Turner Stephen Bruton (November 7, 1948 – May 9, 2009) was an American actor and musician.

Background

Born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, United States, he moved with his family to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

at the age of two. He fell into the

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

music scene after graduating from

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

when he joined

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

's band as the latter's career was about to take off; their collaboration and friendship lasted more than 40 years.

Career

Bruton worked with such artists and musicians as

NRBQ NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed circa 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re ...

T Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. Burnett has won several Grammy Awards for his work on film sou ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, notably Chic ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

, Sonny Landreth and

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

. He produced albums for

Alejandro Escovedo Pedro Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, includin ...

Marcia Ball Marcia Ball (born March 20, 1949) is an American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana. Ball was described in ''USA Today'' as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp me ...

Jimmie Dale Gilmore Jimmie Dale Gilmore (born May 6, 1945) is an American country singer-songwriter currently living in Austin, Texas. Life and career Gilmore is a native of the Texas Panhandle, having been born in Amarillo and raised in Lubbock, Texas. His ear ...

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953 – November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point ...

, Storyville,

, Chris Smither,

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. ...

, and Hellbillies. From 1993 to 2005 he released five solo albums of his own work, as well as three with

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, songwriters The Resentments. The concert film ''Road to Austin'' was recorded on May 19, 2007, when Bruton and many of his musical friends performed for 20,000 people in Austin, Texas. The film was released in 2014, and includes interviews with Bruton and others. In late 2006, Bruton was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. His friends thought some time in the studio might be a welcome distraction. Dubbing themselves Geoff Muldaur and the Texas Sheiks,

Geoff Muldaur Geoff Muldaur (born August 12, 1943) is an American singer, guitarist and composer, who was a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days. Career Having established a reputation with the Kweskin J ...

(guitar, vocals),

Cindy Cashdollar Cindy Cashdollar (born May 25, 1956) is an American musician specializing in steel guitar and Dobro. She grew up in Woodstock, New York, where she perfected her skills by playing with bluegrass music, bluegrass musician John Herald, blues musi ...

(dobro), Suzy Thompson (fiddle), Johnny Nicholas (guitar) and Bruce Hughes (bass) joined Bruton in the studio for a pair of recording sessions. Bruton died in May 2009; however, the album was released September 22, 2009, on the Tradition & Moderne label. He made appearances in films and television, as well, and he co-wrote and performed with Burnett much of the music in the 2009 country music film '' Crazy Heart'', which was released in December and dedicated to Bruton's memory. On Kristofferson's 2009 release ''Closer to the Bone'', Bruton is credited with playing bass and mandolin and providing backing vocals. Kristofferson noted: "This album is dedicated to the spirit of my soul-brother Stephen Bruton and his unique legacy of music and laughter that has enriched our lives." In June 2012,

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in ...

released '' Rooster Rag'' (Hot Tomato/Rounder Records), containing a collaboration, "Just a Fever", that he wrote with group guitarist

Paul Barrere Paul Barrere (July 3, 1948 – October 26, 2019) was an American musician most prominent as a member of the band Little Feat, which he joined in 1972 some three years after the band was created by Lowell George. Career Barrere recorded and perf ...

. They were frequent writing partners.

Death

Bruton died of complications of

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on May 9, 2009, aged 60. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.

Discography

*''What It Is'' ( Dos Records, 1993) *''Right on Time'' ( Windsong Records, 1995) *''Swingmasters Revue'' with Michael Price ( Shel-Tone, 1996) *''Nothing but the Truth'' ( New West Records, 1999) *''Spirit World'' (New West, 2002) *''From the Five'' (New West, 2005)

References

External links