Western swing pioneer, Cliff Bruner

[Jim Cohen]

The following was written by Michael Simmons for www.tipworld.com. I didn't write it, so don't blame me if you don't like it, deal?

"WESTERN SWING PIONEER CLIFF BRUNER DIES

On August 25, fiddler Cliff Bruner, one of the early pioneers of western swing, passed away at the age of 85. Bruner was a member of Milton Brown's seminal group, the Musical Brownies. When Brown died in car crash in 1936, Bruner went on to form his own band, the Texas Wanderers, whose members included pianist Moon Mullican and steel guitarist Bob Dunn. Bruner was the most musically sophisticated of the first generation of western swing fiddlers, and his strong jazz feel was a huge influence on the fiddlers who followed him. Bruner's big songs were "It Makes No Difference Now," which was written by Floyd Tillman, "I'll Keep On Lovin' You," and "Truck Driver's Blues," which helped launch the truck-driving song genre. His theme song was "Jessie," an old Mexican polka he turned into a western swing classic. In the early '40s, Bruner stopped touring to raise his family, and although he continued to record, he never equaled his '30s success. His career revived during the western swing revival of the 1970s, and he continued to perform into the 1990s. In his last years, he was afflicted with cancer, which finally got the best of him. Bruner is survived by his wife, Ruth, 6 daughters, 17 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren."<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jim Cohen on 12 October 2000 at 05:57 AM.]</p></FONT>