A Sense Of Belonging With Shane

My eyes poured over a choppy newspaper scan from the Delaware County Daily Times, November 15th 1974. It was my first break in locating the mysterious artist known only as Shane. I continued to read. “Bobby says his song is about people who can’t really relate to anything … maybe to the wind because they can feel it, or dirt, because they can touch it. But nothing else.” It was an interview with Shane AKA Bobby Cornett on his musical career and newly released single “I Belong To The Wind”. An echo-laden, organ driven ballad as haunting as it is beautiful. Shane’s vocals conveying wisdom atop a sense of tender hurt. As a connoisseur of the appropriately adorned musical styling “downer folk”, his lyrics resonated with me. I had a million questions for Shane. I picked up the phone and started dialing.

Bobby Cornett grew up in project housing in McCaffery Village of Chester, PA. A little league ball player trying to stay out of trouble, Bobby found his first guitar in a trash heap at the age of 13. It was a Kay acoustic that was in need of some new strings and a few repairs. Bobby sorted it out and practiced til his fingers bled. Music became his life. After writing hundreds of songs and steady gigging around the greater Chester, PA, Bobby drove out to Virtue Studios in Philadelphia to record his first single, “I Belong To The Wind”. He paid $500 to have 500 copies pressed on his own label Danielle Records, named after his daughter. The song achieved local success and Bobby sold out all the copies at his shows. He was an entertainer that loved to perform and continued to do so for years playing with such notable groups as Danny and the Juniors and Bill Haley’s Comets. Bobby still plays music to this day and is looking forward to getting out to play live once the pandemic is over.

While his song “I Belong To The Wind” was never a commercial success due to the harsh political landscape of the 70’s music business, it has taken on a new life and acclaim in the present day. A singer songwriter pouring himself and his pain into music with an inimitable authenticity was not in vain. It has fallen on the ears of a passionate community of record collectors. His lyrics are the perfect rallying cry for the thousands of artists who have created what is now labeled “outsider music”. Musicians who weren’t signed to a major label but simply had to create because it’s who they were. Boot-strapping their own record labels and music production, they created amazing songs that have flown under the radar for years. I am thankful for this age of musical reawakening and the ability to hear lost gems like “I Belong To The Wind”. Thank you for creating truly moving music Bobby. We hear you … and you belong right here.