MUSIC HISTORY 101 SEPTEMBER 9, 1946 - Born on this day in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Original Buffalo Springfield bassist BRUCE PALMER (d. October 1, 2004) Palmers father was a concert pianist, and he picked up a guitar at the age of 10 in a music store. Palmer started out playing in a high school band, which evolved into the successful Robbie Lane & The Disciples, and then graduated to a local, otherwise all-black, group fronted by Billy Clarkson. He also began playing with other rock groups in Toronto, including the Swinging Doors and Jack London & the Sparrows (which after Palmer left, evolved into Steppenwolf). In early 1965, he left to join The Mynah Birds and met Neil Young around the same time. The Mynah Birds were a now-legendary Canadian group whose lead singer (and sometimes drummer) was the future funk star Rick James. Mr. Palmer persuaded his friend Mr. Young to join the group, and the Mynah Birds were soon signed to Motown Records and did some preliminary recordings before it was discovered that James had been AWOL from the Navy for a year and was arrested as a draft dodger, effectively cancelling their contract. A planned single, Its My Time b/w Go Ahead And Cry, was withdrawn just prior to its scheduled release by Motown.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. After the group was forced to disband, Young and Palmer drove the Youngs hearse to Los Angeles in the hope of meeting up with Stephen Stills, a journeyman folk musician with whom Young had played briefly in Canada two years earlier. Young and Palmer ran into Stills while stuck in traffic in Los Angeles, Stills having recognized Youngs distinctive hearse. It was not long before the trio, along with Richie Furay on rhythm guitar and Dewey Martin on drums, formed Buffalo Springfield. By July 1966, they were in Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles working on their first album, Buffalo Springfield. In 1967, that album was reissued to add For What Its Worth, and Buffalo Springfield Again was recorded. The band only had one major national hit with For What Its Worth (written and sung by Stills), but locally their popularity was rivaled only by The Byrds and The Doors. Palmer was arrested on numerous occasions for drug possession, and was faced with marijuana and immigration charges that forced him out of the band temporarily, and permanently by the time of Buffalo Springfields third album, Last Time Around. Another arrest led to his deportation from the United States in early 1967; Palmer was replaced in the band by a rotating group of bassists that included Jim Fielder and Ken Koblun. Shortly thereafter, Young left the group due to tensions with Stills, and Buffalo Springfield played its most prominent concert at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 with Doug Hastings and David Crosby filling in for Young. During his time back in Toronto between January–May 1967, Palmer had gigged briefly with the Heavenly Government. In late May, Palmer returned to the United States disguised as a businessman, and rejoined the band (Young eventually returned as well). However, the group continued to rely on session bassists. Meanwhile, Palmer continued to rack up a lengthy arrest record, which included yet another drug possession bust and speeding without a license. In January 1968, Palmer was removed from the band and officially replaced by Jim Messina. Then, after embarking on a tour opening for the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield disbanded on May 5, 1968 after a final hometown concert at the Long Beach Sports Arena. Palmer resurfaced in the summer of 1969 for two weeks as the bassist for Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young but was soon replaced by Motown prodigy Greg Reeves. Back in Toronto, he gigged briefly with Luke & The Apostles in early 1970. In 1971, Palmer released his lone solo record, The Cycle Is Complete, on Verve 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 group Kaleidoscope, Toronto keyboard player Ed Roth and Rick James contributing jazzy scat vocals. The album was a commercial disaster, and Palmer seemingly retired from music. In 1977, Palmer joined former Kensington Market singer/guitarist Keith McKie and lead guitarist Stan Endersby (formerly of local bands, The Just Us, and Mapleoak) in the Toronto group, Village for some local gigs. Palmer played on several occasions with Young in the 1980s, In 1982-1983, Palmer resurfaced as the bassist in Neil Youngs Trans Band, playing a mixture of Young classics and electronica-infused material to audiences throughout America and Europe, and later reunited with Martin to form Buffalo Springfield Revisited. Palmer was inducted with his bandmates into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. He died of a heart attack in October 2004 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, survived by his wife, Jill Vanderveen Palmer, and three grown daughters. READ MORE: allmusic/artist/bruce-palmer-mn0001387638/biography thrasherswheat.org/friends/palmer.htm noted.blogs/westcoastmusic/2004/10/bruce_palmer_fr.html rockhall/inductees/buffalo-springfield/bio/ theguardian/news/2004/oct/16/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1 classicbands/buffalo.html earcandymag/rrcase-5.htm nytimes/2004/10/16/arts/16palmer.html?_r=0
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:04:24 +0000
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