Ed Bruce
William Edwin "Ed" Bruce Jr. (born December 29, 1939 in Keizer , Mississippi County , Arkansas , † January 8, 2021 in Clarksville , Tennessee ) was an American country singer and songwriter .
Life
Beginnings
Bruce grew up in Memphis (Tennessee) , where he met the sound engineer Jack Clement of Sun Records in 1957 at the age of 17 , who introduced him to the owner Sam Phillips . In the same year Bruce recorded his first rockabilly single Rock Boppin 'Baby / More Than Yesterday (Sun 276) on Sun, which was not very successful. Also in 1957 a second single was released by Sun: Sweet Woman / Part of My Life (Sun 292). In 1961 he was briefly under contract with the record label RCA , only one single was released. In 1962 he wrote Save Your Kisses for pop singer Tommy Roe . In 1963 and 1964, two singles were released on the record label Wand Records.
In 1964 Bruce moved to Nashville and became a member of the "Marijohn Wilkins Singers". During this time he was also successful as a singer of commercial songs. In 1965 he wrote See the Big Man Cry for country singer Charlie Louvin . In 1966 Bruce moved to the record label RCA, where he released the single Walker's Woods , which reached number 57 in the singles charts. Bruce then changed the record company a few times and brought out less successful songs.
successes
In 1973 he signed a record deal with United Artists and reached the Top 20 with Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys in 1975; In 1978 the song in the version of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson became a hit, which reached number 1 on the country charts, was able to place in the pop charts and brought the duo a Grammy .
After Bruce was employed by Epic Records between 1977 and 1978 , he switched to MCA in the early 1980s , where he had his greatest successes. In 1980 he recorded the song The Last Cowboy Song with Willie Nelson ; he then released Everything's a Waltz and Girl, Women and Ladies , all of which hit the top 20 on the country charts. In 1981 he played the second leading role alongside James Garner in the 18-part TV series Bret Maverick . Bruce was also the lead singer of the theme song for this series Maverick Did Not Come Here To Lose .
In 1981 Bruce had his only number 1 hit as a singer, You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had . Written by Wayland Holyfield and Randy Hotch and produced by Tommy West, the track reached number 1 on the country charts on March 6, 1982 and was only able to stay at the top for a week. In the following years he had other successes, for example Ever, Never Lovin 'You , After All , Turn Me On (Like a Radio) and Nights . Bruce also wrote hits for country artists such as Tex Ritter , Tanya Tucker and Crystal Gayle .
Last years
After his album Night Things , he largely retired as a musician, but appeared more often as an actor in films and television series such as Walker, Texas Ranger . In 2004 Bruce released an album of gospel songs , which was followed by another gospel album in early 2007.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 Country
|
|||
| 1968 | If I Could Just Go Home |
Country44 (2 weeks) Country |
RCA
|
| 1980 | Ed Bruce |
Country22 (31 weeks) Country |
|
| 1981 | One to one |
Country29 (50 weeks) Country |
|
| 1982 | I write it down |
Country63 (4 weeks) Country |
|
| 1983 | You're Not Leavin 'Here Tonight |
Country35 (20 weeks) Country |
|
| 1985 | Homecoming |
Country41 (38 weeks) Country |
|
| 1986 | Night Things |
Country53 (15 weeks) Country |
More albums
- 1969: Shades
- 1976: Ed Bruce
- 1977: Tennessean
- 1978: Cowboys and Dreamers
- 1982: Last Train to Clarksville
- 1984: Tell 'em I've Gone Crazy
- 1985: Greatest Hits
- 1986: Rock Boppin 'Baby
- 1995: puzzles
- 1995: The Best
- 1997: Set Me Free
- 2002: This Old Hat
- 2003: 12 classics
- 2004: Changed
- 2007: Sing About Jesus
- 2010: In Jesus' Eyes: Songs of Inspiration
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Country
|
|||
| 1966 | Walker's Woods If I Could Just Go Home |
Country57 (9 weeks) Country |
|
| 1967 | Last Train to Clarksville |
Country69 (5 weeks) Country |
|
| 1968 | Painted Girls and Wine |
Country52 (5 weeks) Country |
|
| 1969 | Song for Jenny |
Country53 (10 weeks) Country |
|
| Everybody Wants to Get to Heaven Shades |
Country52 (7 weeks) Country |
||
| 1973 | July You're a Woman |
Country77 (8 weeks) Country |
|
| 1975 | Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys Ed Bruce |
Country15 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| 1976 | Littlest Cowboy Rides Again Ed Bruce |
Country32 (10 weeks) Country |
|
| For Love's Own Sake Ed Bruce |
Country36 (10 weeks) Country |
||
| Sleep All Morning Ed Bruce |
Country57 (7 weeks) Country |
||
| 1977 | Texas (When I Die) Tennessean |
Country52 (10 weeks) Country |
|
| Star-Studded Nights Tennessean |
Country54 (10 weeks) Country |
||
| 1978 | Love Somebody to Death Tennessean |
Country57 (7 weeks) Country |
|
| Man Made of Glass Tennessean |
Country94 (3 weeks) Country |
||
| The Man That Turned My Mama On Cowboys and Dreamers |
Country70 (6 weeks) Country |
||
| Angeline Cowboys and Dreamers |
Country60 (9 weeks) Country |
||
| 1980 | Diane Ed Bruce (1980) |
Country21 (15 weeks) Country |
|
| The Last Cowboy Song Ed Bruce (1980) |
Country12 (15 weeks) Country |
with Willie Nelson
|
|
| Girls, Women and Ladies Ed Bruce (1980) |
Country14 (16 weeks) Country |
||
| 1981 | Evil Angel One to One |
Country24 (14 weeks) Country |
|
| (When You Fall in Love) Everything's a Waltz One to One |
Country14 (15 weeks) Country |
||
| You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had One to One |
Country1 (21 weeks) Country |
||
| 1982 | Love's Found You and Me One to One |
Country13 (16 weeks) Country |
|
| Ever, Never Lovin 'You I Write It Down |
Country4 (19 weeks) Country |
||
| My First Taste of Texas I Write It Down |
Country6 (18 weeks) Country |
||
| 1983 | You're Not Leaving Here Tonight You're Not Leaving Here Tonight |
Country21 (15 weeks) Country |
|
| If It Was Easy You're Not Leaving Here Tonight |
Country19 (17 weeks) Country |
||
| After All You're Not Leaving Here Tonight |
Country4 (21 weeks) Country |
||
| 1984 | Tell 'em I've Gone Crazy Tell' em I've Gone Crazy |
Country45 (12 weeks) Country |
|
| You Turn Me On (Like a Radio) Homecoming |
Country3 (22 weeks) Country |
||
| 1985 | If It Ain't Love Homecoming |
Country20 (16 weeks) Country |
|
| When Givin 'Up Was Easy Homecoming |
Country17 (16 weeks) Country |
||
| 1986 | Nights Night Things |
Country4 (19 weeks) Country |
|
| Fools for Each Other Night Things |
Country49 (9 weeks) Country |
with Lynn Anderson
|
|
| Quietly Crazy Night Things |
Country36 (14 weeks) Country |
More singles
- 1957: Rockin 'Boppin' Baby
- 1958: Sweet Woman
- 1961: Flight 303
- 1963: It's Coming to Me
- 1963: See the Big Man Cry
- 1964: Don't Let It Happen
- 1964: I'm Gonna Have a Party
- 1964: He Gave Her to Me
- 1966: Unbreakable Heart
- 1967: If I Could Just Go Home
- 1967: Her Sweet Love and the Baby
- 1968: I'll Take You Away
- 1968: puzzles
- 1969: Hey Porter
- 1973: Good Jelly Jones
- 1974: Devil Ain't a Lonely Woman's Friend
- 1976: Wide Open Spaces and Cowboys Are Gone
literature
- Dellar, Fred / Thompson, Roy: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Country Music . Foreword by Roy Acuff. 2nd edition London: Salamander Books, 1979, p. 32.
- Fuchs, Walter: History of Country Music. Centers, styles, resumes . Bergisch-Gladbach: Gustav Lübbe Verlag, 1980, p. 210.
- Jeier, Thomas: The new Lexicon of Country Music , Munich: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1992, p. 122f.
- Erlewine, Michael et al. (Ed.): All Music Guide to Country Music. The experts guide to the best recordings in country music . San Francisco, Cal .: Miller Freeman Books, 1997, p. 58.
Web links
- Official website
- Extensive discography
- Ed Bruce in the Internet Movie Database (English)
swell
- ↑ Ed Bruce Dies: Country Songwriter, 'Bret Maverick' Actor Was 81
- ↑ The singles published by Sun name Edwin Bruce as the interpreter. Neely, Tim: gold mine. Country & Western. 2nd edition, Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 2001, p. 68
- ↑ The song topped the country charts for four weeks. Catalog number RCA 11198. Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits. 1944-2006. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 175
- ↑ The title reached number 42 in the pop charts. Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 308
- ↑ US catalog number MCA 51210; For more information on the title, see Roland, Tom: The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits . New York City / New York: Billboard Books; London: Guinness Publishing Ltd., 1991, pp. 313f
- ↑ a b Chart sources: US
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bruce, Ed |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bruce, William Edwin Jr. |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American country singer and songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 29, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Keizer , Mississippi County , Arkansas |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 8, 2021 |
| Place of death | Clarksville , Tennessee |