Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit

Unlike many of the jam-banders who play Boulder, Hampton isn't a poseur whose look and sound hark back to an era he didn't experience firsthand. He spent much of the '60s working the Southern club circuit before helping to form the Hampton Grease Band, whose double-LP debut for Columbia Records,...

By Michael Roberts

January 19, 2006

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Unlike many of the jam-banders who play Boulder, Hampton isn't a poseur whose look and sound hark back to an era he didn't experience firsthand. He spent much of the '60s working the Southern club circuit before helping to form the Hampton Grease Band, whose double-LP debut for Columbia Records, 1971's Music to Eat, was so long-winded and bizarre that the company marketed it as a comedy set. According to the liner notes included with its CD reissue, Eat was the label's second-worst-selling release ever. But Hampton was unbowed, and in the early '90s, he returned as leader of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, an eclectic crew that clicked with the H.O.R.D.E. crowd. By mid-decade, Hampton had moved on to other projects, including the similarly inclined Fiji Mariners. But for these Fox dates (opened by JD & the Straight Shot), he's reunited with Unit-arians Bobby Lee Rogers, Jeff Sipe, Jimmy Herring and Oteil Burbridge, a veteran of the Allman Brothers Band. Credentials such as these mark Hampton as an O.H.: Original Hippie. Accept no imitations.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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