Bruce Berry was a professional roadie for the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, both as a group and individually. He got his start by working at his brother Ken's store SIR (Studio Instrument Rentals

Studio Instrument Rentals

Studio Instrument Rentals is one of the first backline companies in America and it has been involved in all phases of the entertainment business. SIR was established in 1967....

) which brought him steady gigs. His happy, charismatic personality endeared him to the group and he was always on the road with them. He used to load all of his instruments into his trademark white Ford Econoline van, until he moved to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to work with Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills

Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...

.
Supposedly, when he came back to America, he was a completely different person. Danny Whitten

Danny Whitten

Daniel Ray Whitten was an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl.- Biography :Whitten was born on May 8, 1943, in Columbus, Georgia....

 (of Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...

) had turned him on to heroin and it now controlled his life.
One time, he was working for David Crosby

David Crosby

David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...

 when he told everyone that David's car had been broken into and that his beloved Stratocaster had been stolen. However, everyone knew that he was now a junkie and that he had sold the guitar for drugs (but no one knew it was for heroin). Berry died of an overdose of heroin on June 4, 1973, just a few months after Danny Whitten

Danny Whitten

Daniel Ray Whitten was an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song "I Don't Want To Talk About It", a hit for Rita Coolidge, Rod Stewart and Everything but the Girl.- Biography :Whitten was born on May 8, 1943, in Columbus, Georgia....

 met the same fate. Bruce Berry's story has been immortalized in the lyrics to "Tonight's the Night" by Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

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Bruce Berry is the brother of Jan Berry of Jan and Dean

Jan and Dean

Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...

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