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| Real Name: |
Bruce Ruffin |
| Feb 17, 1952 - |
| Place of Birth: |
St. Catherine
Jamaica |
Related Artist(s):
Winston Riley
Pat Kelly
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Born 17th February 1952 in the parish of St. Catherine Bruce Ruffin attended Calabar Primary School and Kingsway High School in Kingston and started his songwriting career at the age of ten. He began singing two years later and was asked to join The Techniques after his disappointment of appearing at yet another of Vere Johns Junior's talent shows at the Ward Theatre where he been placed third "as usual". Winston Riley asked Bruce if he had written the songs that he had just performed and, when Bruce answered in the affirmative, he was promptly invited to join The Techniques as a songwriter and singer to fill the gap left after Slim Smith's departure from the group. As one of The Techniques Bruce not only wrote but also sang on a number of their Treasure Isle classics including 'Run Come Celebrate', 'My Girl' and 'It's You I Love'. When Winston Riley established his Techniques label in 1968 Bruce stayed with the group and wrote and sang on further classics including 'Man Of My Word' and 'Go Find Yourself A Fool'. In 1969 as a member of The Shades, alongside Tyrone Evans, he hit again with 'Who You Gonna Run To' which was produced by Winston Riley and was a massive hit in Jamaica where it held the Number One position in the charts for four weeks.
That same year Bruce briefly joined the Inner Circle Band and supported Stevie Wonder when he played at the Carib Theatre and he also began to make his name as a solo artist when he recorded the yearning 'Long About Now' for the talented Lloyd Charmers. Released on Tramp in Jamaica and Song Bird in the UK the record was a very big hit. He was then approached by Leslie Kong at Beverleys Records who was enjoying the first flush of consistent crossover success for Jamaican music in the UK with Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, The Maytals, The Melodians and The Pioneers. Bruce's 'Dry Up Your Tears' for Beverleys was immediately recognised as an instant classic and was followed up by 'Candida' and 'Bitterness Of Life' but these excellent releases, although they were big hits on the reggae charts, unfortunately did not cross over.
International acclaim finally arrived for Bruce Ruffin when he sang José Feliciano's 'Rain' for producer Herman Chin Roy with Geoffrey Chung, who he had worked with in Inner Circle, in charge of the recording session. The tape was sent to Trojan Records in London where "Tony White put all the strings and things on it. After that the record went on to become a big hit all over Europe" reaching Number Nineteen in the UK National Charts in the summer of 1971. Bruce then enjoyed a brief spell as a pop artist when 'Mad About You' was released on Rhino the following year. Although Bruce did not like the record and "couldn't wait for the record to stop selling 'cause I was so embarrassed by it" it reached Number Nine in the UK National Charts. 'Mad About You' was later re-recorded for UK television for an episode of the Benny Hill Show "which generated and is still generating royalties for Bruce". Both records were also big hits in many other countries and Bruce toured the UK and Europe to promote them.
Bruce then returned to writing songs and gradually moved into music publishing. After studying at law school, where he gained his BA (Hons.) law degree, he became a legal consultant and in 1990 formed the BRM Music Group which specialises in entertainment law and management services and represents record companies, publishers, producers, writers, and artists. |
| Feb 24, 2012 (Mar 8, 2012 Update) Text by Harry Hawks
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