Biography

One of four children - two boys and two girls - Bob 'Willard' Henke was born Robert Henke on 29 April 1951 in Pennsylvania, USA and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1964. Up to the age of 13, in Pennsylvania, there was a Hammond organ in his family living room, which he learned to play. When the family moved to Arizona, his father "had to take the organ out to his gig" and so Willard took up the guitar. From a musical family, his grandfather played theatre organ for silent movies and in night clubs and his father also played in night clubs as well as teaching music. His mother "was the quintessential 1950s house wife".

"I had a decent upbringing and my childhood was relatively calm. It got a little shakier when I was a teenager, of course. Once I got into a rock and roll band". He played in Phoenix in the Red and White Blues Band with musicians "with a San Francisco connection" who went on to become The Tubes, including Roger Steen. He played in the studio alongside Nashville musicians at the age of 18 and, towards the end of the 1960s, joined Goose Creek Symphony: "We just started in the studio, with no real prospects or anything; we just started recording Charlie Gearheart's original songs and it turned into an album, which eventually got picked up by Capitol records". The group appeared on Episode #24.15 (1970) alongside Bobbie Gentry (who they toured with) in 1970. "And then I didn't go off the road for the next 10 years. 300 days of the year, 10 years straight".

He was given the nickname Willard at high school: "It was a joke I ended up playing on myself". In the 1970s, Goose Creek Symphony had a silver Eagle bus and he was one of the drivers. "Wild Willard" was his CB handle on the radio, which stuck as his nickname. "Most people call me Willard".

In the mid-1970s, Goose Creek Symphony disbanded for a much-needed break. At the same time, Dr. Hook guitarist Rik Elswit was diagnosed with melanoma. Ted Hacker, who worked for both bands, suggested Willard to replaced Elswit "because he knew that Goose Creek was done for a while". "I got the call and a week later I was on the road". One of his first gigs with the band was on Episode #4.7 (1976). "I worked with Ron Haffkine on the fourth Goose Creek Symphony album, so I was familiar with Ronnie and his style of production. He produced the one Goose Creek album we had on Columbia Records, called 'Do Your Thing But Don't Touch Mine'."

It was with Dr. Hook in the late 1970s that Willard was awarded "a couple of dozen gold silver and platinum albums". "That was my time to go around the world a few times and play on some top ten records like 'Sharing the Night Together' and 'When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman' and 'Sexy Eyes' and those records. Getting to play with studio players that we used for those albums was fabulous: the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the A-Team in Nashville".

In the 1980s, Willard toured with Glen Campbell for six years, playing bass guitar. He also teamed back up with Goose Creek Symphony on a number of occasions: in the mid-1980s, early 1990s and twice in the 2000s. In 2007, he formed a duet with his friend Alan and began playing regularly at a Mexican food restaurant near his home for over a decade. "I lost two families being on the road, so I've learned by lesson. I have two boys from previous marriages."
- IMDb mini biography by: Jay Haywood