Time for us all to send strong healing prayers and vibes to Col Bruce Hampton- may he be well!!!
[Edited on 5/2/2017 by peachlovingman]
RIP Bruce. You changed my world. Godspeed.
I was hoping to wake up and find that this was some sort of stage antic. I'm not sure that most of the audience or the players on the stage realized what was happening.
Wow. Just wow.
Zambi - 2/15/2009 at 06:01 PM
I wish the old HTW site was archived someplace. I asked Butch once (when he still participated in the boards regularly) what his recollections were of playing with the Hampton Grease Band back in the day, and he had a couple good stories. I'll be damned if I can remember them though.....
I spent an afternoon with the Colonel back in April of 2003 in Cincinnati. He was playing a gig with band mates Bobby Lee Rodgers and Tyler Greenwell. Col. Bruce and I got to hang out and had lunch together. He missed guessing my birthday by a week or so but got my astrological sign right on the second try. We talked about baseball (Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine), astrology and the Zen qualities of Nascar. He told me that the van that they traveled in across the country purposely did not have a radio in it. The Colonel said that he had so much music in his head that the silence of the ride was the only thing that let it all escape out of his mind so he wouldn't musically overload.
We also talked about the Ludlow Garage concert venue in Cincinnati, where the Allman Brothers Band recorded the legendary "Live at Ludlow Garage" album in 1970. Col. Bruce told me that his Hampton Grease Band opened for the Allman Brothers that same night and on many of those Ludlow Garage gigs and he asked me if I knew Jim Tarbell. Tarbell was one of the people than ran the Ludlow Garage back in the day and was, at that time in 2003, a Cincinnati councilman. Bruce eventually got into the van and headed back to the hotel to relax and freshen up.
I did not know Jim Tarbell's phone number, but I had a plan. Local musician and radio host Katie Laur knew Tarbell so I gave her a call, but she wasn't home. So, I left a message saying that Col. Bruce was in town and was playing at the Barrelhouse later that night and that he knew Tarbell from the Ludlow Garage days - could you pass on this message?. All I ever got was a phone answering machine, yet the message must have gotten through as late in the first set Councilman Tarbell walks in the door. Inbetween sets Col. Bruce and Jim Tarbell met up backstage and relived the hippy days of old when groups like the Hampton Grease Band would open up for the original lineup of the Allman Brothers Band.
Col. Bruce also helped me out with my Derek Trucks interview in 2006. I had interviewed Derek T several times by that point and I wanted to do something different. So, I asked some top musicians who knew Derek if they had any questions for him....and many responded almost immediately....including Jerry Douglas and Col. Bruce.
Ok, I came up with an idea. There are a ton of other great musicians out there who appreciate your work, so I got the idea of asking a few of them to come up with a question or two for you. The response was immediate. First up to come up with questions for you were Dobro great Jerry Douglas and Col. Bruce Hampton. Here is a question from Col. Bruce Hampton……
Derek Trucks - “(laughs) These are good ones. I like it. Jerry Douglas and the Colonel!”
Hampton’s question is – “Who pitched two no-hitters in the 1950’s in the American League?”
Derek Trucks - "That’s beautiful. (laughing) Virgil Trucks. 1952. The second one against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He’s my great uncle. He’s still alive in Birmingham, Alabama. I got to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park when Ted Williams inducted Virgil Trucks. Ted Williams has his own Hall Of Fame in Florida, and Virgil couldn’t make it so Butch and I got to throw out the two first pitches. That was a blast. Susan sang the anthem, and we got to throw out the first pitch on Virgil Trucks Day at Fenway Park! Ted Williams said that he was one of the two hardest pitchers to hit against, so he was a bad-ass."
I last talked to Col. Bruce by the side of the stage at Warren Haynes' Christmas Jam in Asheville in 2013. We reconnected and had a good talk. The Aquarium Rescue Unit reunited that night and it was the last time I saw Col. Bruce in person.
Here is a video of Oteil talking about what he learned from Col. Bruce;
What's crazy is I can fully understand why all of the artists kept playing. Col. Bruce did so many crazy things on the stage that none of them thought it was out of the ordinary for him to fall over and lay on the stage.
I can only imagine the sadness they feel now that they know what happened.
Just a huge loss for music.
Great stories, DerekFC, thanks for sharing.
I knew Virgil was close Trucks family, but didn't know Derek threw out an opening pitch in his honor. Pretty amazing family.
Bruce was also interviewed on the Atlanta NPR affiliate WABE/90.1FM on Lois Reitzes' 11am daily show City Lights. Can't find it on the WABE web-site though... seems to be a couple days lag time before any of the on-air stuff shows up on their web-site.
Here's a link to his interview on NPR yesterday:
http://news.wabe.org/post/granddaddy-jam-scene-col-bruce-hampton-turns-70
Not a full review or anything, but I'd like to point out that last night's show was phenomenal right up to the final moment.
Too many highlights to mention, but the "Jessica" with Derek, Warren and Chuck was just off the hook! In all my times of seeing the Allman Brothers (lost count - between 50 - 75?) I have never heard them do the song with Chuck. Amazing version!
Then there was the Col. doing Frank Zappa's, "Trouble Every Day". Not only did they knock it out of the park - it was a very timely and relevant song to play.
There was "I'm So Glad" (Skip James - the Cream), "Fixin to Die", "Space is the Place" (Sun Ra), "Basically Frightened" ... so many strong points!
The Col. was in very, extremely rare form! His voice was as strong as I've ever heard and he played some powerful blues notes on that white SG!
So many strong points and highlights from so many amazing guests! The performance by itself should make the show forever memorable. The final 3 minutes ... I'll be processing this for a long, long time.
This seems like a dream somehow.
Too many highlights to mention, but the "Jessica" with Derek, Warren and Chuck was just off the hook! In all my times of seeing the Allman Brothers (lost count - between 50 - 75?) I have never heard them do the song with Chuck. Amazing version!
Indeed!
Here are a few of my thoughts on the show.
Most raucous Fox crowd I can remember since the Clash in '82. Seemed like everyone was standing from start to finish.
Some of the vocals sounded muddled to me in my non-sweet spot (for sound mix) at the back of the pit. Exceptions were the Colonel who sounded strong throughout, and Warren.
Loved the Jessica of course as it too was my first ABB-ish Chuck version. Speaking of Chuck, he sure played for a good long time, and he really got into some of the weirdish improv at times.
Have to say my highlight was Working on a Building. The groove laid down by Duane Trucks, Jeff Sipe and bassist Kevin Scott floored me. Never had heard of Scott before, but he impressed throughout the night.
Enjoyed Oliver Wood also, with whom I was unfamiliar. Need to look into the Wood Bros (and Kevin Scott).
I like REM and was really looking forward to seeing Pete Buck for the first time in decades. Was disappointed then that he looked to be in some sort of a trance throughout his playing, showing zero emotion or much effort.
Whether it was due to my low seating area or simply inattention, I did not notice the Colonel's collapse, and I'm grateful for that (and have no intention of watching the videos). Rather, I will remember near the end when the Colonel and Derek chatted and laughed together, and clearly delighted in each other's company. My guess is that Derek heard the Colonel's last words. I hope someday he finds some comfort in that.
Great mention of Kevin Scott, Brock.
Kevin might be one of the Colonel's last musical protegees. From the hamlet of Gadsden, Alabama - the home of legendary music fan, Randy Stephens (AKA Bupalo1). Randy, who was a friend to many in these parts was in a sense, a small-time Col. Bruce who was not a musician. He was a die-hard music fan and an un-paid, non-professional music promoter of sorts. Kevin Scott was one of the locals - rising up through the ranks playing with folks like Highly Kind (recorded by Johnny Sandlin). Kevin was one of the players who Randy promoted about on this site. When you think about it - it's all one long chain.
Obviously, I'm thinking a lot about Col. Bruce. This morning I thought about the "revisitation" movie that came out a few years ago, "Oz the Great and Powerful". The movie was ... fair, at best. James Franco was cast as the Wizard - the man behind the curtain. It occurs to me that Col. Bruce should have been cast in that role. In hindsight, it seems that nobody else in the world should have even been considered.
Sorry about the rambling, disjointed post.
Site with setlist and lots of photos from the performance and pre-show: http://liveforlivemusic.com/news/col-bruce-hampton-70-photos-setlist/
I'll try to shut up now.
Bruce was also interviewed on the Atlanta NPR affiliate WABE/90.1FM on Lois Reitzes' 11am daily show City Lights. Can't find it on the WABE web-site though... seems to be a couple days lag time before any of the on-air stuff shows up on their web-site.
Here's a link to his interview on NPR yesterday:
http://news.wabe.org/post/granddaddy-jam-scene-col-bruce-hampton-turns-70
Thanks for sharing this! Recorded just hours before the show. I urge all to listen to the entire 12:12.
