* En anglais uniquement
Equal parts psychedelicized
Allman Brothers and boogiefied
Grateful Dead (with a dash of
Commander Cody thrown in),
Col. Bruce Hampton and his various groups, particularly
the Aquarium Rescue Unit, played a key role in the jam band scene that began sweeping through America beginning in the early '90s. The Atlanta-born
Hampton had been an eccentric figure on the Southern music circuit beginning in the early '60s; as
the Hampton Grease Band, he released
Music to Eat on
Columbia Records in 1969. After
the Grease Band folded,
Hampton released a solo effort (
One Ruined Life of a Bronze Tourist in 1978) and then founded New Ice Age, which soon evolved into the Late Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age released two albums, Outside Looking Out (1980) and Isles of Langerhan (1982).
The Colonel recorded a second solo album,
Arkansas, in 1984 and by 1987 the group had broken up.
Hampton then formed
the Aquarium Rescue Unit, an eclectic congregation adept at everything from country-swing jazz to meltdown Southern boogie and over-amped gospel bluegrass. By the time of 1992's
Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit, the band featured
Oteil Burbridge on bass and vocals, guitarist
Jimmy Herring,
Matt Mundy on electric mandolin and vocals, and drummer Apt. Q258; the record documented a live date from the previous September. The band's first studio album,
Mirrors of Embarrassment, was released in mid-1993, concurrent with an appearance on the H.O.R.D.E. (Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere) tour. Shortly after the release of
Mirrors of Embarrassment,
Hampton left the group, but
the Aquarium Rescue Unit continued touring and recording without him, releasing In a Perfect World in 1996.
Hampton released the career retrospect
Strange Voices: A History 1977-1987 in 1994 and soon formed a new band,
Fiji Mariners, releasing an LP under that name in 1996. Also in 1996,
Hampton was given his first motion picture role -- playing Morris in
Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade. His new
Fiji outfit spent most of the next few years on the road and the inevitable (for
Hampton anyway) live album, Live, was released in 1998. The group continued to tour extensively up to May 1999, when they disbanded. During the ensuing hiatus,
Hampton performed live with various ensembles and appeared in
Phishman Mike Gordon's 1999 film, Outside Out. In 2006,
Hampton formed yet another jam supergroup, the Quark Alliance, and released Give Thanks to Chank in 2007. Two albums credited to
the Colonel followed: Songs of the Solar Ping in 2008 and the Ropeadope label release Pharoah's Kitchen in 2015. On May 1, 2017, at an all-star tribute at Atlanta's Fox Theatre to celebrate
the Colonel's 70th birthday, he collapsed on-stage during the show's encore of "Turn on Your Love Light," was rushed to a local hospital, and died shortly thereafter. ~ John Floyd & John Bush