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December 8, 2006A Great Musician Needs Your HelpMy Friend Bruce LanghorneBy JONATHAN DEMMEBruce Langhorne, an old friend and musician/composer that I have known for many years has had a catastrophic series of medical events this year, and they are not over yet. Bruce does not have any medical insurance. ...He's a beautiful dude who has had an auspicious but unhighlighted career, including being the guy playing that amazing slide guitar on Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Tons of other Dylan, Odetta, Clancy Brothers, etc. He scored Melvin and Howard and Fighting Mad for me, also peter fonda's brilliant Hired Hand. He's quite a guy.When Bruce was a 12-year old violin prodigy living in Harlem in the fifties, he accidently blew several of his fingers off with a cherry bomb that he held onto too long. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Bruce looked up at his distraught mom and said, "At least I don't have to playviolin anymore." He has been a master on all guitars, mandolins, etc, pianos etc over the years and for many years was Dylan's first choice for important guitar parts on the albums and sometimes live, with Bruce playing all these instruments django rhinehart style, working the strings with mostly nubs instead of (his missing) fingertips.Bruce suffered a huge diabetes-related attack on his digestive system in the spring, and then had a stroke in the summer. He is recovering slowly but surely and needs to have a microscopic tumor removed from his brain when it gets big enough -- the tumor is related to his previous problems.Janet told me that Bruce sat down at the piano a couple of weeks ago, played a few notes and then just sat there silent. He told her 'my fingers used to melt into the keys, but now they don't know what to do.' He's in good spirits though, and focused now on trying to get strong for the future operation.Checks can be sent to:"JANET BACHELOR ITF BRUCE LANGHORNE", and mail to JANET BACHELOR629 SUNSET AVEVENICE, CA 90064Jonathan Demme is a film director. His films include Something Wild, Philadelphia, Silence of the Lambs and The Agronomist.The interview quoted below appeared in full on the website Film Threat: Truth in Entertainment at filmthreat.com.PETER FONDA SHOWS HIS "HIRED HAND"by Tim Merrill (2003-11-02) How did you hook up with Langhorne? I know he used to be a session guitarist for Bob Dylan, and played on "Bringing It All Back Home" and "Blonde on Blonde." Fonda: He was producing an album for me, "Got to Get You Into My Life," through Hugh Masekela's label. At the time I told him about "Easy Rider," and he told me he thought I ought make that film. Then I came back to work with him again, up comes "The Hired Hand" and I knew who was going to score it. If he were to walk in right now and you didn't see Bruce, you would feel his presence. He just emanates love and kindness, in addition to being a virtuoso on like 50 string instruments. I took him over to Hawaii once, he heard the slack-key guitar and went full-on Hawaiian! But he lives in Venice now, and he also makes a great hot sauce - Brother Bru-Bru's Hot Sauce. Bloom: There are so many things about this movie that are perfect, and Bruce's score is one of them. You can't imagine any other score with this film. And it was his first film score, right? Fonda: Yeah. Universal told me, "You can't just hire your friends, man." But the word "virtuoso," applied to musical instruments, means something. Like if I want a full string section, he'll go play fourteen different violins and violas and cellos. So I have one man I have to pay who can do all this work for me! Then they were okay with him. And by the way, on Bruce's picking hand, his thumb, his index and middle fingers are all stumps. They were blown off in a rocket accident in his backyard when he was a kid. But he had already been playing, so he had the surgeon sort of shave them down a little so he could still finger pick. And that National steel guitar that he favors, and we favored very much in the film because it has such a beautiful tone - how did he get there? He used old electric guitar strings, and this muted picking. So there's a reason his playing sounds like no one else...
Bruce Langhorne-Closing...
Categories: Music events 
Added: 207 days ago
By: devcode
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