Cliff Bruner
Encyclopedia
Cliff Bruner was a fiddle
r and bandleader
of the western swing
era of the 1930s. Bruner's music combined elements of traditional string band music, improvisation, blues
, folk, and popular melodies of the times.
, and spent most of his childhood near Houston. He learned to play fiddle, and traveled with medicine show
s to begin his musical career.
Milton Brown's
Musical Brownies drafted Bruner in 1935. Bruner played with the ensemble's classically trained fiddler Cecil Brower
to create the memorable double fiddle sound of Milton Brown's group. Bruner recorded with Brown's group on the Decca
music label, until Brown was killed in an automobile accident. This ended Bruner's involvement in the group.
After the incident, Bruner formed the The Texas Wanderers. This band included Bob Dunn
on electric steel guitar
, Leo Raley on mandolin
, J.R. Chatwell on fiddle, Dickie McBride on guitar and vocals, and Moon Mullican
on vocals and piano
. The Wanderers recorded on the Decca and Mercury Records
labels. His songs had a special southern characteristic including songs about truck driving, lost love, the draft, and ill repute.
Cliff Bruner is an "unsung" star of the little-noted Country music charts that appeared in Billboard prior to 1944. His hit It Makes No Difference Now spent twenty weeks atop the chart. Other hits 1939–1942 included "Sorry", "Kelly Swing", "I'll keep on loving you" and "When You're Smiling". Perhaps his most famous hit was "Truck drivers' blues", the first truck driving song. Much of these recordings featured future singer piano star, Moon Mullican, on vocals.
Bruner's big band disbanded in the 1950s. However, Bruner continued to play music and his trio appeared in the Sally Field movie Places in the Heart'(1984). He had also been given recognition when the revival of western swing came about in the 1970s. Bruner died of cancer in August 2000.
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
of the western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
era of the 1930s. Bruner's music combined elements of traditional string band music, improvisation, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, folk, and popular melodies of the times.
Biography
Bruner was born in Texas City, TexasTexas City, Texas
Texas City is a city in Chambers and Galveston counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 41,521 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, and spent most of his childhood near Houston. He learned to play fiddle, and traveled with medicine show
Medicine show
Medicine shows were traveling horse and wagon teams which peddled "miracle cure" medications and other products between various entertainment acts. Their precise origins unknown, medicine shows were common in the 19th century United States...
s to begin his musical career.
Milton Brown's
Milton Brown
Milton Brown was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hybrid, thus giving him the nickname, "Father of Western Swing"...
Musical Brownies drafted Bruner in 1935. Bruner played with the ensemble's classically trained fiddler Cecil Brower
Cecil Brower
Cecil Lee Brower was a classically trained American jazz violinist who became an architect of Western swing in the 1930s. Perhaps the greatest swing fiddler, he could improvise as well as double shuffle and created his own style which became the benchmark for his contemporaries...
to create the memorable double fiddle sound of Milton Brown's group. Bruner recorded with Brown's group on the Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
music label, until Brown was killed in an automobile accident. This ended Bruner's involvement in the group.
After the incident, Bruner formed the The Texas Wanderers. This band included Bob Dunn
Bob Dunn (musician)
Robert Lee "Bob" Dunn was a jazz trombonist and a pioneer Western swing steel guitarist.He is noted as the first musician to record an electrically amplified instrument—January, 1935, with Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies.Dunn also played steel guitar in numerous other Western Swing...
on electric steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, Leo Raley on mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, J.R. Chatwell on fiddle, Dickie McBride on guitar and vocals, and Moon Mullican
Moon Mullican
Aubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
on vocals and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. The Wanderers recorded on the Decca and Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
labels. His songs had a special southern characteristic including songs about truck driving, lost love, the draft, and ill repute.
Cliff Bruner is an "unsung" star of the little-noted Country music charts that appeared in Billboard prior to 1944. His hit It Makes No Difference Now spent twenty weeks atop the chart. Other hits 1939–1942 included "Sorry", "Kelly Swing", "I'll keep on loving you" and "When You're Smiling". Perhaps his most famous hit was "Truck drivers' blues", the first truck driving song. Much of these recordings featured future singer piano star, Moon Mullican, on vocals.
Bruner's big band disbanded in the 1950s. However, Bruner continued to play music and his trio appeared in the Sally Field movie Places in the Heart'(1984). He had also been given recognition when the revival of western swing came about in the 1970s. Bruner died of cancer in August 2000.