Bob Achilles

Robert “Bob” Achilles (b. Evansville, September 30, 1937 – d. May 12, 1980) – Woodwind player (clarinet, saxophone, and flute). Although born in Evansville, Bob Achilles spent most of youth and adolescence in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Arcadia, California; and Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from high school. It was also in Dallas, where young Bob formed a band that played in nightclubs in Dallas. It is rumored that Bob’s band played at a club owned by the infamous Jack Ruby. Later, Achilles earned a B.S. from the University of Illinois in 1960 after attending Southern Methodist University and the University of Southern California and serving a couple years with the U.S. Marine Corps. A year earlier, he married and spent his honeymoon at the Shaffer Lake Indiana resort, where he played with the house band. Following college, he moved to Los Angles, where he worked in a music store and joined a touring lounge act called the Celebrities. After moving to Las Vegas, Bob joined the Harry James Orchestra in 1964 as the solo clarinetist and baritone saxophonist. His few years with Harry James included performances on the Tonight Show and the Ed Sullivan Show as well as gigs at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Palladium. A move to Los Angeles in 1969 allowed him to change his professional focus to composing, arranging and copying for television and for solo artists. He also did session work at that time. Following a spiritual revelation, Achilles led the music ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ from 1976 to 1978. He spent the rest of his life serving as a pastor at various churches in California before retiring in 2004.