Col. Bruce Hampton (Ret): The Daddy of Us All
he was fourteen or fifteen. And you know what's funny? The first gig I hired him, I paid him with a 1976 Dodge Colt. He had no car, so I gave him one. I thought he was a drummer, and I was just marveled that this 21-year old kid was that good a drummer. So I hired him as a drummer. Then he picked up the bass one day, and we all nearly fainted. We said, "Holy...What is that??!!" At 21 he was still getting his thing together, but you could still tell he was going to be the Michael Jordan of bass guitar in about three years. All the old school guys are coming up to me and saying, "Tell that guy to stop playing so much." And I say, "You're not listening. He's not over playing. He's just embellishing everything, and the bass line is always there."
The bass line is there, along with a melody line, and something else, and it words well. Very well. Very jazzy.
The melody line is always there. I've played with a thousand bass players, and he is one of the best I've ever played with. His bass line is always there, you've just got to trust him. You just go. Sometimes there is no "one." When him and Jeff get to going, there's no "one." You just have to hang on and go.
I want to do something a bit different, because you are such a renaissance man. In the tradition of great magazines like Tiger Beat and 16, I want to ask you some fan questions.
I'd like that.
What are your five favorite record albums of all time? Not including Donny Osmond. (laughing)
Number one, do you have a pencil? (laughs and spells out name) Krystoff Penderecki "Threnbony the Victims of Hiroshima." That's number one.
Number two is Bobby Bland's Greatest Hits.
Number three is anything by Son House.
And number four is Ala Akbar Khan.
Number five is any records on Crown by John Lee Hooker. Crown or King.
That's pretty interesting. The first album you spoke of, what is that? Is it jazz?
Oh, God no. It's from the 28th century. If you ever get a chance to hear it., It's the greatest piece of music I've ever heard in my life. Actually that's how I met Frank Zappa. I was discussing that piece of music. We were in a cafe, and one of us overheard the other
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