Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.

Career

Fleetwood Mac

When Peter Green left the

Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

in 1967, he decided to form his own group, naming it Fleetwood Mac after the rhythm section he wanted for the band –

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...

and

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fle ...

. Fleetwood joined up straight away, and slide guitar player Jeremy Spencer was recruited, but McVie preferred to stay with the Bluesbreakers, where he was earning a regular wage. In the meantime, Green hired Brunning on a temporary basis, hoping that McVie would change his mind. During this period, Brunning played with Fleetwood Mac at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival. After a few weeks McVie did change his mind, claiming that Bluesbreakers leader John Mayall was turning too far in the direction of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

for his liking; hence, McVie joined, and Brunning stood down. Brunning did contribute bass guitar to one track on Fleetwood Mac's debut album '' Fleetwood Mac'', "Long Grey Mare".

Savoy Brown and teaching career

After his stint in Fleetwood Mac, he joined Savoy Brown before embarking on a career in teaching, training at The College of St. Mark & St. John, Chelsea. His teaching career lasted 30 years and included appointments as the headmaster of Clapham Manor Primary School, Lambeth in the 1980s and Churchill Gardens Primary School, Pimlico in the 1990s. He did not abandon music, however, and played in the Brunning Sunflower Blues Band,

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

, and later the DeLuxe Blues Band. In 1972, he played bass guitar on the 22nd Streatham Cub Scouts LP ''Songs for Your Enjoyment''. The album featured folk songs as well as the Scout theme song " Kumbaya".

As an author

Brunning also authored many books, and wrote several about Fleetwood Mac, the British blues scene, and music in general. His works about his former group include ''Behind The Masks'', published in 1990, 1998's ''Fleetwood Mac: The First 30 Years'', and ''The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies''.

Death

Brunning died on 18 October 2011, aged 68, after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in Colliers Wood.

References

External links

Official website
in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Brunning, Bob 1943 births 2011 deaths 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English rock musicians English blues musicians Blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians Musicians from Bournemouth Schoolteachers from Dorset Fleetwood Mac members Savoy Brown members Tramp (band) members