Bruce Palmer
| Bruce Palmer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 9, 1946 Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | October 1, 2004 (aged 58) Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Bass, guitar |
| Years active | 1963–1971, 1977, 1982–1986 |
| Labels | Atlantic, Verve |
| Associated acts | Buffalo Springfield, The Mynah Birds, Robbie Lane & The Disciples |
Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 – October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician notable for playing bass in the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield.
Palmer was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and later moved to Toronto. He started out playing in a high school band, which evolved into the successful Robbie Lane & The Disciples, then graduated to a local, otherwise all-black group, fronted by Billy Clarkson. Next came British invasion-inspired 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. The group, fronted by future funk legend Rick James, was signed to Motown Records and did some preliminary recordings before it was discovered that James had been AWOL from the Navy for a year. A planned single, "It's My Time" b/w "Go Ahead And Cry", was withdrawn just prior to its scheduled release by Motown.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.
The group was forced to disband, and Young and Palmer drove Young's 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 Young's distinctive hearse. It was not long before the trio, along with Richie Furay on rhythm guitar and Dewey Martin on drums, formed Buffalo Springfield. The band only had one major national hit, "For What It's Worth" (written and sung by Stills), but locally their popularity was rivaled only by The Byrds and The Doors.
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