Bruce Hampton
Encyclopedia
Bruce Hampton 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
, The Quark Alliance
and his most recent project, known as Col. Bruce Hampton and The Pharaoh Gummitt.
, 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 Col. 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
.
In 1994, Hampton then formed the progressive rock
/jazz
duo Fiji Mariners and recorded two albums on Capricorn Records
with Dan Matrazzo
who simultaneously played keys, drums, and bass. Later, Ricky Fargo and Marcus Williams joined on drums.
Hampton was the voice of Warren, a talking potted shrubbery, in a 1998 episode (entitled "Warren") of the TV show Space Ghost Coast to Coast
. 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 Award 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".
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
American musician. In the late 1960s he was a founding member of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
's avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
Hampton Grease Band
Hampton Grease Band
The Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues-rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The band gained a reputation for wacky stage antics, and eventually...
. 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
Aquarium Rescue Unit
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit is an experimental rock group originally founded by Col. Bruce Hampton. The band gained popularity in the Atlanta club scene in the early 1990s and went on to tour with the first H.O.R.D.E. Tour. During the initial years, the band was composed of...
, The Fiji Mariners, The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers
The Codetalkers were a jazz, rock and roll band from Savannah, Georgia, composed of Bobby Lee Rodgers, , Mark Raudabaugh and Andrew Altman . The band was formed in 1999, upon the meeting of Rodgers and Col. Bruce Hampton at a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta...
, The Quark Alliance
The Quark Alliance
Col. Bruce & The Quark Alliance is a band formed in 2006 by musician Col. Bruce Hampton that recorded and toured through 2010. Hampton has been a part of the Southern music scene since the 1960s fronting such acts as The Hampton Grease Band, The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and The...
and his most recent project, known as Col. Bruce Hampton and The Pharaoh Gummitt.
Career
As a member of the Hampton Grease Band, Bruce Hampton helped record the 1971 album Music to EatMusic to Eat
Music to Eat is the only album ever produced by avant garde rock band Hampton Grease Band. It was released in 1971.-Track listing:# "Halifax" – 19:39# "Maria" – 5:30# "Six" – 19:29# "Evans" – 12:28# "Lawton" – 7:48...
, said to have been the second-worst-selling album in Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
history. The worst selling album was a yoga instructional record.
Hampton's band The Late Bronze Age consisted of Col. 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.
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, and organizations from the local area of the...
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
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
all-stars Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
, Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead...
, Rev. Jeff Mosier, Matt Mundy and Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe is an American drummer. He is a rock and jazz fusion drummer, however, he is proficient in many other styles which he has demonstrated in his decades of drumming. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit along with Col. Bruce Hampton...
.
In 1994, Hampton then formed the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
duo Fiji Mariners and recorded two albums on Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
with Dan Matrazzo
Dan Matrazzo
Dr. Dan Matrazzo is a jazz, jam, and fusion American keyboardist and pianist. He is known as an early collaborator of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, and co-founder of Col. Bruce Hampton and the Fiji Mariners as well as the band Winter .In addition to his partnership with Col. Bruce Hampton and Steve...
who simultaneously played keys, drums, and bass. Later, Ricky Fargo and Marcus Williams joined on drums.
Hampton was the voice of Warren, a talking potted shrubbery, in a 1998 episode (entitled "Warren") of the TV show Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
. Hampton played Morris, the songwriting band manager, in Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
's 1996 film Sling Blade
Sling Blade
Sling Blade is a 1996 American drama film set in rural Arkansas, written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars in the lead role. It tells the story of a mentally impaired man named Karl Childers who is released from a psychiatric hospital, where he has lived since killing his mother...
. He also starred in Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
's 2001 film Outside Out
Outside Out
Outside Out is the first full-length feature film from Phish bassist Mike Gordon. It premiered in theaters in early 2001 and starred Jimi Stout, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ashley Scott Shamp, Gordon, and others....
teaching guitar 'out'struction.
Grammy Award nominated blues singer and longtime friend Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
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".
Main releases
- 1971 - Music to EatMusic to EatMusic to Eat is the only album ever produced by avant garde rock band Hampton Grease Band. It was released in 1971.-Track listing:# "Halifax" – 19:39# "Maria" – 5:30# "Six" – 19:29# "Evans" – 12:28# "Lawton" – 7:48...
- Hampton Grease BandHampton Grease BandThe Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues-rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The band gained a reputation for wacky stage antics, and eventually...
(Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
) - 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)
- 1987 - Arkansas - Col. Bruce Hampton (Terminus Records)
- 1992 - Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit - Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (Capricorn RecordsCapricorn RecordsCapricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
) - 1993 - Mirrors of Embarrassment - Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit (Capricorn RecordsCapricorn RecordsCapricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
) - 1994 - Strange Voices: A History 1977-1987 - Col. Bruce Hampton (Landslide Records)
- 1996 - Fiji Mariners - Fiji Mariners featuring Col. Bruce Hampton (Volcano RecordsVolcano RecordsVolcano Entertainment is an American rock record label founded in 1996 best known for reissuing albums by Scotti Brothers Records and releasing albums by Tool, 311, Survivor and "Weird Al" Yankovic...
) - 1998 - Live - Fiji Mariners featuring Col. Bruce Hampton (Volcano RecordsVolcano RecordsVolcano Entertainment is an American rock record label founded in 1996 best known for reissuing albums by Scotti Brothers Records and releasing albums by Tool, 311, Survivor and "Weird Al" Yankovic...
) - 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 AllianceThe Quark AllianceCol. Bruce & The Quark Alliance is a band formed in 2006 by musician Col. Bruce Hampton that recorded and toured through 2010. Hampton has been a part of the Southern music scene since the 1960s fronting such acts as The Hampton Grease Band, The Late Bronze Age, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, and The...
(Brato Ganibe Records) - 2008 - Songs Of The Solar Ping - Col. Bruce Hampton, Ret. (Brato Ganibe Records)
With various artists
- 1968 - " Lumpy Gravey" | Frank Zappa (Verve/Bizarre Records)
- 1994 - The Best of Mountain Stage Live, Vol. 6 (Blue Plate Records)
- 1997 - Mucho Mojo: Best of Fat Possum (Capricorn RecordsCapricorn RecordsCapricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
) - 2000 - Wintertime Blues: The Benefit Concert (Evil Teen Records)
- 2003 - Bonnaroo, Vol. 2 (Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
) - 2007 - The Benefit Concert, Volume 2 (Evil Teen Records)
As a guest musician
- 1981 - Route Two - David Earle JohnsonDavid Earle JohnsonDavid Earle Johnson was a percussionist, a composer and a music producer.-Career:Percussionist David Earle Johnson performed on albums by a number of jazz artists in the seventies before releasing a few of his own albums in the late seventies and early eighties...
(Landslide Records) - 1995 - The Best of CeDell Davis – CeDell DavisCeDell DavisCeDell Davis is an American blues guitarist and singer.Davis is most notable for his distinctive style of guitar playing. Davis plays guitar using a table knife in his fretting hand in a manner similar to slide guitar, resulting in a welter of metal-stress harmonic transients and a singular tonal...
(Fat Possum RecordsFat Possum RecordsFat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording hitherto unknown Mississippi blues artists . Recently, Fat Possum has signed younger rock acts to its roster...
) - 2000 - The Flower & the Knife – Kevin Kinney (Capricorn RecordsCapricorn RecordsCapricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
) - 2001 - Project Z - Project Z (Terminus Records)
- 2002 - Wait for me - Susan TedeschiSusan TedeschiSusan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
(Tone Cool Records) - 2002 - UninvisibleUninvisibleUninvisible is an album by experimental jazz fusion trio Medeski Martin & Wood.-Track listing:All tracks by Medeski Martin & Wood except where noted.#"Uninvisible" – 3:37#"I Wanna Ride You" – 3:28...
– Medeski Martin & WoodMedeski Martin & WoodMedeski Martin & Wood is an American jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards and piano, Billy Martin on drums and percussion, and Chris Wood on double bass and bass guitar....
(Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
) - 2002 - Live in the Classic CityLive in the Classic CityLive in the Classic City is the third live album released by the Athens, GA based band Widespread Panic. The album was recorded over an April 2000 three-night run in their hometown of Athens. It was released in June 2002 and features a mix of originals and cover songs, studded with guest...
– Widespread PanicWidespread PanicWidespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
(Sanctuary RecordsSanctuary RecordsSanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
) - 2003 - Inside InInside InInside In is Mike Gordon's first solo album and was released August 19, 2003. This album was wholly produced during and after the movie, Outside Out and uses aural tracks from it. Included in the liner notes are lyrics to some tracks, art and design by Andrew Cunningham, photography by David...
– Mike GordonMike GordonMike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
(Ropeadope RecordsRopeadope RecordsRopeadope Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, hip hop, electronic and downtempo music. The label was founded by Andy Hurwitz in New York City and later moved to Philadelphia, where it is now located....
) - 2006 - Faces – Blueground Undergrass (Landslide Records)