Does anyone know Bruce Brooks?

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 5 Nov 2020 5:54 pm

He played with Clinton Gregory for a time I think.

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 6 Nov 2020 10:19 am

I think that I saw him play with Susan Raye back in the 70s

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 6 Nov 2020 12:38 pm

My friend Roger Miller from Iowa knows him. Roger is on the forum.

Roger Miller · Post by **Roger Miller** » 6 Nov 2020 6:11 pm

Hi Larry, Bruce had a brain tumor removed and erased his memory. I stopped by his parents house and he had been in a nursing home and they couldn't keep him so he was at mom and dads house. I set up his guitar just to see what he would do and he sat down to it, then didn't feel like playing it. The picks were on his fingers. I haven't talked to his mom or dad lately but I would imagine he is doing ok for the instance. We grew up together and moved to Nashville together and played alot there. He played also alot in Texas with Curtis P. before Milsap. Milsap hired him without a audition, was with him for around 14 years.

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 7 Nov 2020 8:12 pm

I looked for Bruce on the Ronnie Milsap record of Houston Solution. My wife's favorite song. Because of that, I had to learn his parts. That got me looking for more of his playing on other Milsap hits. Bruce had a big influence on me without ever meeting him. Great player.

Roger Miller · Post by **Roger Miller** » 8 Nov 2020 12:50 pm

Bruce was from Revere, Mo. and was a hoot alot of the time. We worked around home till I graduated then we went to Nashville already having jobs there. Being just kids life was cool, but the writing for my future was on the wall. I found a place to flop and did the family life, he moved to Texas and played with Curtis. He also was a good friend to Chuck Cusimano, a formite. Lloyd Maines hooked him up with Ronnie and off he went back to Nashville. After some time he left and went with the fiddler then to Paycheck. He give it up after bad medical reports. Thats how I remember him. Yes one of the most nicest guys and second to none steeler, I still miss talking to him.

Roger Miller · Post by **Roger Miller** » 8 Nov 2020 12:53 pm

Bruce's parents still live in the Canton, Mo. area.He owned a Plymouth Road Runner and one nite we ran out of gas on Green River Parkway and so we hitched a ride into town and was waiting for the station to open and the cop wanted to arrest us for vagrancy. It didn't happen that God.

Roger Miller · Post by **Roger Miller** » 8 Nov 2020 1:01 pm

Marco, we played together with Tater and we would play pkg. shows out west and Ogden Utah and Albuquerque we worked with Susan Raye, and alot of the Buck Owens discoveries. Each of them had one or two songs on the radio so they packaged them all together.

Rich Upright · Post by **Rich Upright** » 9 Nov 2020 1:32 pm

I played with a Bruce Brooks back in the 80s, but he was a bass player & from Long Island.

Duane Brown · Post by **Duane Brown** » 9 Nov 2020 4:55 pm

Boy what memories this brings back. In the 1970's Lubbock Texas was a hotbed of country music and was loaded with good players. My best friend Chuck Cusimano hired Bruce the summer after Bruces' junior year in high school. He was one of the nicest guys and a monster player at 16 or 17 years old. Chuck had a good sit-down gig in Lubbock and Bruce came to town and just blew everyone's mind. I was a guitar player who was just learning steel. Bruce would take a cassette player and record his steel sets with the band in the background for me. I still have 2 cassettes he recorded and wrote how to play a couple of licks on the liner. When I could get out to see him he would spend his break showing me licks.

Bruce went home to Missouri to finish school and was there just a little bit before he quit school and called Chuck to tell him he was ready to go back to work. Instead he wound up in Nashville and I think worked for Dickens. Roger, I don't remember how long you and Bruce were in Nashville that time. In a year or two he came back to Lubbock and played with Larry Trider then Chuck Cusimano at the Red Raider.
Connie Smith's ex called and told him Milsap was forming a new band but he needed to do an audition tape. Bruce flew to Nashville, recorded and went home. In a few days the phone woke him up and the voice said "Bruce this is Ronnie Milsap" Bruce, thinking the fiddle player was messing with him responded,"YEAH MERLE SURE IT IS" and hung up. Ronnie called back and said"Don't hang up it really is Ronnie Milsap."

Chuck hired me on steel when Bruce left and I sure had my hands full trying to learn his parts. Notice I didn't say I replaced Bruce. I was heartbroken when I learned he had a brain tumor and lost the ability to play. He was sure one of the greats of our time.

Roger Miller · Post by **Roger Miller** » 10 Nov 2020 5:06 pm

He went to Lubbuck and really liked that. He was a lot of fun, his family are great people and I see them when I'm down there, it's been a while. His parents still have his guitar and amp at the house. Yeah he was a special kind of player.
I heard that story about the fiddle player also. I walked out of the house one time for about a half hour, in that time he booked a tour with someone in the middle east.