only Bruce Hampton could pull off. He played one of the biggest, finest shows of his 70 years and was surrounded by friends and artists, many of whom he had influenced in huge ways, He got all the way to the last song, and collapsed during “Turn On Your Love Light.” For one of the bright- est performance artists of my generation, it was an ultimate last act. His ultimate artistic cre- ation. The room was filled with love, and that was the last thing he felt. Perfect. Like everyone else, I will miss my friend
with Johnny Neel and Chris Anderson in his band, Billy Joe Shaver, and myself and The Crawlers, plus our fabulous hosts, The Skeeters. Another special time I recall, Col. Bruce
was playing at Gottrocks in Greenville, SC. His band played a set before he came out, so he was in his van beside the club, and invited me to sit with him and talk. We were chatting, and he says, “let your seat back.” We both did, and we found ourselves looking straight into the clear night sky. Col. Bruce started showing me and naming the constellations. It was truly a learning experience. When he ran out of star clusters, we started talk- ing about movies, music and pro-wrestling. Until then, I was unaware of his tenure as a pro- wrestling manager. He really had that act down pat. One of the crew guys came out to tell him it was time for him to play. He told the guy to relay the message for the band to just keep playing for a bit. He wasn’t ready to go inside yet. To make a long story short, it was 45 minutes later that we went inside, including two more reminders from the crew guy. Bruce did everything on his own schedule. I admired that. I was invited to Bruce’s 70th birthday cele-
bration at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on May 1st. I was supposed to be there. He had left me a press pass at will call. The thing is, the week before was all of the traveling to Alabama and Georgia to play with The Boxmasters and have my book signing event at The Allman Brothers Big House, so I was both worn out and broke. I figured I’d catch him next time around. How was I to know. When Col. Bruce suffered a heart attack onstage that night, it was an exit into the next realm that
greatly. I feel blessed to have known him, been schooled in the ways of Zambie, and had so many great times and laughs. As a tribute, we are print- ing for the first time anywhere, my most recent interview with the Colonel, as broadcast in 2012 on The Kudzoo Radio Hour. I had the chance to conduct three formal interviews, and always loved the way he turned the tables and began to interview the interviewer. And that laugh of his. That wonderful, soulful laugh. Too bad there’s no way to put that laugh into print, but I plan on posting the audio soon, so fans can listen to our friend. This one was an I interview for the sake of interviewing, Sure, he was promoting the movie Basically Frightened, but it was more like two old friends sitting around a chess board shooting the shit. We love you Colonel. See you in the light.
We here with Col Bruce Hampton, I'm so happy, to have him on the telephone from parts unknown, I'm not sure where. where are you at right now Colonial? I am on 85 heading southwardly into Georgia.
Nice. Colonel, I want to go back a few years and ask about where you were born and raised, some of these questions I've asked in the past, but I've got a whole dif- ferent audience these days that need to be schooled on the zambiness of Bruce Hampton. Well my landing spot was Oak Ridge, TN in a nu- clear power plant, and I was born with four birth certificates around the time of the Roswell inci- dent.
Makes perfect sense to me. (laughing) That explains a lot too, it really does.Who were your earlier musical influences?
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