Col. Bruce Hampton has been there, done that and got the t-shirt. He's an avid reader, a film buff, and a musical enigma. From The Hampton Grease Band to The Aquarium Rescue Unit, The Fiji Mariners and The Code Talkers, Hampton has explored musical stylings that blended one part Frank Zappa, two parts Charlie Christian, one part John Lee Hooker, and two parts Captain Beefheart, with more than one pinch of Allman Brothers Band tossed in for flavor. He is a writer, a singer, a guitarist, an actor and a film maker. But more than all of that, he is the organizational master, and if Derek Trucks, Jimmy Herring, and O'Teil Burbridge are young Jedi's, Col. Bruce is their Yoda. No small wonder he has been referred to as "the daddy of us all."
We spoke to Bruce from Montgomery, Alabama, where he was on the road in a thunderstorm. The cell phone held up nicely, and we are happy to present this exclusive one-on-one, Zen-like trip into the mind of a true artist's artist-Col Bruce Hampton.
It was great seeing you reunited with The Aquarium Rescue Unit at Warren's Christmas Jam last week
Thanks. We had a great time, man.
You live in Atlanta nowadays, right?
I live in Florida and in Atlanta.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, but I only spent about eight days there. I was raised in Atlanta. My family has been there since about 1820. I have definite Atlanta roots.
Who would you say influenced you musically early on?
Wow. I would say John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, Bobby Bland, B.B. King - when I was still a single digit- at age 8 and 9.
When and how was The Hampton Grease Band formed?
The name came around in 1967. I had played in a band called The Four Of Nine (laughs) about 1964 with a guitar player named Harold. Harold was the guitarist in the Grease Band. We were in a high school band and it just formed into that.
And you ended up signing to Columbia Records for "Music to Eat?"
That was probably the weirdest record I ever made, Michael. (laughs)
How did that record do for you?
Well, I think it was on the shelves for about six weeks, and they just thought it was too weird and they yanked it. They yanked it pretty quick.
Didn't the Hampton Grease Band open for some pretty big names? What about Jimi Hendrix?
