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Bruce Palmer | |
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.png) Palmer withBuffalo Springfield in 1966 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bruce Clifford Palmer |
| Born | (1946-09-09)September 9, 1946 Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | October 1, 2004(2004-10-01) (aged 58) Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Folk rock |
| Occupation | Bassist |
| Years active | 1963–1971, 1977, 1982–1986 |
Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 – October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician best known as the bassist in thefolk rock bandBuffalo Springfield, who were inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.[1]
Palmer was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, later moving with his family to Toronto, Ontario,[2] where in the early 1960s he began pursuing a musical career. He started out playing withRobbie Lane and the Disciples, then graduated to a local, otherwise all-black group fronted by Billy Clarkson. Next came British invasion-inspired Jack London & The Sparrows (which, after Palmer left, evolved intoSteppenwolf). In early 1965 he left to joinThe Mynah Birds where he first metNeil Young who was playing lead guitar in the band. The Mynah Birds, fronted by future funk legendRick James, had a bright future and were signed to the prestigiousMotown Records to do somedemo recordings before it was discovered that James was actually in Toronto to avoid serving in Vietnam with theUnited States Navy, from which he had goneAWOL. A planned single, "It's My Time" b/w "Go On and Cry", was withdrawn just prior to its scheduled release by Motown. Both sides of this single were included in the 2006 box set "The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6: 1966", released in a limited edition of 6000 by Universal label Hip-O-Select, marking the first time any of the 1966 Motown recordings by the Mynah Birds had seen the light of day.
The group was forced to disband, and Young and Palmer drove Young's hearse toLos Angeles in the hope of meetingStephen Stills, a journeyman folk musician with whom Young had played briefly in Canada two years earlier. Within two days of arriving in Los Angeles, Young and Palmer were driving on Sunset Boulevard and Stills was coming in the opposite direction. When Stills saw the Ontario licence plates, he turned around and pursued the hearse, pulled up beside them and realized who they were. Shortly after, the whole crew pulled into a carpark and introduced themselves. Thus they became the band Buffalo Springfield.[3]
Young, Palmer, and Stills, along with fellow-CanadianDewey Martin on drums andRichie Furay on rhythm guitar and vocals, soon formedBuffalo Springfield. The band only had one major national hit, "For What It's Worth" (written and sung by Stills). In Los Angeles their popularity was rivaled only byThe Byrds andThe Doors. A number of other songs achieved mild prominence, such as "Blue Bird," "Mr Soul", "Expecting to Fly", "Broken Arrow", "Down to the Wire", "Flying On the Ground Is Wrong", "Go and Say Goodbye", "Rock & Roll Woman", "Out of My Mind", "Sit Down, I Think I Love You", and "On the Way Home".
Palmer was arrested on numerous occasions for drug possession. These legal problems, compounded by his predilection to stay home reading mystical texts, led to his being shunned by most of the group.[citation needed] Another arrest led to hisdeportation from the U.S. in January 1967. Palmer was replaced in the band by a rotating group of bassists that includedJim Fielder andKen Koblun. Shortly thereafter, Young left the group due to tensions with Stills, and Buffalo Springfield played its most prominent concert at the hugely influentialMonterey Pop Festival in June 1967 with Doug Hastings andDavid Crosby filling in for Young. During his time back in Toronto between January and May 1967, Palmer gigged briefly with the local band The Heavenly Government.
In late May, Palmer returned to the U.S. disguised as a businessman, in a suit and tie with his hair cut short, and rejoined the band (Young eventually returned as well). However, the group had lost trust in Palmer and continued to rely on session players despite his return. Palmer continued to rack up a lengthy arrest record, which included another drug possession bust and driving without a licence. In January 1968, Palmer was removed from the band and officially replaced byJim Messina. He was deported again in March. After embarking on a tour opening for theBeach Boys, Buffalo Springfield disbanded on May 5, 1968, after a final concert at theLong Beach Sports Arena.
Palmer resurfaced in the summer of 1969 for two weeks as the bassist forCrosby, Stills, Nash & Young but was soon replaced byMotown prodigyGreg Reeves. In Toronto, Palmer gigged briefly withLuke & The Apostles in early 1970. In February 1970, he illegally entered the U.S. again, because his attorney said if he did not re-enter and give a deposition in a civil suit, he would face financial ruin. The attorney lost track of Palmer and hired an investigator to find him. He was caught and arrested a year later in January 1971, in Los Angeles. He was deported for the final time in 1972.
In 1971, Palmer released his lone solo record,The Cycle Is Complete, onVerve Records. Primarily consisting of three long jams, "Alpha-Omega-Apocalypse", "Oxo", and "Calm Before the Storm" (with an "Interlude" between the first two numbers), the album featured Palmer playing with the remnants of fellow L.A. psychedelic groupKaleidoscope, Toronto keyboard player Ed Roth andRick James contributing jazzyscat vocals. The record has been described[citation needed] as a jazzier version ofSkip Spence'sOar orSyd Barrett's two solo records – an aural, drug-induced nervous breakdown. The album was a commercial disaster, and Palmer seemingly retired from music.
In 1977, Palmer joined formerKensington Market singer/guitarist Keith McKie and lead guitaristStan Endersby (formerly of local bands,The Just Us, andMapleoak) in the Toronto-based group Village for local gigs.
In 1982–1983, Palmer was bassist in Neil Young'sTrans Band, and playing a mixture of Young classics and electronica-infused material to audiences throughout America and Europe, as seen onNeil Young in Berlin, filmed in 1982.
Palmer was inducted with his Buffalo Springfield bandmates into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
Palmer was married three times. He had three children.[4]
He died of a heart attack on October 1, 2004, inBelleville, Ontario, at the age of 58.[1]
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