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Bruce Hampton

 
Artist: Col. Bruce Hampton
 
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Col. Bruce Hampton

Similar Artists:

Raging Slab, The Kentucky Headhunters

Followers:

Blueground Undergrass

Formal Connection With:

Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz Is Dead
  • Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Arkansas," "Mirrors of Embarrassment," "Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit"

Biography

Equal parts psychedelicized Allman Brothers and boogiefied Grateful Dead (with a dash of Commander Cody thrown in), Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit capitalized on the nuevo-hippie movement that swept through America in the early '90s. The Atlanta-born Hampton has been kicking around the Southern music circuit since the early '60s; as the Hampton Grease Band, he released Music to Eat on Columbia Records in 1969. After the Grease Band folded, Hampton released a solo effort (One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist in 1978) and then founded New Ice Age, which soon evolved into the Late Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age released two albums, Outside Looking Out (1980) and Isles of Langerhan (1982). The Colonel recorded a second solo album, Arkansas, in 1984 and by 1987 the group had broken up. Hampton then formed the Aquarium Rescue Unit, an eclectic congregation adept at everything from country-swing jazz to meltdown Southern boogie and over-amped gospel bluegrass. By the time of 1992's Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit, the band featured Oteil Burbridge on bass and vocals, guitarist Jimmy Herring, Matt Mundy on electric mandolin and vocals, and drummer Apt. Q258; the record documented a live date from the previous September. The band's first studio album, Mirrors of Embarrassment, was released in mid-1993, concurrent with an appearance on the H.O.R.D.E. tour. Shortly after the release of Mirrors of Embarrassment, Hampton left the group, but the Aquarium Rescue Unit continued touring and recording without him, releasing In a Perfect World in 1996. Hampton released the career retrospect Strange Voices: A History 1977-1987 in 1994 and soon formed a new band, Fiji Mariners, releasing an LP under that name in 1996. Also in 1996, Hampton was given his first motion picture role -- playing Morris in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade. His new Fiji outfit spent most of the next few years on the road and the inevitable (for Hampton anyway) live album, Live, was released in 1998. The group continued to tour extensively, on up to May 1999 when they disbanded. During the ensuing hiatus, Hampton performed live with various ensembles and appeared in Phishman Mike Gordon's 1999 film Outside Out. In 2006, Hampton formed yet another jam supergroup, the Quark Alliance, and released Give Thanks to Chank in 2007. ~ John Floyd & John Bush, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Bruce Hampton
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Bruce Hampton
Col. Bruce Hampton at the 2009 Wanee Festival
Col. Bruce Hampton at the 2009 Wanee Festival
Background information
Birth name Gustav Berglund III
Born 1947
Origin Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Genre(s) Rock, Fusion
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 1960s - present
Label(s) Brato Ganibe, Capricorn, Columbia
Associated acts Hampton Grease Band
Late Bronze Age
New Ice Age
Aquarium Rescue Unit
Fiji Mariners
The Quark Alliance
Website bratoganibe.com
Notable instrument(s)
Chazoid

Bruce Hampton (born Gustav Berglund III in 1947) is a surrealist American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia's avant-garde Hampton Grease Band. Adopting the moniker Colonel Bruce Hampton, Retired, and sometimes playing a sort of dwarf guitar called a "chazoid", he later formed several other bands, including The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, The Fiji Mariners, The Codetalkers, and his most recent project, known as Col. Bruce and The Quark Alliance.

Contents

Career

As a member of the Hampton Grease Band, Bruce Hampton helped record the 1971 album Music to Eat, said to have been the second-worst-selling album in Columbia Records history. The worst selling album was a yoga instructional record.

Hampton's band The Late Bronze Age consisted of Hampton B. Coles, Ret. (Bruce Hampton) on vocals, slide guitar, mandolin, and chazoid; Ben "Pops" Thornton (Billy McPherson) on vocals, guitar, saxophones, and keyboards; Lincoln Metcalfe (Ricky Keller) on bass, guitar, brass, and vocals; and Bubba Phreon (Jerry Fields) on drums, percussion, trombone, and vocals.

Hampton helped start the 1990s seminal H.O.R.D.E. tours. The best known of his bands to play H.O.R.D.E. is the jazz-rock outfit Aquarium Rescue Unit, which featured improvisational music all-stars Oteil Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Matt Mundy and Jeff Sipe.

Hampton played Morris, the songwriting band manager, in Billy Bob Thornton's 1996 film Sling Blade. He also starred in Mike Gordon's 2001 film Outside Out teaching guitar 'out'struction.

Grammy-nominated blues singer and longtime friend Susan Tedeschi wrote a song about Bruce called "Hampmotized." It appears on her 2002 release Wait For Me. Hampton returned the favor on his most recent album with the song "Susan T".

Discography

Main releases

  • 1971 - Music to Eat - Hampton Grease Band (Columbia Records)
  • 1978 - One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist - Col. Bruce Hampton (Terminus Records)
  • 1980 - Outside Looking Out - Col. Bruce Hampton and the Late Bronze Age (Terminus Records)
  • 1982 - Isles of Langerhan - Col. Bruce Hampton and the Late Bronze Age (Terminus Records)
  • 1984 - Arkansas - Col. Bruce Hampton (Terminus Records)
  • 1992 - Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit - Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (Capricorn Records)
  • 1993 - Mirrors of Embarrassment - Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (Capricorn Records)
  • 1994 - Strange Voices: A History 1977-1987 - Col. Bruce Hampton (Landslide Records)
  • 1996 - Fiji Mariners - Fiji Mariners featuring Col. Bruce Hampton (Volcano Records)
  • 1998 - Live - Fiji Mariners featuring Col. Bruce Hampton (Volcano Records)
  • 2000 - Bootleg Live! - The Codetalkers featuring Col. Bruce Hampton
  • 2004 - Deluxe Edition - The Codetalkers featuring Col. Bruce Hampton (re-released in 2007 as Dee-lux Uh-dish-un)
  • 2006 - Now - The Codetalkers
  • 2007 - Give Thanks To Chank - Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance (Brato Ganibe Records)
  • 2008 - Songs Of The Solar Ping - Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret. (Brato Ganibe Records)

With various artists

As a guest musician

References

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bruce Hampton".  Read more

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