ivansc Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 First encountered him playing with my old drummer Willie Wilson and Tim Renwick (both Cambridge lads) in Quiver, later The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. So he buggered off to join Elvis Costello and the Attractions & the resultant search for a replacement bass player gave Ace their number one hit "how long has this been going on?" written by Paul Carrack, keyboard & vocalist in the band about the rumour that SBQ were trying to poach Ace's bass player, Tex Comer. He also did pretty good on his own and singing for acts like Mike and the Mechanics, didn't he? Interesting that Bruce is known mostly for playing a precision but he didnt get into P-bassing until he left SBQ. Always used a short scale Fender bass with them. One of the busiest bass players out there at the time, but somehow it always seemed to fit. And these days nobody ever mentions him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 He gets mentioned here on BC occasionally. His recorded tone is perfect to my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted November 25, 2017 Share Posted November 25, 2017 I like his stuff. But I seldom mention players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineweasel Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 His recent memoir “Rough Notes” is a good read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Darn fine bassist, great tone, great inventive playing. I`ve a few Elvis Costello albums, bought mainly for Bruces bass playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 I owned the P bass he bought from The Bass Centre to replace his stolen one for some years and then moved it on in these very pages. Suffice to say I played a few Attractions tunes on it and it sounded marvellous (even though it was me playing it). BT had really inventive bass lines and is/was obviously a very talented player. However, it seems he fell out of love with playing and became more involved with his writing, with tales of the music biz and Bruce Lee. I did hear tell that The Bass Centre we’re going to do a BT sig bass, but I don’t know what became of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 99.9 by susan vega has a great bassline on it. Im pretty sure its bruce,chelsea by the . attractions is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDC484950 Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 Great bass player - Pump It Up and Every Day I Write The Book are two fine examples of his bass lines with Elvis Costello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 There is indeed a BT sig bass: http://www.basscentre.com/british-bass-masters/bruce-thomas-profile.html Not seen one in the flesh though. I'm sure there was one on here for sale not too long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I was interested to find out that his first pro band as a teenager was with Paul Rodgers (Free /Bad Company) and Micky Moody of Whitesnake fame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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