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In 1978 – the year he joined Elvis Costello in The Attractions – bassist Bruce Thomas was personally selected by Paul McCartney to participate in the Rockestra – an all-star ensemble assembled for a pair of Back To The Egg tracks. The collective gathered onstage a year later as part of Wings’ finale at the Kampuchea benefit. But Bruce Thomas is more than an inventive bass player: he’s a veteran musician (with roots in Britain’s 60s Blues Boom) as well as an acclaimed author of fiction and non-fiction both. His newest project – a collaboration with Spencer Brown – includes a Beatles cover.
Check out Back To The Start here: https://spencerbrownbrucethomas.bandcamp.com/releases
Check out Bruce’s works here: https://www.brucethomas.co.uk/
Nice episode — at least to someone who was once an Elvis Costello fanatic.
For anyone wanting to hear Bruce Thomas really pull out all the stops, check Costello’s cover of “I Stand Accused” on the “Get Happy!!” album. Bruce’s bass is practically like a lead line, which is something he mentioned in this interview. It’s hard for me to listen to any version of this song now without me humming his “swoops” on the “balance of mind” line and various other melodic contributions he added.
And here’s an odd Beatle connection. Costello’s version of “I Stand Accused” was a cover of the Merseybeats’ rock-oriented cover, not the original (which was a slower soul number by Tony Coulton). The Merseybeats later morphed into the Merseys who did “Sorrow” which is the source of the “long blonde hair…” line in George Harrison’s “It’s All Too Much.”
Bruce Thomas and Pete Thomas are one of the great rhythm sections in rock.
I enjoyed this interview and look forward to more with folks who worked with any of the Beatles. That story about Michael Jackson is great.
However, I’m disappointed you didn’t get one question in about “The Big Wheel” and maybe what his relationship with Costello is like these days. Or how he looks back on his history with that band.
I was at the Kampuchea benefit concert. It was wonderful to be there it certainly was a thrill.
At the 1:05:40 mark “So Glad to See You Here” starts playing and there was no introduction to why. Is Bruce on it?