’s Long was living and playing in Las Vegas in the lounges and showrooms. In 1993 the Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a “Best of” edition and named Bob Long the Best Pianist in Las Vegas. He and his wife Cheryl Long produced many shows for the slot parties and VIP parties that the large Casino/Hotels present. Long served as emcee and bandleader for these shows including a 5000-seat gala at the Riviera Hotel. Other hotels include the Aladdin, Treasure Island, the Lady Luck, Caesar’s, the Sands, the Mirage and many others. The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas called upon Long to emcee their annual Liberace piano competition. This was advertised and covered in the Review-Journal. For 2 years, (1996 to 1997), Bob was a featured performer in the grand revue, “Country Tonite,” at the Aladdin, playing boogie-woogie and backing up the many singers and impressionists in that award winning show. The show is still running in Branson, MO.
Long was also a headliner in Reno at John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel. This led to a friendship with Herb Reid, the original bass singer of the Platters, who often performed there. Long also became got to know Janie Fricke and members of her country band as well as the famous McGuire Sisters who he became friends with. The backstage camaraderie in the casino showrooms lends itself to forging friendships and associations.
In 1998 Bob Long had learned to add comedy schtick to his act and began performing as a one man solo headliner on the world’s finest cruise ships, notably Cunard, Seaborn, Princess, Celebrity, Radisson and others. His one-man show, backed by orchestra, was a hit on the seas from 1998 until the year 2006. He was booked by Bramson Entertainment in New York and also by Paramount.
In 2007 Bob and Cheryl Long moved back to Santa Barbara, CA, his hometown, to begin taking care of his parents, both of whom were in declining health. Bob had to quit performing at that time, taking a job as a background pianist in the lobby of Fess Parker’s (remember Davy Crockett?) DoubleTree Hotel. These were tough times for the show business duo of Bob Long performer and Cheryl Long manager, but they persevered, moved to North Carolina, and Bob changed his name to Flint Long, so he could distinguish himself from the other three or four boogie-woogie pianists named Bob Long.
Flint now plays locally in North Carolina for various senior homes and holiday community events, while devoting much of his time to his on-line piano-teaching website. https://flintlong.com/ and his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ja33bHQH38ZnGZD-TcW3w
He is also the author of 2 books, “The Grateful Recovering Man, “ and “101 of the Best Blues and Boogie Licks.” He had to come back to Southern California for a family event, and his long-time musical friend Doug Simon convinced him to play a show in his former town. It’s going to be a one-of-a kind show you won’t want to miss. We hope to see you there.
Inzane Brewing, 236 Main St., Vista, CA 92028 7:00 – 9:00.
