Rich Bartlett was born in a one room shack, the seventh son of a turkey farmer, in Tupelo, Mississippi, in the middle part of the last century. Young Rich knew very early on that he was not cut out for the life of a 'gobbler grabber,' and he soon found other interests. Late at night, trying to ignore the chorus of snores cascading through the shack, he would tune his tiny hand made transistor radio into the local R+B stations. For Rich it was like discovering a whole new universe. By the time he was 8 he was fully versed in the music of people such as Robert Johnson and Willie Dixon, and it was around this time that he first heard talk of a young man with the odd name of Elvis touring the south. It would be a few years before Rich actually saw Elvis perform, but when he did, it made a lasting impression on him. It was the playing of Elvis' guitarist Scotty Moore that first made Rich want to play, and ever since, he has done just that. Leaving home at age 18, he settled in Boston and began a distinguished musical career which found him in various and successfull rock bands such as The Front Page Review, and the The Rhythm A's, but it was not until 1978 that he found his niche, as the co-founder and guitar player of the legendary comic rock band The Fools. But while touring the world with The Fools, he never lost his love of roots based rock n' roll in general, and Elvis in particular, so when drummer Jeff Mate' popped the question Rich was ready. All the licks he'd remembered and stored up could finally be used. Rich Bartlett plays the Elvis stuff with all the respect it deserves and in doing so he shows himself to be a world caliber guitar player.