2004 – Slipknot: A 21-year-old Central Michigan University student suffers a fatal heart attack during a Detroit concert by Iowan gore rockers Slipknot. The student’s mother says concert conditions were not to blame for his death.
2003 – Ja Rule becomes the first high-profile international artist to tour South Africa.
Jeffrey Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper and actor signed to The Inc. and Universal Records formerly of Def Jam Recordings. A Hollis, New York native best-known for hits such as “Put It On Me,” “Between Me And You,” “I’m Real” and “Wonderful,” Ja Rule has released seven albums to date and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.
Biography
Early years
Born and raised in a Hollis, Queens, New York housing project, he attended Junior High School in Floral Park where he met his future wife Aisha Murray, graduating with her in 1991. They attended Martin Van Buren High School together, but he did not graduate.
When Atkins was five years old, his sister died from respiratory problems. His parents were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Growing up in a strict religious home, Atkin’s family did not celebrate birthdays and Christmas, and as a child, was not allowed to listen to rap music. When he first heard it, he decided to be a rapper. He would sneak the music into his house and played it on his CD player when his mother wasn’t around. Ja Rule allegedly stated that although he had previously attended a school in Queens, he transferred to a private school in Manhattan because of bullying about his small height. During his interview with Louis Farrakahn, he stated that he was the only black student at the school and said that because of his race, the other kids didn’t bother him.
At age 15, Atkins appeared with 0-1 and Chris Black as part of Cash Money Click which would lead to him being signed by TVT Records. Atkins was heard by a young DJ who called himself DJ Irv, and later Irv Gotti. Gotti was a friend of Jay-Z and a DJ for Def Jam Recordings . During the mid 90′s, Gotti was intent on meeting Ja Rule and helping him land a solo deal, eventually scoring one at Def Jam. Shortly after Def Jam decided to launch his career through the success of Jay-Z. Ja would appear on Jay-Z’s hit single Can I Get A… alongside Amil . Soon after we would quickly become one of the more popular rappers in the game as well as one of Def Jam’s premier acts.
Music career
Venni Vetti Vecci (1999)
On June 1, 1999, Ja Rule released his debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci. The album marked not only Ja’s debut, but the debut album from his label, Murder Inc. Records. Venni Vetti Vecci instantly launched Ja Rule’s career as he became a staple on hip hop and pop networks like MTV, VH1, and BET. The album featured “Holla Holla” along with “Its Murda” with Jay-Z and DMX. The final single was “Daddy’s Little Baby,” a duet with Ronald Isley. These three singles and the production coming from Irv Gotti along with performances from Memphis Bleek, Erick Sermon, Case, Black Child, Nemesis, and Caddillac Tah, then known as Tah Murdah, along with a notable performance from his mentor, Jay-Z led to the album going platinum.
Rule 3:36 (2000)
Ja Rule would return during the summer of 2000, with his new single “Between Me and You,” which featured Def Soul act Christina Milian. The single was quickly followed by Ja’s second effort, Rule 3:36, which was released on October 10, 2000. 3:36 also featured singles “Put It On Me,” and “I Cry.” The album featured guest appearances from Lil Mo, Vita, Christina Milian, label mates Jayo Felony, and Black Child. The album received mixed responses from critics due to its more commercial sound, abandoning a bit the darker street sound of his debut. Despite this, the album fared extremely well and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts, eventually going 3x Platinum. The release of this album marked a huge turn in Ja Rule’s style of music from a more hardcore edge to a pop crossover oriented sound.
Pain Is Love (2001)
Soon after the release of Rule 3:36, Irv Gotti would sign R&B singer Ashanti to the label, which led to Lil Mo ending her collaborations with the label. During the late summer of 2001, Ja Rule released the lead single from his third studio album, Pain Is Love, which was “Livin’ It Up.” The second single was the “I’m Real (remix),” and the third was “Always On Time,” and the last was “Down Ass Bitch.” This album is noted for two things the first is introducing a young Ashanti to the music business and the second is bringing Charli Baltimore back to the music business. Pain Is Love featured guest appearances from Case, The Murder Inc. Family, Missy Elliott, Jodie Mack, Tweet, Jennifer Lopez and a recording from the late Tupac Shakur. Along with its critical success it was also a commercial success it, like its predecessor went 3x Platinum.
The Last Temptation (2002)
Ja Rule would shave his head during the promotion of his fourth studio album, The Last Temptation. His fourth album was released on November 19, 2002. Although the album was fairly successful, certified platinum, it failed to carry the momentum brought by his previous album, criticized for being too commercial. It seemed that Ja’s popularity was starting to fade, due to many fan’s perceived notion that he was now catering exclusively to pop audiences.
Blood In My Eye (2003)
Blood In My Eye is the fifth album from Ja Rule. The content of this album led to a dramatic fall in his popularity. This album is also noted as the last Ja Rule album released by The Inc. Records under the moniker Murder Inc. This was partially due to Ja’s disses and death threats to adversaries, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes (a former associate), Eminem, Dr. Dre, DMX, and G-Unit. The album was originally planned to be a mixtape, but former label Def Jam Recordings forced him to release an album in 2003 to honor the contract, where he released an album every year. Blood In My Eye peaked at #6, but became his first album not to go gold or platinum, making it his lowest selling to date. On this album, Ja sparked rivalries with many artists on the Interscope Records roster. In October 2003, Ja Rule met with Minster Louis Farrakhan, who wanted to intervene and prevent escalating violence in the feud between 50 Cent and Ja Rule.
R.U.L.E. (2004)
Ja Rule returned to form on his sixth studio album, R.U.L.E. released on November 9, 2004. This album was considered a comeback of sorts for Ja as he attempted a return to mainstream success. The lead single was “Wonderful” which was followed by the street anthem, “New York,” the third and last single was “Caught Up”. The album featured guest appearances from Ashanti, Lloyd, Trick Daddy, R. Kelly, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Claudette Ortiz, Black Child, Caddillac Tah and many more. Despite not having the staying power of his earlier albums R.U.L.E. still managed to go gold, a feat he hadn’t accomplished since 2002 with The Last Temptation.
Exodus (2005)
On December 6, 2005, Ja Rule released his seventh album, which is nothing more than a greatest hits album. It featured only one new song “Exodus (Intro)” which was produced by Irv Gotti. The album was released to honor the contract with Def Jam so that The Inc. could get a fresh start with a new distributor. After the release of this compilation, Ja Rule took a hiatus from recording music.
Departure from Def Jam (2005-2006)
In 2005, The Inc. Records would come under investigation because of the drug trades by Kenneth “Supreme” Mc Griff, who is associated with Irv Gotti. This would all lead to Def Jam Recordings refusing to renew The Inc.’s contract. From 2005 to 2006, Irv would search for other labels, until finally reaching a deal with Universal Records.
The Mirror (2008)
This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
In March, 2008, Ja Rule planned to release his Universal Records debut and eighth studio album, The Mirror. The first single, “Uh Oh” was released on July 31, 2007 and premiered on music video shows the following day. This second single, “Body” was released in September. The album contains a collaboration with former G-Unit artist, The Game , whom he had once had a lyrical altercation with, called “Sunset.” The album was originally supposed to be titled Love Is Pain as a sequel to his album Pain Is Love. The album eventually was pushed back a second time with no definitive release date.
Personal life
Criminal charges
In 1999, he along with the rest of Murder Inc. were brought up on charges for assaulting 50 Cent, which led to a restraining order against them for 50. Also in 2003, he punched a man in Toronto for shouting at him in a crowd because of the 50 Cent feud. He would end up suing Ja Rule, but they settled out of court. In 2004, police investigated whether a feud involving The Inc. led to fatal shooting outside a nightclub party hosted by Ja Rule. In July 2007, Ja Rule was arrested for gun and drug possession charges along with Lil Wayne.
Romantic life
Ja Rule met his future wife, Aisha while attending middle school and they married when they were eighteen.
Homophobia
In the September 2007 issue of Complex magazine, Ja Rule was mistakenly reported to have expressed that homosexuals are to be blamed for the problems and destruction in the United States, and was disgusted at MTV’s promotion of LGBT television shows. He also spoke out about how hip hop is being blamed for more issues than homosexuality, and perpetuated the belief that gays are evil and corrupting music and television.
“ “And if it is, then we need to go step to Paramount, and fucking MGM, and all of these other motherfuckers that’s making all of these movies and we need to go step to MTV and Viacom, and lets talk about all these fucking shows that they have on MTV that is promoting homosexuality, that my kids can’t watch this shit,” he continued. “Dating shows that’s showing two guys or two girls in mid-afternoon. Let’s talk about shit like that! If that’s not fucking up America, I don’t know what is.” ”
His comments prompted a strong rebuke from GLAAD, who issued a public statement stating, “No fair-minded person can look at Ja Rule’s interview with Complex Magazine and believe for one second that his children could be more harmed by what they might see on television than by the vulgarity and prejudice that comes out of their father’s mouth. Now that media have seen Ja Rule’s intolerance unmasked by his own words, they have a responsibility not to provide in the future a platform for his ugly, vulgar displays of prejudice.”
It was later revealed that GLAAD had been mistaken and that he was actually mis-quoted in an interview with online MySpace interview channel The Hook Up on October 24, 2007. He went on in a January 2008 issue of XXL Magazine to state his words were taken out of context. He is quote as stating:
“ “What I was saying in that article is everyone has that same responsibility. They’re absolutely right: Rappers have a responsibility to the kids. But don’t just pin it on the hip-hop. If I gotta curb my lyrics or censor what I say, no problem. But if you gonna show sexual images during the daytime for children, that should be censored as well … And I’m not just talking about homosexuality. I’m talking about any sexuality. If it’s too sexy for kids, its too sexy for kids …” ”
Hip Hop entrepreneur
Aside from being president of The Inc. Records, Ja Rule is the owner and founder of Rule Global Media. This consists of Mpire Records, ErvingGeoffrey, and Stars On Poker.net.
The Inc. Records
Ja Rule co-founded The Inc. Records along with Irv Gotti in 1997. When it was formed, because of it being a vanity label, Def Jam owned a 50% stake in the label.
In 2002, Irv Gotti granted Ja Rule 50% of his share of the label due to his recent success on the charts. The next year, Ja Rule was named label president while Irv is the primary owner and the label CEO.
Mpire Records
In 2006, Ja Rule formed his own label to be distributed by The Inc., Mpire Records. To the label, he has signed Young Merc, Ashley Joi, D. Gift, Boxie, Tre, Newz, and Thunderkatz. He owns 100 percent of this label, which is a subsidiary of The Inc. Also signed to the label are his group Cash Money Click.
ErvingGeoffrey
In 2004, Ja Rule teamed up with Irv Gotti to create their own clothing line, ErvingGeoffrey, which is an urban wear clothing line. It is prominently featured in various Inc-associated videos and on their artists various albums.
Philanthropy
Atkins teamed up with associates of Tupac Shakur’s organization and founded L.I.F.E Foundation, which opens its doors to underprivileged kids. The foundation has various programs which include art, music, poetry and sports.
Discography
Main article: Ja Rule discography
* 1999: Venni Vetti Vecci
* 2000: The Murderers
* 2000: Rule 3:36
* 2001: Pain Is Love
* 2002: The Inc.
* 2002: The Remixes
* 2002: The Last Temptation
* 2003: Blood in My Eye
* 2004: R.U.L.E.
* 2005: Exodus
* 2008: The Mirror
Awards history
Award Category Genre Song/Album Year Result
Source Hip-Hop Music Award Single of the Year Rap/Hip-Hop “Put It On Me” 2001 Won
Source Award R&B/Rap Collboration of the Year R&B/Rap “Thug Lovin’” 2003 Won
Source Award Fat Tape Song of the Year Rap/Hip-Hop “Clap Back” 2004 Won
MTV Video Music Award Best Rap Video Rap “Put It On Me” 2001 Nominated
MTV Video Music Award Best Hip-Hop Video Hip-Hop “Im Real (Murder Remix)” 2002 Won
MTV Video Music Award Best Hip-Hop Video Hip-Hop “Always On Time” 2002 Nominated
American Music Award Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist Rap/Hip-Hop – 2002 Nominated
American Music Award Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Male Artist Hip-Hop/R&B – 2003 Nominated
Grammy Award Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Rap/Hip-Hop “Put It On Me” 2002 Nominated
Grammy Award Best Rap Album Rap “Pain Is Love” 2002 Nominated
Grammy Award Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap/Sung “Livin’ It Up” 2002 Nominated
Grammy Award Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Rap/Sung “Always On Time” 2003 Nominated
World Music Award World’s Best-Selling Rap Artist Rap/Hip-Hop – 2002 Won
BET Award Best Male Hip-Hop Artist Artist Hip-Hop – 2002 Won
GQ Men of the Year Award Musician of the Year Rap/Hip-Hop – 2002 Won
Teen Choice Award Male Artist of the Year Rap/Hip-Hop – 2002 Won
NAACP Image Award Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist Rap/Hip-Hop – 2002 Won
Soul Train Award Best Rap/Soul or Rap Album of the Year Rap “Pain Is Love” 2002 Nominated
Acting career
During his break from rapping, Ja Rule co-starred in the movie The Fast and the Furious with Vin Diesel. He appeared on the 2004 movie Back in The Day along with Ving Rhames and Pam Grier. He was also starred in the movie The Cookout with Queen Latifah. He is working on his bio-pic and on Saw IV.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Da Hip Hop Witch Himself
2000 Turn it Up David ‘Gage’ Williams
2001 Crime Partners 2000
2001 The Fast and the Furious Edwin
2002 Half Past Dead Nicolas ‘Nick’ Frazier
2003 Scary Movie 3 Agent Thompson
2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Himself
2004 The Cookout Bling Bling
2004 Shall We Dance? Hip Hop Bar Performer
2005 Back in the Day Reggie Cooper
2005 Assault on Precinct 13 Smiley
2007 Kenny TBA post-production
2007 Furnace TBA post-production
2007 Don’t Fade Away TBA post-production
2003 – Linda Suffoletto, hospitalized following the Rhode Island nightclub fire set off by rock band Great White’s pyrotechnics, dies, bringing the death toll to 97. Sixty people remain hospitalized.
2003 – A lawyer for Great White’s tour manager says the band had permission from a Rhode Island nightclub to use pyrotechnics at their fatal Feb. 20 show. Ninety-six people died after the club caught fire. The Boston Herald reports the band’s record sales are up following the tragedy.
1998 – Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), the one-time singer/songwriter who gained fame as half of vocal duo Sonny and Cher, dies from head injuries after hitting a tree while skiing. He is 62.
On January 5, 1998, Bono died of injuries after striking a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of the Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California.
Bono’s death came just days after Michael Kennedy, a son of Robert F. Kennedy, died in a similar skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. Bono’s widow, Mary, was elected to fill the remainder of the Congressional term. Over 10 years after his death, she continues to champion many of Sonny’s causes, including the ongoing fight to save the Salton Sea.
After Sonny’s death, Mary told an interviewer from TV Guide that Sonny was addicted to and seriously abusing prescription drugs, mainly Vicodin and Valium. Even though Mary claimed that Sonny’s drug use caused the accident, the autopsy showed no narcotics and only a very small amount of Valium, not enough to cause impairment according to the Washoe County Coroner’s report.
After being asked by Mary Bono, Sonny’s ex-wife, Cher, gave a eulogy at Bono’s funeral. His final resting place is Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. The epitaph on Bono’s headstone reads: “And The Beat Goes On.”
Breaking news in April 2008:
Sonny Bono was clubbed to death by hired hitmen, according to a stunning new tabloid expose. An investigator who has been researching Bono’s 1998 fatal skiing accident for the past decade claims top officials linked to an international drug and weapons ring feared the singer-turned-politician was about to expose their criminal acts – and so they had him killed on the slopes.
Cher’s ex-husband Bono’s death was listed as a “skiing accident” with family and friends satisfied he died after colliding with a tree on the piste in Nevada in January 1998.
But former FBI agent Ted Gunderson tells America’s Globe that there’s more to the tragedy than meets the eye, after studying the autopsy reports and other evidence.
He says, “It’s nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. There’s zero evidence in this autopsy report… to show such an accident happened. Instead, there’s powerful proof he (Bono) was assassinated. This was an evil plot that was carried out to almost perfection by ruthless assassins.”
Gunderson tells the Globe that Bono, an experienced skiier, was ambushed on the slopes by hired hitmen, who beat him to death and then staged a tree collision.
The retired FBI agent is now calling for the authorities to exhume Bono’s remains and open a homicide investigation.
Gunderson’s efforts have been backed by top forensics experts, who fear Nevada authorities were too quick to mark the tragedy as a skiing accident, and investigator Bob Fletcher, who has confessed he sent evidence of a 10-year study that linked top U.S. government officials to arms and weapons dealers to Bono less than a month before his death.
Fletcher says, “He was going to make it his number one priority… There’s no doubt in my mind Sonny was murdered by someone who needed him silenced.”
1996 – Smashing Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin is fired from the band. A week earlier the drummer had been arrested on drug-possession charges in connection with the fatal overdose of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin.
1992 – Jerry Nolan drummer with The New York Dolls died from a fatal stroke. The influential American band formed in 1972 and made just two albums, the 1973 ‘New York Dolls’ and 1974 ‘Too Much Too Soon’.
1977 – Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd are killed when their rented plane crashes in a swamp near Gillsburg, Miss.
20 October 1977, 6:55 pm. While flying from Greenville, South Carolina to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s chartered Convair 240 aircraft crashed in a Mississippi swamp. The plane was carrying 24 passengers and 2 crew members. The band members on board were: Allen Collins, Cassie Gaines, Steve Gaines, Leslie Hawkins, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, and Leon Wilkeson. Rumour has it that several of those involved had misgivings about flying on the plane, and that they planned to get rid of it once they had reached Baton Rouge. Cassie Gaines lacked confidence in the aircraft and Jo Jo Billingsley (who was not on the plane) had a dream that the plane had crashed. She called Allen Collins, asking him to tell the others not to get on it. Stage manager, Clayton Johnson, remarked afterwards that, “There had been a lot of mistrust of that airplane since we chartered it.”
The following account is from keyboardist Billy Powell:
“The right engine started sputtering, and I went up to the cockpit. The pilot said they were just transferring oil from one wing to another, everything’s okay. Later, the engine went dead. Artimus [Pyle] and I ran to the cockpit. The pilot was in shock. He said, ‘Oh my God, strap in.’ Ronnie [Van Zant] had been asleep on the floor and Artimus got him up and he was really pissed. We strapped in and a minute later we crashed. The pilot said he was trying for a field, but I didn’t see one. The trees kept getting closer, they kept getting bigger. Then there was a sound like someone hitting the outside of the plane with hundreds of baseball bats. I crashed into a table; people were hit by flying objects all over the plane. Ronnie was killed with a single head injury. The top of the plane was ripped open. Artimus crawled out the top and said there was a swamp, maybe alligators. I kicked my way out and felt for my hands — they were still there. I felt for my nose and it wasn’t, it was on the side of my face. There was just silence. Artimus and Ken Peden and I ran to get help, Artimus with his ribs sticking out.”
Artimus Pyle remembers strapping Ronnie Van Zant into his seat and trying to put a velvet cushion under his head. They crashed into a swamp in McComb, Mississippi, and the plane was destroyed by the impact. There was no fire. Two crew members and four of the passengers were killed; twenty others were injured. Those who were not killed lay for hours, awaiting rescue. Pyle, despite suffering a broken sternum and several broken ribs, ran for help. About a mile away, he came upon a farmhouse and ran, raving, towards it. The farmer, Johnny Mote, frightened by Pyle’s dirty, bloody appearance, mistook him for a madman and shot him in the shoulder. (The shotgun blast was not fatal.) Once Mote realized that Pyle was a refugee of the plane crash, he called for help.
Read the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) report about the cause and damage of the crash.
The effect of the crash was devastating. In addition to general cuts and bruises…
Allen Collins suffered two cracked neck vertebrae and an arm amputation was recommended. (His father refused.)
Leslie Hawkins endured a concussion, broke her neck in three places, and had facial injuries which required plastic surgery. She was partially paralyzed and suffered permanent neurological damage.
Billy Powell sustained severe facial lacerations. (Powell was the only band member well enough, on crutches and with his face in bandages, to attend the funerals of those who perished.)
Artimus Pyle suffered a broken sternum and several broken ribs.
Gary Rossington broke both legs and both arms and sustained a concussion.
Leon Wilkeson broke his jaw and had most of his teeth knocked out, suffered a crushed chest (with a punctured lung), almost needed an arm amputated, and he sustained internal injuries. (Wilkeson reportedly coded at the hospital and had to be revived.)
Those were the fortunate ones.
In addition to the pilot (Walter McCreary) and co-pilot (William Gray), Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Dean Kilpatrick (Skynyrd’s road manager) were killed.
According to Billy Powell on VH1′s “Behind The Music”, Cassie Gaines’s throat had been cut from ear to ear and she bled to death in his arms. He also stated that Ronnie Van Zant had sustained a severe head injury, which was the cause of his death. Powell’s account of events scandalized many associated with the band, and was contradicted by Artimus Pyle and Judy Van Zant Jenness (Ronnie’s widow). In 1998, the widow Van Zant posted Ronnie’s autopsy on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s website to prove the truth of his injuries.
Steve Gaines was 28. Cassie Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant were 29.
Steve and Cassie Gaines were laid to rest on 23 October 1977 in Orange Park, Florida. A private ceremony was held for Ronnie on 25 October. Among those who attended were Ed King and Bob Burns (both former members of Skynyrd), Billy Powell, Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band), Charlie Daniels, Al Kooper (founder of Blood, Sweat & Tears), and Tom Dowd (producer/engineer who had worked on the Manhattan Project). Merle Haggard’s “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am” and David Allan Coe’s “Another Pretty Country Song” were played. Charlie Daniels read a poem, and with .38 Special, performed “Amazing Grace”. Ronnie Van Zant was buried to the left of Steve Gaines and in front of Cassie. Van Zant’s and the Gaines’ resting places were moved in 2000 after Ronnie’s and Steve’s grave sites were broken into and vandalized. The monuments (shown below) remain as memorials for the fans.
The band’s fifth album, Street Survivors, was released three days before the crash. The cover showed the band engulfed in flames. After the crash, the album was pulled from stores and re-released with new artwork, showing the band against a plain black background. Street Survivors went on to become the band’s second platinum album, and reached #5 on the U.S. album chart. The single “What’s Your Name” reached #13. Also included on the album is the song “That Smell”: “The smell of death surrounds you. The angel of darkness is upon you…”
Author’s note: What I find eerie is that, on the original cover of Street Survivors, Steve Gaines is positioned in the middle, consumed by flames. He perished in the crash. Next to him are Ronnie Van Zant (who also perished) and Leon Wilkeson (who seems to have received the worst injuries of the survivors and reportedly coded at one point). As you fan out, the injuries seem arguably less life-threatening – the next two are Gary Rossington and Artimus Pyle, then Allen Collins and Billy Powell – who sustained “merely” facial lacerations and general cuts and bruises. Cassie Gaines, not in the photo, but “close” to Steve because they were siblings, also perished in the crash.
In 1986, Allen Collins crashed his car while driving drunk near his home in Jacksonville, Florida. His girlfriend was killed and he was paralyzed from the waist down. He died in 1990 from pneumonia, which was a result of decreased lung capacity from the paralyzation. He was 37.
During the early ’90s, Ed King found Leon Wilkeson on the group’s tour bus, sleeping, but with his throat cut and bleeding. Wilkeson was taken to the hospital and recovered. It is still a mystery as to who was responsible – Ed King blames Wilkeson’s girlfriend-at-the-time. Leon Wilkeson passed away from liver disease in 2001. He was 49.
In 2006, Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The honorees were: Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, and Leon Wilkeson.
1959 – Bobby Darin is riding high with “Mack the Knife.” But not in New York, where WCBS bans the song following the fatal stabbing of two teenagers by 17-year-old Salvador Agron. The crime later inspired Paul Simon’s ill-fated musical The Capeman.
1954 – Although his manager later claimed that Johnny Ace inadvertently died in a game of Russian roulette tonight, the R&B great actually performed a gig at Port Arthur, Texas. The fatality occurred the next day in Houston.
1946 – Guitarist Duane Allman is born in Nashville, Tenn.
Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American, lead guitarist of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band, and session musician. Allman is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in the band he helped co-found, as well as his slide guitar and improvisational skills.
Alongside of his work with The Allman Brothers Band, Allman was an established session musician performing with many artists including: King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Boz Scaggs, and Herbie Mann. He also had a major role on the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Allman as number two on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time..
Biography
Early years
Duane Allman was born in Nashville, Tennessee. When he was three years old and his family lived near Norfolk, Virginia, his father, Willis Allman, a career United States Army sergeant, was murdered in a robbery by a veteran he had befriended that day. Geraldine “Mama A” Allman moved her family back to Nashville. In 1957 they relocated in Daytona Beach, Florida.
In 1960, Allman was motivated to take up the guitar by the example of his younger brother, Gregg, who had obtained a guitar after hearing a neighbor playing country music standards on an acoustic guitar. Gregg said that after Duane started playing, “he … passed me up like I was standing still.”
Another important event occurred in 1959 when the boys were in Nashville visiting relatives. They attended a rock ‘n’ roll concert at which blues artist B. B. King performed and both promptly fell under the spell of his music. Gregg Allman recalls that Duane turned to him and said, “We got to get into this.”
Allman Joys and Hour Glass
The Allman Brothers started playing publicly in 1961, joining or forming a number of small, local groups. Shortly thereafter Allman quit high school to stay home during the day and focus on his guitar playing. Their band the Escorts eventually became the Allman Joys. After Gregg graduated from Seabreeze High School in 1965, the Allman Joys went on the road, performing throughout the Southeast and eventually being based in Nashville and St. Louis.
The Allman Joys morphed into another not-completely-successful band, The Hour Glass, which moved to Los Angeles in early 1967. There the Hour Glass did manage to produce two albums that left the band unsatisfied. Liberty, their record company, tried to market them as a pop band, completely ignoring the band’s desire to play more blues-oriented material. The Hour Glass songs that are on the first and second Duane Allman Anthologies, as well as the Allman Brothers’ anthology Dreams, are so radically different from the Liberty releases that they might as well be two different bands. Duane’s guitar playing, buried in the 1960s albums, takes on the commanding presence that he later displayed with the Allman Brothers.
In 1968, Gregg Allman went to visit Duane, on his 22nd birthday. Duane was sick in bed. Gregg brought along a bottle of Coricidin pills for his fever and the debut album by guitarist Taj Mahal as a gift. “About two hours after I left, my phone rang,” Gregg states. ” ‘Baby brother, baby brother, get over here now!’ ” When Gregg got there, Duane had poured the pills out of the bottle, washed off the label and was using it as a slide to play “Statesboro Blues,” an old Blind Willie McTell song that Taj Mahal covered. “Duane had never played slide before”, says Gregg, “he just picked it up and started burnin’. He was a natural.” The song would go on to become a part of the Allman Brothers Band’s repertoire, and Duane’s slide guitar became crucial to their sound. That same sound was later picked up by other slide guitarists, such as Rory Gallagher, Derek Trucks and Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The Hour Glass broke up in early 1968, and Duane and Gregg Allman went back to Florida, where they played on demo sessions with the 31st of February, a folk rock outfit whose drummer was Butch Trucks. Gregg returned to California to fulfill Hour Glass obligations, while Duane jammed around Florida for months but didn’t get another band going.
Session musician
Allman’s playing on the two Hour Glass albums and an Hour Glass session in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, had caught the ear of Rick Hall, owner of FAME. In November 1968 Hall hired Allman to play on an album with Wilson Pickett. Allman’s work on that album, Hey Jude (1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of a number of other musicians, such as guitar great Eric Clapton, who later said, “I remember hearing Wilson Pickett’s ‘Hey Jude’ and just being astounded by the lead break at the end. … I had to know who that was immediately — right now.”
Allman’s performance on “Hey Jude” blew away Atlantic Records producer and executive Jerry Wexler when Hall played it over the phone for him. Wexler immediately bought Allman’s recording contract from Hall and wanted to use him on sessions with all sorts of Atlantic R&B artists. While at Muscle Shoals, Allman was featured on releases by a number of artists, including Clarence Carter, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Otis Rush, Percy Sledge, Johnny Jenkins, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie and jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Shortly after he recorded his lead break in “Hey Jude”, he recorded all of the lead guitar in Boz Scaggs’ “Loan Me A Dime.” His soloing in the song is noted as some of the best he ever laid down on record. For his first Aretha sessions, Allman traveled to New York, where in January 1969 he went as an audience member to the Fillmore East to see Johnny Winter and prophetically told fellow Shoals guitarist Jimmy Johnson that in a year he’d be on that stage; the Allman Brothers Band indeed played the Fillmore that December.
Formation of The Allman Brothers Band
The limits of full-time session playing frustrated Allman. The few months in Muscle Shoals were by no means a waste, however, because besides meeting the great artists and other industry professionals he was working with, Allman had rented a small, secluded cabin on a lake and spent many solitary hours there refining his playing. Perhaps most significantly, at F.A.M.E. Allman got together with R&B and jazz drummer Jaimoe Johanson, who came there to meet Allman at the urging of the late Otis Redding’s manager, Phil Walden, who by now was managing Allman and wanted to build a three-piece band around him. Allman and Jaimoe got Chicago-born bassist Berry Oakley to come up from Florida and jam as a trio, but Berry was committed to his rock band with guitarist Dickey Betts, the Second Coming, and returned south.
Getting fed up with Muscle Shoals, in March Allman took Jaimoe with him back to Jacksonville, Florida, where they moved in with Butch Trucks. Soon a jam session of these three plus Betts, Oakley, and Reese Wynans took place and forged what all present recognized as a natural, or even magical, bond. With the addition of brother Gregg, called back from Los Angeles to sing and replace Wynans on keyboards, at the end of March 1969, the Allman Brothers Band was formed. (Wynans became well known over a decade later as organist with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble.) After a bit of rehearsing and gigging, the sextet moved up to Macon, Georgia, in April to be near Walden and his Capricorn Sound Studios. While living in Macon, Allman met Donna Roosman, who bore his only child, Galadrielle. Despite their child, the relationship quickly ended.
Success, Layla, At Fillmore East
Duane, right, and Gregg performing “Whipping Post” at the Fillmore East on September 23, 1970.
The Allman Brothers Band went on to become one of the most influential rock groups of the 1970s, described by Rolling Stone’s George Kimball in 1971 as “the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years.” After months of nonstop rehearsing and gigging, including fondly remembered free shows in Macon’s Central City Park and Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, the group was ready to settle on the Allman Brothers Band name, and to record. Their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band, was recorded in New York in September 1969 and released a couple months later. In the midst of intense touring, work began in Macon and Miami (Atlantic South – Criteria Studios), and a little bit in New York, on the ABB’s second album, Idlewild South. Produced mostly by Tom Dowd, Idlewild South was released in August 1970 and broke ground for the ABB by quickly hitting the Billboard charts.
A group date in Miami, also that August, gave Allman the chance to participate in Eric Clapton’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Clapton had long wanted to meet Allman; when he heard that the Allman Brothers were due to play in Miami, where he had just started work on Layla with producer Tom Dowd, he insisted on going to see their concert, where he met Allman. After the show the two bands—the Allman Brothers Band and Derek and the Dominos—returned to Criteria, where Allman and Clapton quickly formed a deep rapport during an all-night jam session. At one point, Allman cautiously asked Clapton if he could come by the studio to watch. Clapton refused, telling Allman to bring his guitar because, “you got to play.” Allman wound up participating on most of the album’s tracks, contributing some of his best-known work. Allman never left the Allman Brothers Band, though, despite being offered a permanent position with Clapton. Allman never toured with Derek and the Dominos, but he did make two appearances with them on December 1, 1970 at the Curtis Hixon Hall and the following day at Onondaga County War Memorial.
In an interview, Duane told listeners how to tell who played what: Eric played the Fender parts and Duane played the Gibson parts. He continued by noting that the Fender had a sparklier sound, while the Gibson produced more of a “full-tilt screech.”
The Allman Brothers went on to record At Fillmore East in March, 1971. Meanwhile, Allman continued contributing session work to other artists’ albums whenever he could. According to Skydog: the Duane Allman Story, Allman was in the habit of spontaneously dropping in at recording sessions and contributing to whatever was being taped that day. He received cash payments but no recording credits, making it virtually impossible to compile a complete discography of his works.
Death
The graves of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident only months after the summer release and great initial success of At Fillmore East. While in Macon on October 29, during a band break from touring and recording, Allman was riding his motorcycle toward an oncoming truck that was turning well in front of him. The truck suddenly stopped in mid-intersection. Allman lost control of his Harley while trying to swing left, possibly striking the back of the truck or its crane ball. He was thrown from his Harley, which landed on him and skidded with him under it, crushing internal organs. He died several hours later, just weeks before his 25th birthday. In a bizarre coincidence, bassist Berry Oakley would die less than 13 months later in a similar motorcycle crash with a city bus, three blocks from the site of Duane Allman’s fatal accident.
Memorials
After Allman’s funeral and some weeks of mourning, the five surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band carried on, resuming live performances and finishing the recording work interrupted by Duane’s passing. They called their next album Eat a Peach for one of Duane Allman’s interview lines, in response to the question “How are you helping the revolution?” Allman had said, “There ain’t no revolution, only evolution, but every time I’m in Georgia I eat a peach for peace.” Released in February, 1972, this double album contains a side of live and studio tracks with Allman, two sides of “Mountain Jam”, recorded with Duane at the Fillmore during the same March stand as At Fillmore East, and a side of tracks by the surviving five member band. A widely believed urban legend is that Eat a Peach was a reference to the type of truck that killed Duane; however, it is without foundation.
Following Berry Oakley’s death in another motorcycle accident (a crash from which he appeared to not be seriously injured), Berry’s remains were laid to rest beside Duane Allman’s in Macon’s Rose Hill Cemetery.
The variety of Allman’s session work and ABB bandleading can be heard to good effect on two posthumous Capricorn releases, Duane Allman: An Anthology (1972) and Duane Allman: An Anthology Vol. II (1974). There are also several archival releases of live Allman Brothers Band performances from what is called the band’s Duane Era.
Shortly after Duane’s death, Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd dedicated the song “Free Bird”, to the memory of Duane Allman. Many people assume the song was written about Duane. However, it had actually been written before Duane died. (Allen Collins wrote the song after his then girlfriend asked him the question “if I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?”)
In 1973 fans carved the very large letters “REMEMBER DUANE ALLMAN” in a dirt embankment along Interstate 20 near Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Travis Tritt’s “Put Some Drive in Your Country” mentions Allmann in the “Damn I miss Duane Allman. I wish he were still around.” The song, from Tritt’s Country Club album (1989), was released in the fall of 1990.
In 1998 the Georgia state legislature passed a resolution designating a stretch of State Highway 19 within Macon as “Duane Allman Boulevard” in his honor.
Duane Allman was generally considered a pacifist and was highly respected among his band mates. A care-free hippie throughout his teen and adult years, he was an avid reader, enjoying The Lord of the Rings and philosophical, political and poetic books. He named his only child Galadrielle in honor of Galadriel. Although never formally educated, roadie and band manager (1970-1976) Willie Perkins has joked that Allman referred to himself as a “roads scholar” from knowledge attained through his own readings and travels.
The guitar that Duane Allman used on the Muscle Shoals studio sessions, a 1954 Fender Stratocaster, is being kept at Hard Rock Cafe in London at the Vault.
* ’54 Fender Stratocaster
* Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face (used old 9V batteries because “they make a special sound”)
* Fender Twin amp w/JBL speakers
Later Session work, Allman Brothers Band, Layla
* ’57 Gibson Les Paul Standard goldtop
* ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard cherry sunburst
* ’58 Gibson Les Paul Standard tobacco sunburst
* ’68 Gibson Les Paul (SG)
* Marshall Bass 50 heads, Marshall Bass 100 cabinets
* Fender Champ combo amps (Layla)
Other
* Fender Rock N’ Roll 150 strings (Hour Glass)
* Cordicin medicine bottle (slide)
1943 – Jack Bruce of Cream with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker is born this day in rock history!
From Wikipedia
John Symon Asher “Jack” Bruce (born 14 May 1943) is a Scottish-born musician, composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and pianist, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream. He lives in Essex, England.
Biography
Jack Bruce was born in May 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland, to musical parents who moved around a lot, resulting in the young Bruce attending 14 different schools, ending up at Bellahouston Academy. Bruce took up jazz bass in his teens, and he even won a scholarship studying cello and composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and played in a dance band to support himself. The academy disapproved of its students playing jazz, however. “They found out,” Bruce told Musician correspondent Jim Macnie, “and said ‘you either stop, or leave college.’ So I left college.”
Early career
While still at college Jack Bruce played with orchestras in Glasgow music halls.[2] After leaving college he toured Italy playing double bass with the Murray Campbell Big Band.[3] In 1962, Jack Bruce became a member of the London-based band Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated,[4] in which he played the double bass. The band also included organist Graham Bond, saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Ginger Baker. In 1963, the group broke up and Bruce went on to form the Graham Bond Quartet with Bond, Baker and guitarist John McLaughlin.They played an eclectic range of music genres, including, bebop, blues and rhythm and blues. As a result of session work at this time, Bruce switched from double bass to electric bass. The move to electric bass happened as McLaughlin was dropped from the band; he was replaced by Dick Heckstall -Smith on sax and the band pursued a more concise R&B sound and changed its name to the Graham Bond ORGANisation. They released two studio albums and several singles, but were not commercially successful. They did, however, influence a number of other musicians, such as Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, Bill Bruford and John Bonham.
During the time Bruce and Baker played with the Graham Bond Organisation, they were known for their hostility towards each other. There were numerous stories of the two sabotaging each other’s equipment and fighting on stage Hostility grew so much between the two that Bruce was forced to leave the group in August 1965.
After he left Bruce recorded a solo single “I’m Gettin Tired” for Polydor records. This was a commercial failure and is now very collectible. He soon joined the John Mayall Bluesbreakers group, which featured guitarist Eric Clapton. Although a brief stay of 3 months, it did sow the seeds, especially in the improvised live performances, of future musical direction. The Universal Deluxe 2CD set Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton contains all the known tracks featuring Jack Bruce.
After the Bluesbreakers Bruce tasted his first commercial success as a member of Manfred Mann in 1966, including a No.1 single with Pretty Flamingo. When interviewed on the episode of the VH1 show, Classic Albums, which featured Disraeli Gears, Mayall stated that Bruce had been lured away by the lucrative commercial success of Manfred Mann; Mann mused about having had someone of such talent playing bass for the group, and reminisced that Bruce would attend the recording sessions without having rehearsed but would play the songs straight through without error, opining that perhaps the chord changes seemed so obvious to Bruce. [5]. The complete Manfred Mann recordings with Jack Bruce are available on the 4 Cd EMI box set Down the Road Apiece.
Whilst with Manfred Mann, Bruce again collaborated with Eric Clapton for 3 tracks on the Elektra sampler album What’s Shakin’ . Two of the songs, “Crossroads” and “Steppin’ Out”, were to become staples in the live set of his next band.
With Cream
In July 1966 Bruce moved on to his most famous role as bass player, main songwriter and lead vocalist with Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton in the power trio Cream, considered the first supergroup.
While with Cream, Bruce played a Gibson EB-3 electric bass and became the most famous bassist in rock, winning musicians polls and influencing the next generation of bassists such as Sting and Jeff Berlin.[6] He also wrote most of Cream’s original material, with lyricist Pete Brown, including the hits, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, and “I Feel Free”.
By 1968, Cream were hugely successful; they grossed more than the next top six live acts of the day added together (including Jimi Hendrix and The Doors). They topped album charts all over the world, and received the first platinum discs for record sales, but the old enmity of Bruce and Baker resurfaced in 1968, and after a final tour, Cream broke up.
The Solo Years 1970′s
Before Cream split, Bruce recorded an acoustic free jazz album with John McLaughlin, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman, and released it in 1970 as Things We Like. This album was a precursor to the jazz fusion boom in the early 1970s, and more recently, it has been sampled by many hip hop artists.
Bruce continued to work on many other collaborations with other musicians. The first of these, Songs for a Tailor, was released in 1969, featuring both Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman. It was a worldwide hit, but, after a brief supporting tour with Larry Coryell and Mitch Mitchell in his band, he left to join the jazz fusion band Lifetime. With drummer Tony Williams, guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry Young, the group recorded two albums. Jack joined on the second album; Turn it over. However, they did not get much critical and commercial acclaim, and Lifetime broke up in 1970. Bruce then recorded another solo album Harmony Row, but this was not commercially successful.
In 1972, Bruce formed a blues rock power trio, West, Bruce and Laing. Besides Bruce, the group consisted of Leslie West and Corky Laing, formerly of the hard rock band Mountain. They produced two studio albums, Why Don’t'cha and Whatever Turns You On, and one live album, Live ‘N’ Kickin. The band soon broke up, and, not long after, Bruce released another solo album, Out Of The Storm. In was at this time Bruce co-wrote the title song on Frank Zappa’s successful Apostrophe album.
A tour was lined up to support the Out of the Storm album with a band featuring former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and jazz keyboard player Carla Bley, with whom he had collaborated with in 1971 on Escalator over the Hill. The tour, documented on Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, ended with Taylor leaving, and no studio album was completed.
In 1977, Bruce formed a new band with drummer Simon Phillips and keyboardist Tony Hymas. The group recorded an album, called How’s Tricks. A world tour followed, but the album was a commercial failure. The follow-up album Jet Set Jewel was put on hold when Bruce was dropped by his record label RSO. In 1979, Bruce toured with members from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, reuniting him with John McLaughlin, and introducing him to drummer Billy Cobham.
A 3 Cd collection of his 1970s BBC recordings called Spirit was released in 2008.
The Solo Years 1980′s
By 1979, Bruce’s drug habit had reached such a level that he had lost a lot of his money; in that year he married his second wife, Margrit Seyffer. She organised his career from a business standpoint, and Bruce played a lot of sessions with Cozy Powell, Gary Moore and Jon Anderson to raise money. By 1980 his career was back on track with his new band, consisting of drummer Billy Cobham, guitarist Clem Clempson, and keyboardist David Sancious. They toured widely to support their album, I’ve Always Wanted to Do This, but it was not commercial success and the band split. During the early 80s, he also joined up to play with mates from the Alexis Korner days in Rocket 88, the back-to-the-roots band that Ian “Stu” Stewart had put together, and Bruce appears on the album of the same name, recorded live in Germany in 1980. They also recorded a “live in the studio” album called Blues & Boogie Explosion for the German audiophile Label Jeton.
In 1981, Bruce collaborated with guitarist Robin Trower and released two power trio albums, BLT and Truce, the first of which was a minor hit in the United States. By 1983 Bruce was out of contract with the major record companies, and he released his next solo album Automatic only on a minor German label.
In the 1983 Bruce began working with the Latin/world music producer Kip Hanrahan, and released the collaborative albums Desire Develops an Edge, Vertical’s Currency, A Few short Notes from the End Run, Exotica and All Roads are made of the Flesh. They were all critically successful, and in 2001 he went onto form his own band using Hanrahan’s famous Cuban rhythm section. Other than his partnership with lyricist Pete Brown, the musical relationship with Hanrahan has been the most consistent and long-lasting of his career.
In 1986 he re-recorded his famous Cream song “I Feel Free” and released it as a single to support an advertising campaign for the Renault 21 motor car.
A solo album, Somethin’ Els, recorded in Germany between 1986 and 1992, saw him reunited with Eric Clapton and received, belated, but widespread critical acclaim.
His German TV concerts of this 1980s period have been collected on a two-DVD set, Live at Rock Palast.
The Solo Years 1990′s
In 1989, Bruce began recording material with Ginger Baker and released another solo album, A Question of Time. Baker and Bruce toured the US at turn of the decade. In 1993 Baker appeared, along with with a host of former Bruce band colleagues, at a special concert in Cologne to celebrate Bruce’s 50th birthday. A special guest was Irish blues/rock guitarist Gary Moore. The concert recordings were released as the live double album Cities of the Heart. On the back of this successful gig Bruce, Baker and Moore formed the power trio BBM, and their subsequent album Around the Next Dream was a top ten hit in the UK. However the old Bruce/Baker arguments arose again and the subsequent tour was cut short and the band broke up. A low-key solo album, Monkjack, followed in 1995, featuring Bruce on piano and vocals accompanied by Funkadelic organist Bernie Worrell.
Bruce then began work producing and arranging the soundtrack to the independently produced Scottish film The Slab Boys with Lulu, Edwyn Collins, Eddie Reader and The Proclaimers. The soundtrack album appeared in 1997. In 1998 he returned to touring as a member of Ringo Starr All Starr Band which also featured Peter Frampton on guitar. At the gig in Denver, Colorado the band was joined on stage by Ginger Baker, and Bruce, Baker and Frampton played a short set of Cream classics.
The Solo Years 2000′s
In 2001 Bruce reappeared with his most successful band of recent times featuring Bernie Worrel, Vernon Reid of Living Colour on guitar and Kip Hanrahan’s three-piece Latin rhythm section. Hanrahan also produced the accompanying album Shadows in the Air, which included a reunion with Eric Clapton on a new version of “Sunshine of Your Love”. The band released another Hanrahan produced studio album, More Jack than God, in 2003, and a live DVD, Live at Canterbury Fayre.
Bruce had suffered a period of declining health, and in the summer of 2003 was diagnosed with liver cancer. In September 2003, he underwent a liver transplant, which was almost fatal, as his body initially rejected the new organ.[7] He has since recovered, and in 2004 reappeared to perform “Sunshine of Your Love” at a Rock Legends concert in Germany organised by the singer Mandoki
In May, 2005, he reunited with former Cream bandmates Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker for a series of well-received concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall,[8] released as the album Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005, and New York’s Madison Square Garden.
A biography of Bruce, entitled Jack — The Biography of Jack Bruce was written by Steven Myatt and published in 2005. He also appeared live with Gary Moore and drummer Gary Husband at the Dick Heckstall-Smith tribute concert in London.
Concert appearances since then have been sparse, but in 2006, Bruce returned to the live arena with a show of Cream and solo classics performed with the German HR Big Band. This was released on CD in Germany in 2007 to critical acclaim. 2007 also saw him make a brief concert appearance in opening a new concert hall in the Scottish Royal Academy of Music, Glasgow with Clem Clempson, keyboard player Ronnie Leahy and Gary Husband.
In 2008, Bruce collaborated again with guitarist Robin Trower on the album Seven Moons. It also featured Jack’s regular drummer Gary Husband. Unusually the lyrics were not written by Pete Brown or Trower’s regular lyricist Keith Reid, but by the band.
In May 2008 Bruce was 65 years old and to commemorate this milestone two box sets of recordings were released. Spirit is a 3CD collection of Bruce’s BBC recordings from the 1970′s. Can You Follow? is a 6CD retrospective anthology released by the Esoteric label in the UK. This anthology is a wide ranging collection covering his music from 1963 to 2003 and, aside from his work with Kip Hanrahan, is a comprehensive overview of his career.
Solo discography
Songs for a Tailor (September 1969)
Things We Like (Recorded August 1968, released December 1970)
Harmony Row (September 1971)
Out of the Storm (November 1974)
Live at Manchester Free Trade Hall 75 2CD (released 2003)
How’s Tricks (March 1977)
Spirit- Live at the BBC 1971-1978″ 3CD (Released 2008)
Jet Set Jewel (recorded 1978, released 2003)
I’ve Always Wanted To Do This (December 1980)
Automatic (Vinyl Only Release)(January 1983)
A Question of Time (December 1989)
Something Els (Recorded 1987 released March 1993)
Cities of the Heart 2CD (1993)
Monkjack (September 1995)
Shadows in the Air (July 2001)
More Jack Than God (September 2003)
Live with the HR Big Band (December 2007)
The Anthology – Can You Follow? 6CD (May 2008)
Sonny Bono was clubbed to death by hired hitmen, according to a stunning new tabloid expose. An investigator who has been researching Bono’s 1998 fatal skiing accident for the past decade claims top officials linked to an international drug and weapons ring feared the singer-turned-politician was about to expose their criminal acts – and so they had him killed on the slopes.
Recent Comments