Gene Watson's Peers: Ed Bruce
Gene Watson's peers within the country music industry
believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much
so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's singer' - and
rightly so!
All of Gene's Peers who were contacted in 2006 were most gracious with their
time & words. It is here, within this special part of gene-watson.com, that
you have an opportunity to read a quote from
Ed Bruce, which he
submitted to this site on Sunday 10 December 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Ed Bruce who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Ed Bruce
This quote was submitted on Sunday 10 December 2006
'Gene Watson is one of my long time, all-time
favourites. No smoke machines, no light shows!
Just pure, honest REAL country music'.
Thank you, Ed Bruce, for your
support of Gene Watson.
About Ed Bruce...
Ed Bruce is a native of Keiser,
Arkansas where he was born (William Edwin Bruce Junior) in December 1939. He
was brought up in Memphis, Tennessee & at the age of seventeen cut his first
tracks for the legendary Sun Records.
However, his career as a rockabilly performer were largely unsuccessful & by
1964 Ed had moved to Nashville, where he became a member of the Marijohn
Wilkins Singers. Ed also entered into a lucrative career singing advertising
jingles, his best-known campaign cast him as a character called the
Tennessean.
In 1966, Ed signed with RCA Records, where he notched up his first chart hit
with the song 'Walker's woods'. More singles & a change of record label
followed; Ed signed with Monuments Records & released the 'Shades of Ed
Bruce' album in 1969.
However, Ed Bruce struggled career-wise until 1976, when he saw the release
of the 'Ed Bruce' album on United Artists Records; the album included his
composition 'Mammas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys' which
climbed to No.15 on the Billboard country music singles chart.
The song, which is Ed Bruce's best-known composition, was later a huge hit
when recorded by Waylon Jennings RIP & Willie Nelson; the track spent four
weeks at No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart in March/April
1978.
Ed Bruce's compositions have also been recorded by fellow country music
stars such as Charlie Louvin ('See the big man cry', No.7 in 1965 &
'Lonesome is me' in 1966), Tex
Ritter RIP, Tanya Tucker ('The man that turned my mama on', Top 5 hit in
1974 & 'Texas, when I die', No.5 in 1978) & Crystal Gayle ('Restless' in
1974).
Ed Bruce recorded for Epic Records between 1977 & 1978 & saw the release of
two fine albums; 'Tennessean' in 1977 & 'Cowboys & Dreamers' in 1978.
These exemplary albums were released as a special '2-for-1' CD by
Hux Records in 2009.
However, Ed Bruce achieved his greatest commercial success with MCA Records
in the 1980s.
'The last cowboy song' (featuring guest vocals from Willie Nelson) reached
No.12 in 1980, while both 'Girls, women & ladies' & '(When you fall in love)
Everything's a waltz' fell just short of entering the Top 10 (each reached
No.14). In 1982, Ed reached No.1 with 'You're the best break this
heart ever had' (No.1 for one week in March 1982).
Other Top 5 singles on MCA Records included 'My first taste of Texas' (No.6,
1982), 'Ever, never lovin' you' (No.4, 1982), 'You're not leaving here
tonight' (No.21, 1983), 'If it was easy' (No.19, 1983) & 'After all' (No.4,
1983).
In 1984, Ed Bruce switched record labels, moving from MCA Records to RCA
Victor where he saw the release of 'Homecoming' (RCA Victor, 1984) & 'Night
Things' (RCA Victor, 1986).
Ed Bruce achieved a hit song from each of these albums; 'Homecoming' (1984)
produced 'You turn me on (like a radio)' which reached No.3 in 1984, while
'Night Things' (1986) produced 'Nights' which reached No.4 in 1986.
When his recording career took off, Ed Bruce branched into acting, appearing
in the CBS mini-series 'The Chisholms' & the television special 'The Last
Days of Frank & Jessie James'. Ed also played the part of Tom Guthrie
in an eight-month return of 'Bret Maverick' in 1982.
Later albums from Ed Bruce included 'Set Me Free' (Kingfisher Records,
1997), 'This Old Hat' (Old Hat Records, 2002) & '12 Classics' (Varese
records, 2003).
Visit Ed Bruce's Official Site