Denny Bruce's Chart

American record producer and artist manager whose early clients included Lisa Kindred, Magic Sam, Albert Collins and Earl Hooker. He later became A&R consultant to Blue Thumb Records, working with such artists as Ike and Tina Turner, Charlie Musselwhite, and Robbie Basho. After the death of Magic Sam in 1969, Bruce worked as Tour Manager of Buffy Sainte-Marie. He formed a production company with Jack Nitzsche and songwriter Gerry Goffin. They worked out of Goffin's new Larabee Studios in West Hollywood. While working for Vanguard Records he started producing John Fahey and through Fahey and his label, Takoma Records, he began his management and producer's relationship with Leo Kottke. He produced all seven albums for Kottke on Capitol Records. He later teamed up with Chrysalis Records to purchase Fahey's Takoma Records. He signed and produced The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and signed T-Bone Burnett, Charles Bukowski, and other notable artists to the new Takoma label. In 1984 he managed "The Blasters" who released the album Hard Line on Slash/Warner Bros., as well as the Gun Club. He served as pop music consultant to UCLA's Department of Fine Arts as well as at the Austin Performing Arts Center in Austin, Texas. Denny is now co-owner and CEO of Benchmark Recordings, which distributes albums by The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Mike Bloomfield.