Bob Lawson: A life of adventure, music, and that distinctive beard

Bob Lawson, who died in December at 72, was a “familiar face” around Acton, says his wife of 50 years, Janet — and not only because of his “somewhat unusual” Thoreauvian beard.

“If you went out to the Main Streets Market & Cafe in the ’90s, you would see Bob and his sons playing The Beatles. If your kids attended Thoreau Elementary School, you would remember Bob as the man who led the holiday sing-along for many years,” she said. “If you attended the annual pancake breakfast at the Lions Club on Patriots Day, [Bob] and The Lawson Family Band were there at 6 a.m. performing.”

Bob’s love of music began during his childhood.

“He became very accomplished on the piano, taught himself guitar, and wrote songs,” Janet said. “That’s what impressed me. That is what made me fall in love. This is a man with skills and passion and interests.”

Channeling Tom Sawyer

As a young teen, Bob and several friends set off on the Connecticut River in 1968 in two canoes to follow in the footsteps of their hero, Tom Sawyer, said Janet. The next year, the boys repeated their adventure on the Mississippi River, calling themselves the “Tom Sawyer Gang.”

“Their mothers turned them loose on the river for two weeks,” she said. “They were 14 or 15 years old.”

His sense of adventure — and love of music — spawned a fascinating career. 

Bob and Janet built a musical oasis called Blue Jay Recording Studio in nearby Carlisle that drew well-known artists from around the world. 

Blue Jay also attracted a succession of gifted recording engineers who regarded Bob and Janet as family. 

In the summer of 1986, Mark Wessel started working as an intern at the studio, where Benjamin Orr, co-founder of The Cars, was making a solo record.

“My first impression of Bob was his kindness,” Wessel said. “He treated everybody well, from the engineers to the clients to the interns.”

Hanging with Joni

Orr’s record producer at the time was Larry Klein, a four-time Grammy winner and husband of Joni Mitchell. 

“Joni comes to visit, and she’s hanging out in the backyard, playing the guitar,” Wessel said. “It was kind of magical.”

Blue Jay was built into the side of an earthen bank to soundproof it from the outside world. Bob and Janet opened the studio in December 1979, not long after they graduated from Bowdoin College, where they met and quickly became a couple. 

“The first day in the studio, we were sleeping on the floor in the office,” Janet said. “One thing led to another, and we never left the place. It was kind of crazy.”

Blue Jay’s homey atmosphere and beautiful stonework were appealing but, on their own, would not have attracted the likes of Aerosmith, Yo-Yo Ma, and Billy Joel. The professionalism and state-of-the-art recording equipment did that.

Ed Goodreau — Blue Jay’s first employee, who went on to an illustrious career as a recording engineer in Los Angeles — chose the Carlisle recording studio over college and never looked back. Before being hired full-time at Blue Jay, Goodreau spent a year as the studio’s first intern.

North from Nashville 

Amy Grant and her producer, Brown Bannister, came up from Nashville to record on the cutting-edge Solid State Logic (SSL) console at Blue Jay.

“Amy Grant’s producer was huge in Nashville,” Goodreau said. “After that, it was one thing after another. Everyone came through.”

Both Wessel, who teaches music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and Goodreau, who retired as vice president of operations for Interscope Records and worked with artists including David Bowie and Dr. Dre, credit Bob and Janet Lawson with making their careers possible — not to mention being friends for life.

“My life wouldn’t be the same without that studio,” Wessel said. “[Bob’s] legacy is not only all the records, but the many human beings whose lives were shaped by Blue Jay.”

Wessel said Bob and two of his children played at his 1993 wedding in Maryland. The two spent time together as Bob faced his diagnoses of glioblastoma and Parkinson’s.

“I miss him greatly,” Wessel said. “He was a kind, gentle man.”

‘Birding by ear’

Beyond Blue Jay, Bob was well known in Acton, Janet said, and he knew the town’s history intimately. He relished giving tours to visitors.

“He was easily recognizable with his somewhat unusual Henry David Thoreau beard” — hugging the chin with no mustache, Janet said.

For decades, Bob was a “dedicated” co-leader of birding walks and excursions at Mass Audubon, she said. He published an audio field guide to “birding by ear” — identifying birds from their calls — which became part of the Peterson Field Guide series.

“It was a big seller in the birding world,” Janet said.

Bob was also an early member of ConcordCAN (Climate Action Network).

“When the issue of bottled water occupied Town Meeting, Bob constructed a huge trailer-mounted sculpture of 1,500 water bottles in the shape of a faucet to drive around town, park, and engage folks in conversation,” Janet said. 

“I clearly remember one day following him and his rumbling contraption in a separate car, and thinking, ‘What a fun and crazy life this is, being married to Bob.’ He liked people, and he liked contributing to the community, where he thought his skills would be useful.”