Timothy Alan Patrick Rose was born in September 1940 and brought up in Washington, D.C. where he won the top music award at High School. (Unfortunately, he lost a university scholarship to a tuba player).

He trained for the priesthood - before being thrown out for inappropriate behavior ('I realised I wasn’t going to be the Pope,' he said later, 'and if you can’t be the boss, why join the company?')- served as a USAF navigator in Strategic Air Command, was a merchant seaman on the S.S. Atlantic, and worked in a bank, before becoming involved in the music business.

His first professional experience was with The Smoothies - two members, John Phillips and Scott McKenzie, later achieved musical fame: Phillips as a member of the Mamas and the Papas, and Scott McKenzie as performer of the Philipps-penned hit San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair). In 1962, Tim and Michael Boran from The Smoothies worked as Michael and Timothy (pictured), but Tim wanted something different.

He was introduced to Cass Elliot at a party in Georgetown, D.C. and they hit it off immediately. Tim described Cass as the funniest and most talented person he has ever met. After trying a few songs together, they went on the road as The Triumvirate. In Omaha, Nebraska, they recruited James Hendricks before heading for New York City as The Big Three. During an intensive year, they recorded two albums, appeared on 26 national TV shows, and self-destructed after Tim found out that Jim and Cass had secretly married.

CBS, in the wake of their success with Bob Dylan, began looking for singer/ songwriters and signed Tim to a multi-year deal. The blues, folk and rock influences made his first album impossible to market. It fitted no niche. Nonetheless, from the album cover to the use of quality young session musicians, David Rubinson, the producer delivered a classic album to CBS.

Jimi Hendrix picked up Tim's version of the traditional Hey Joe and made a European hit out of it. While Tim had his own success in the States with Hey Joe and the follow-up Morning Dew, a pirate disc jockey, Simon Dee, finally broke the writer himself in England.

Following this success, he spent the late sixties and seventies working with sideman John Bonham, Aynsley Dunbar, Alex Damovsky, John McVie, Andy Summers, Eric Weissberg, Russ Kunkle, Pete Seers and appeared with Traffic, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors, Uriah Heep, Johnny Mathis, Frank Zappa, Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart. In the 1970s he moved to England, and lived there for much of the rest of his life.

After The Gambler (President Records) in 1978, Tim returned to New York for a number of years. During that time, he was involved in construction work, sang, acted and did voice-overs on tv commercials, and was a Wall Street stockbroker. He continued writing and performing at select venues. It was an interesting period in the music cycle and the wheels on Tim's cycle were adjusted.

In 1996, encouraged by Nick Cave and Dutch film makers, Suzan Ijermanns and Jacques Laureys, he returned to Europe and played both the Royal Albert Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. A new album, Haunted, was released with recordings from these performances. He also appeared on the BBC show Later with Jools Holland.

In April 2001, the Tim Rose Band was the opening act at the Bergen Blues and Jazz Festival in Norway. Jacques Laurey's film about Tim, Where Was I?, was premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival. His final album, American Son, was released in February 2002 to considerable acclaim.

The CD Not goin' anywhere by top Norwegian band Headwaiter, featuring four songs with lyrics by Tim Rose and a duet with the lead singer Per Jorgenson, was launched in Norway in September 2002. Copies are available on our shop page, along with sound samples.

In 2002, Tim had completed a successful tour of Ireland and had a number of gigs planned around the UK. He died after an operation for cancer in September 2002. He married once, was divorced, and had no children. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Source : http://www.tim-rose.co.uk/biography.htm