Any Fans of the Late Bruce Palmer?

[Chris LeDrew]

Recently a few of us chimed in on the Hippie thread about the late Bruce Palmer, bassist for Buffalo Springfield. I decided to start a thread related to Bruce and his innovative style, which seemed to influence many players of the period, particularly Stephen Stills who emulated him on many recordings. His contributions to the Springfield are sporatic, but undeniably great. His melodic approach to the BS songs had a quality I never heard in any other bass players of the 60s, or since.

Thoughts on Bruce Palmer?

[Michael Johnstone]

I always thought he was great and had a propulsive style similar to a lot of East coast R & B players I used to hear in the 60s. Another guy I thought was equally good in a similar style was Bob Mosley from Moby Grape. I met Bruce somewhere around the mid to late 80s in Malibu and he came to my studio once or twice.He had a full beard,wore glasses and was quite heavy at that time and I never would have recognized him from the way he looked in the 60s. And just like Dewey Martin he was a great guy with a lot of Steve Stills stories.

[Chris LeDrew]

Yes Michael, I do hear that propulsive (good descriptor) style in his playing. That quality reminds me a bit of Duck Dunn and that Stax stuff. I didn't hear quite as much melody in those players, although I have to admit my knowledge is fairly limited in that field.

So you met Bruce? Wow. You may already know that he died in a small town in Ontario, called Belleville, in October, 2004. I toured through Belleville in July of that year; I would have died if I had known he was just up the road somewhere. I did hear from people who knew him that he was pretty screwed up in the later years. But that's all second-hand knowledge.

"On The Way Home" is a mind-boggling piece of bass work. He seemed to be able to express himself without being in the way.

Some basic info on Bruce:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Palmer

What he looked like during the BS days:



...and the Rolling Stone obituary:

Bassist Was Sixties Rockers' Mysterious Force

COLIN DEVENISH (Posted Oct 08, 2004 12:00 AM)

Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer died Monday of an apparent heart attack; he was fifty-eight. Born in Canada in 1946, Palmer was an early collaborator with Neil Young, first in the Mynah Birds, a band that also featured the recently deceased Rick James. The group broke up after James was sent to prison for going AWOL from the military. Palmer and Young moved from Ontario to Los Angeles in the spring of 1966, making the journey in Young's black hearse. The pair soon joined forces with Stephen Stills, drummer Dewey Martin and singer/guitarist Richie Furay to form Buffalo Springfield.
In just two years Buffalo Springfield captured the spirit of folk-rock protest with songs such as "For What It's Worth," and revealed a more rocking side with "Mr. Soul." The group served as a springboard for some of the biggest bands of the late Sixties and early Seventies, with alums going on to form Crosby, Stills and Nash; Neil Young and Crazy Horse; Poco; and Loggins and Messina.

"There's not a person who listened to the Buffalo Springfield that wasn't drawn to the way he played bass," says Furay. "He made the music move -- Bruce was truly a musician's musician. I consider it a privilege to have played with him in such a creative time in my life."

Buffalo Springfield split in 1968 after two years and two albums, in part due to Palmer's ongoing difficulties with U.S. immigration, which sought to deport him for a pair of marijuana-related convictions. Palmer left the group shortly before its break-up and was replaced by Jim Messina.

Palmer went on to record one solo album, 1971's The Cycle Is Complete, recruiting his old bandmate Rick James to contribute percussion and vocals. More than a decade later, Palmer re-teamed with Young to join his live band and play on Young's 1983 Trans. In the mid-Eighties, Palmer and Martin resurrected the Buffalo Springfield name, performing shows as Buffalo Springfield Revisited. The closest the group came to a full reunion was in 1988 when the original members got together for an informal rehearsal. Palmer told Rolling Stone in 2002 that the reunited Springfield sounded "terrific," but plans for a reunion were scuttled when Young didn't show up for the next scheduled rehearsal a few months later. "He just forgot," Palmer said. "So we all said, 'What's the use?'"

An enigmatic stage presence, Palmer frequently performed with his back to the audience and was often photographed with his hair covering his face. "Bruce was the mysterious one in the group," says Furay. "You may not have always known what he was thinking as he just looked at you and smiled, but when he plugged the bass in, there was no mistaking his life was truly about the music."

[Henry Nagle]

Wow. I didn't know he was gone. Thanks for mentioning him.

[Larry Miller]

Bruce, was without a doubt, one of the top bass players of the 60's. He was part of the Toronto music scene in the mid 60's, playing bass with Jack London and the Sparrows (who later became Steppenwolf). Nick St. Nicholas, bass player for the Mynah Birds and Bruce swapped bands, Nick to the Sparrows and Bruce to The Mynah Birds.

Neil Young joined the Mynah Birds at Bruce's invitation and they landed a Motown record deal. Listen to "It's My Time" cut in 1966, but never released, can't say for sure, but I think it would have been in the top 30 rotation of the time. http://www.spinner.com/2007/05/09/iflts ... nah-birds/

[Mark Lind-Hanson]

His solo album is definitely an interesting piece of work for anyone both interested in him, and in what might have been, had he only had a little more backing from the music industry- which apparently he didn't want all that much anyway. He set out to make something that would be a conundrum and in some ways that is exactly what it is- definitely hard to shoehorn into any easy "category," which, as we all, know is the business-as-usual approach to things by said biz.


The Cycle Is Complete by Bruce Palmer
http://www.amazon.com/Cycle-Complete-Bruce-Palmer
/dp/B000095JV1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1203697962&sr=1-1

[Stu Schulman]

Larry Miller,If I'm not mistaken in the photo that you posted the guy with the tambourine is the Rick James?

[Chris LeDrew]

Yes, sir, that's THE Rick James.

[Larry Miller]

Stu, As Chris answered, yes, it IS the "King Of Pimp Funk". Also, that is Goldy McJohn of Steppenwolf, manning the keyboards.