Monday, May 11, 2009

Stephen Bruton, 1949-2009
















Farewell.

I've always considered Stephen Bruton to be Texas' version of Keith Richards. The comparison has nothing to do with lifestyle. It's about swagger. The men shared thin but soulful voices, instinctive senses of rhythm and a love for American roots music.

Bruton died Saturday. I last saw him perform in the '90s when he was part of Bonnie Raitt's touring band but Bruton was probably best known for his long association with Kris Kristofferson.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Bruton family chose to play "Getting Over You" at the memorial service. The haunting song is from his 1993 solo album What It Is. Incidentally, Stephen's surviving brother Sumter was featured at There Stands the Glass in 2008.

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The musical highlight of my weekend was provided by Fito Olivares. Eldar, one of my longtime favorites, just didn't inspire me this time around.

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Kansas City Click: Richard Buckner sings sad songs tonight at Davey's.

1 comment:

bgo said...

Stephen went down fightin' hard. My heart goes out to his brother Sumpter III, who is an old friend of mine.

Getting passed this one will take some time for he touched so many in the roots music side of things.