by Jerry Grillo (Music 781.66 Ham)
Col. Bruce Hampton was an artist
whose work uncovered connections between all kinds of musical genres, from
country to blues to rock to jazz to jam bands to experimental music, often with
a unique sense of humor and a disregard for preconceived notions. Sometimes
Hampton’s music was misunderstood. In fact, his career got off to a shaky start
with the release of his Hampton Grease Band’s debut album, “Music to Eat,”
which is said to have been the 2nd worst selling album on Columbia Records of
all time (only undersold by an instructional yoga record). But perhaps the
music was simply too far ahead of its time, as it’s been reissued several times
since its 1971 release, and has generally received very positive critical
reception in retrospective reviews. At any rate, its lack of accolades upon
release didn’t slow the good Col. down, and he went on to lead an idiosyncratic
and entertaining 50-year musical career, leading lots of bands and mentoring
younger generations of musicians. And he became a bit of a musical legend
around his home base of Atlanta, Georgia.
He was a bit of a prankster in
interviews, and as such tracking down the history of his career can be somewhat
daunting. However, we now have a biography that has aimed to cut through as
many of the tall tales and fables around Bruce Hampton as possible, and his
story is just as interesting and fun as you might expect. It’s called The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically
True Biography by journalist Jerry Grillo, published appropriately
enough by the University of Georgia Press, and you can borrow the book from
Polley.
Before we even get into the life
and times of the Col., the book starts at the end of his life. It’s a surreal
story, and perhaps it’s best to get it out of the way. In fact, many people may
have heard of Bruce Hampton because of his unusual death: for his 70th
birthday, many of his friends and colleagues through the years put together a
special concert night for him. During the final song of the encore, with most
of the night’s performers all on stage together with Hampton, he suffered a fatal
heart attack and slumped down on the stage. It took a couple of minutes for the
performers to realize what had happened, as his performance antics had
sometimes included things like falling down, but when it became clear that he
wasn’t getting back up, the show transformed from a joyous celebration to a
shocking, tragic night. And it turns out that Hampton had mentioned to friends
that he guessed he would probably die onstage, just a few months before the
Hampton 70 event. The story became national news, and it’s arguable that it
received more widespread attention than some of his music had. So perhaps this
is the perfect time for a biography: those who heard that story can fill in the
fascinating, unruly 50 years of music that came before.
After this tragic but necessary
introduction, we head back toward the earliest days of the Col’s life. It turns
out that there is a fair amount of tragedy in his origins, too, which perhaps
explains his interest in building up a mystique over his career rather than focus
on where he came from. His parents abandoned him early in his life, and he went
to live with his grandparents at just a few weeks old, and then his aunt and
uncle took over the job when he was a toddler. But even this earliest period of
his life laid some foundations for his future: he was given the nickname “Col.”
as a baby, and developed an early love for music from his grandparents’ servant
Liza Mae Williams, whom he recalls would sing for hours every night.
His life improved with his aunt and
uncle, who went on to have another child, and the two of them were raised
essentially as brothers, remaining very close throughout life. The young Bruce
Hampton was interested in sports, mostly baseball and football. He also got
excited about music as a listener in his teens, buying lots of blues, jazz and
gospel records and listening to the radio frequently. He entered the world of
performance almost accidentally, by getting invited to sing with local Atlanta
band IV of IX. He immediately loved singing in a band and started to take vocal
technique and showmanship very seriously.
As mentioned earlier, Hampton’s
first project was the Hampton Grease Band, who played lots of free outdoor
shows in the Atlanta area and developed a bit of a following. Ultimately, they failed
to break into the more national level of the music business. The bulk of this
book goes on document the many bands that Hampton started throughout his
career. He developed into quite the bandleader and frontman, and although his
own technique as a musician remained fairly primitive, he had a knack for
surrounding himself with very talented musicians in all of his bands. And he
developed a vision for blending many styles of music in unique ways, sometimes
being referred to as the Frank Zappa of the South. His bands would play lots of
shows, but didn’t do many formal recordings—some didn’t record at all, while
others, like his most acclaimed outfit, the Aquarium Rescue Unit, would only
record one studio album. But all of them found themselves working within the
increasingly diverse world that’s now referred to as the “jam band” scene, full
of groups that based their work in various strains of rock, folk, country,
blues and gospel music, and incorporated lots of improvisation. Many folks
think of jam band music as an outcropping of the culture that originally
followed the Grateful Dead, and it’s true that there are hippie and psychedelic
origins to the scene, but over time, many kinds of musical approaches have
found a home among jam bands. It’s intriguing music, to be sure, offering the
familiarity of many strains of Americana music along with the adventurous
nature of never knowing quite what will happen to a particular song during a
performance.
Ultimately, Hampton is portrayed
more or less like you might expect him to be: playful and funny with a bit of
mystery still surrounding him (he often guessed people’s birthdays upon first
meeting them, and was frequently correct right to the day). And he inspired
those around him, influencing several generations of musicians in the Atlanta
area as a bit of a sage-like character. And his music sounds a lot like his
personality.
(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try RIYL: JAMerica: The History of the Jam Band and Festival Scene
by Peter H. Conners or One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
by Alan Paul.)
( publisher’s official The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton web
page ) | ( official Jerry Grillo web site )
Recommended
by Scott S.
Polley Music Library
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
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Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!
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