If Only I Was Free b/w A Letter to My Daughter

Bobby Fisher is a Toronto singer, songwriter, recording artist, and Elvis tribute performer best known for the 1977 LP Canada’s Own Elvis. Born Robert Fisher in Toronto on March 8, 1952, he became interested in Elvis Presley as a child, singing along with Presley records from around the age of ten. By his mid-teens he had taken that fascination onto the stage, first performing in Toronto-area nightclubs and then building a wider Ontario following.

Before he became known mainly for his Elvis tribute work, Fisher had already begun writing and recording his own material. His song 'Follow' was written in 1968 and later released as a single in 1975, appearing on the Sundown and Periwinkle labels. Around the same period he was also active in commercial work, writing and singing jingles for radio and television and using his voice for celebrity-style impressions.

Fisher’s best remembered Canadian release is Canada’s Own Elvis, issued in 1977 on G.C. Records. The album presented him with the backing group Solid Gold, featuring Glenn Gregory on bass guitar, Alan Dames on drums, Bill Wright on keyboards, and Charlie Calvo on rhythm and lead guitar. The record mixed Presley-associated songs such as 'Burning Love', 'Don’t Be Cruel', 'Kentucky Rain', 'All Shook Up', and 'Promised Land' with Fisher’s own 'Follow'. The back cover notes, written by Jack Winter of CKFH in Toronto, framed Fisher as a performer able to handle the sound and style of Presley’s 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s periods rather than copying only one era.

In 1977, following Presley’s death, Fisher also recorded the tribute song 'What Will We Do Without You'. The song appeared on the 1978 various-artists picture disc To Elvis: Love Still Burning, alongside other tribute recordings by artists including Danny Mirror, Leon Everette, Johnny Tollison, Ral Donner, and others. The record became one of the better-known Elvis memorial compilations of the period and helped place Fisher within the larger wave of late-1970s Elvis tribute performers.

Fisher continued recording into the early 1980s. In 1980, four songs were leased to Attic Records and issued across two singles, including 'Joneen' backed with 'Heart To Heart'. After that period he stepped back from regular recording and performing to focus more heavily on songwriting. By the late 1980s he had built a large catalogue of original songs and returned to the studio with 'A Little Girl Needs Her Daddy', a personal song connected to his own life.

In later years Fisher performed under his own name as Robert Fisher, presenting tribute shows across Ontario. His Showcase of Stars act expanded beyond Elvis to include material associated with Neil Diamond, Engelbert Humperdinck, Conway Twitty, and other popular singers. A 2011 Ontario newspaper feature described him as a grand champion tribute artist and noted that he continued to perform benefit shows, including concerts for senior citizens’ groups.

-Robert Williston