ROOTS of Country Music

The Professional Work of Ed Bruce

Ed Bruce is kind of a cult figure among country, a smooth-voiced, soft spoken singer-songwriter who hit his commercial peak in the early 1980s and then sort of edged out of the music arena. He was an original 'Fifties rockabilly singer, cutting a couple of singles for Sun Records during their post-Elvis phase. Then he moved to Nashville and started plugging away as a songwriter, recording his own albums intermittently, but with only middling success in the charts for the better part of two decades.

Singer, songwriter Ed Bruce was born on Dec. 29, 1939 in Keiser, Arkansas and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. Ed penned the song Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, which was recorded by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings (1978). It became a major hit and put Bruce's career on an upward swing. In 1977, Bruce signed with Epic Records where he would score minor hits. In 1979, Tanya Tucker took Bruce's song Texas (When I Die) into the country top-5.

In 1980, Bruce signed with MCA Records, where he scored his biggest singles. His early hits with MCA included Diane, The Last Cowboy Song, When You Fall In Love, Evil Angel, and Love's Found You And Me. His biggest hit, You're the Best Break This Old Heart Ever Had, went to number one on the country chart in 1982. It was Bruce's twenty-second country hit and his only number one single.

In 1984, Bruce returned to RCA Records and scored a number three hit with You Turn Me On Like a Radio in 1985. His last top-10 single was Nights in 1986 and his last top-40 single (and last chart single to date) was Quietly Crazy in 1987. Throughout his career, Ed recorded for RCA Records (1968), Monument Records (1969), United Artists (1976), Epic Records (1977-1978), MCA Records (1980-1985) and RCA Records (1984-1986)