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"There was a bloke called Bruce Jackson from Sydney who was a genius. He grew up in Vaucluse and in the late sixties started getting into sound. In about 1971, when he was just 22, he became the sound engineer for Elvis Presley"
"Bruce should be a household name in Sydney. I think he is an absolute legend. He revolutionised Elvis Presley's sound. He was the first person to put the speakers up off the ground, and fly them from scaffolding. He did a whole lot of stuff for Elvis Presley. Elvis absolutely adored him. And then after Elvis died in 1977, this bloke became Bruce Springsteen's front of house guy. A lot of the sound and techniques in common use today come from elements that Bruce developed". Robbie Buck, ABC Radio, Australia |
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Sydney boy Bruce Jackson was Elvis Presley's soundman on tour for six years from 1971 until Elvis's death on August 16 1977. Bruce Jackson then worked for Bruce Springsteen on tour for more than ten years. In 1988 Bruce quit touring to build a new company APOGEE. Following an 'offer he couldn't refuse' from Barbra Streisand's manager Marty Erlichman, Bruce was pivotal in coaxing Barbra Streisand back onto the stage after a 27 year absence, for which he won an Emmy. Along the way he also toured with most of the biggest names in the business at the top of their game, including The Jackson Five; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Glen Campbell; Johnny Cash; Rod Stewart; Carly Simon; James Taylor; Fleetwood Mac; Stevie Nicks; The Rev Al Green; Art Garfunkel; Cat Stevens; Black Sabbath and many more. He was also Director Of Sound for the Sydney Olympics, redesigned the in-house sound for the Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl. Bruce's numerous inventions and technical innovations changed forever the way concert sound is heard, as those with industry experience will be aware.
Bruce died piloting his own plane in Death Valley, California, in 2011. He left behind a trove of letters, audio tapes and memorabilia. My partner Helen and I have used these artefacts to painstakingly author this work. The story is told in my voice as his younger brother.
Bruce died piloting his own plane in Death Valley, California, in 2011. He left behind a trove of letters, audio tapes and memorabilia. My partner Helen and I have used these artefacts to painstakingly author this work. The story is told in my voice as his younger brother.
"Very happy to be getting a lot of generous positive feedback from customers around the world and locally, including Lyn McLaughlin who runs the post office here at Ettalong Beach. Curious after taking care of the many canvas post office bags full of books that we've been hauling in for despatch over the past few weeks, she asked what the big, weighty 2kg book was about. When I told her it was about my brother and Elvis she left her customer standing at the counter and came over to find out more. She is an Elvis fan and has been to Graceland twice. Lyn bought a book on the spot and now all of Ettalong knows about it and what's in it. Thanks to everyone who has made such welcome contact with us and opened up or restored lost lines of communication. Everything about the experience has been uplifting and rewarding, reinforcing our decision a few years back to put this tribute to Bruce - and Elvis - together." - Gary Jackson
"This is a beautiful primary source that should grace the libraries of all schools that still put books in them. For teachers it will provide insights and sources that will make lessons more enriching. For students it will allow them to dream that all things are possible, and that is a most precious gift." - Bernie Howitt, NSW History Teachers' Association
Feedback from a customer in Gymea, Sydney: "Love the book but at 2kg it's too heavy to read in bed."
"This is a beautiful primary source that should grace the libraries of all schools that still put books in them. For teachers it will provide insights and sources that will make lessons more enriching. For students it will allow them to dream that all things are possible, and that is a most precious gift." - Bernie Howitt, NSW History Teachers' Association
Feedback from a customer in Gymea, Sydney: "Love the book but at 2kg it's too heavy to read in bed."
Click on image to see the interview.
We had an opportunity to talk about the book live on national television on the CBS TEN Network's Studio 10 morning program in Sydney.
If Elvis sang Happy Birthday to you - it'd be pretty cool right? Yes, is the right answer. Bruce Jackson was Elvis' right hand man. His brother Gary has written a book about his bro and Elvis. Myf Warhurst found out more...
Kick off your afternoon with Myf and a great mix of music, culture and everything in between. Meet the people creating the art that helps us make sense of the world, celebrate the classics and discover new music that you need to know about right now. ABC702
Click on image to play video. Hear Elvis sing 'Happy Birthday' to Bruce.
Felton Jarvis sits stageside with Bruce Jackson as Bruce mixes stage monitors
in close communication with Elvis.
in close communication with Elvis.
Click on image to play video. Hear Bruce describe getting his TCB pin from Elvis.
Bruce Jackson was Elvis Presley's touring soundman for six years. On July 5, 1976, in Memphis at the end of a tour, Elvis gave Bruce a gold TCB necklace and welcomed him to the inner circle, adding that it was long overdue.
Bruce Jackson On The Road With Elvis is a large format (240 X 315mm, 210 page) beautifully presented hardback book printed on premium, semi-matt art archive paper and comes in a custom made slipcase. This original story, with not only an account of a remarkable Australian's life but also a fresh, new insight into the life of Elvis Presley, will be welcomed by fans who may have thought everything on Elvis's life and career had already been said. Bruce Jackson On The Road With Elvis features many original, never-before-published photographs from the Jackson family collection.
Raised in a castle overlooking Sydney Harbour, Bruce Jackson dropped out of university course in 1968 to build stroboscopes, amplifiers and colour-organs for the emerging psychedelic light show culture. Little did he know that in just three years he'd be on the road managing Elvis Presley's sound and poised to change forever how live concert sound was presented. In six years with the Elvis Presley Show Bruce established a close professional and personal bond with Elvis who trusted him implicitly to deliver the best sound possible. Bruce's inventions and technical advances were adopted by the entire live concert touring industry.
Bruce was killed flying his own plane in Death Valley, California in 2011. He was a keen collector of memorabilia and left a haunting day to day record of his life on the road in postcards, letters and talking tapes. I've used them plus interviews with his colleagues and my own experience as his younger brother to write a fitting tribute to both men. The book delivers an intimate, engaging narrative of Bruce's extraordinary life, up close with the world's top performer. After Elvis died, Elvis-fan Bruce Springsteen hired Bruce Jackson, saying "I've got Elvis's guy...Elvis's man is working for me in the house."
- Gary Jackson
Bruce was killed flying his own plane in Death Valley, California in 2011. He was a keen collector of memorabilia and left a haunting day to day record of his life on the road in postcards, letters and talking tapes. I've used them plus interviews with his colleagues and my own experience as his younger brother to write a fitting tribute to both men. The book delivers an intimate, engaging narrative of Bruce's extraordinary life, up close with the world's top performer. After Elvis died, Elvis-fan Bruce Springsteen hired Bruce Jackson, saying "I've got Elvis's guy...Elvis's man is working for me in the house."
- Gary Jackson
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SOUNDMAN Bruce Jackson's LIFE TRAVELLING WITH THE ELVIS PRESLEY SHOW"Bruce Jackson was the sound guy from central casting. Tall, good looking, and Australian. He knew more about audio electronics than anyone I ever met. He made his clients sound their best, and then some. He had a mastery of live audio that is impossible to explain. Bruce spoke to Elvis like a normal person. He gave the mega-star the reassurance he needed before a show." - Julius Grafton, publisher CX Magazine, the trade journal for the live audio and lighting industry in Australia.
Years of work have gone into making this book a fitting tribute. Bruce's first person narrative and contributions by friends and colleagues plus the eye-witness perspective of his brother Gary come together for an extraordinary insight. This is, incredibly, a new look at Elvis by someone who worked with him in a professional relationship that evolved into a personal friendship. Elvis came to respect Bruce Jackson as much as Bruce respected Elvis Presley. |
Terra Haute, Indiana. July 9, 1975. Bruce mixed stage monitors for hundreds of shows on
the road, so close to Elvis that he could talk to Bruce during the concert, and he often did.
the road, so close to Elvis that he could talk to Bruce during the concert, and he often did.
“I mixed and ran the sound for Elvis for six years until his death on August 16 1977. I was 22 when I started working for him. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, working strange hours and constantly on the road to the next city or town. I did hundreds and hundreds of shows with Elvis across mainland United States and Hawaii.” - Bruce Jackson
"This is a book about a brilliant, flawed and fascinating human who served some of the greatest names in entertainment. Bruce lived as a teenager in one of Sydney's most opulent harbour-side mansions, yet he was just like a common man.
He didn't much care about diplomacy. He called a spade a shovel and could make the rational arguments that opened up tight budgets controlled by tight managers.
He died in an unexplained accident while piloting his beloved Mooney single engine airplane in Death Valley, California.
This book is an important work of history, and a labor of love by his younger brother Gary. I know well the breadth of research and fact-checking that has gone into these pages. Bruce's uncommon letter writing and photography, along with carefully kept audio tapes opens up a window into an era that the world will never see again." - Julius Grafton
He didn't much care about diplomacy. He called a spade a shovel and could make the rational arguments that opened up tight budgets controlled by tight managers.
He died in an unexplained accident while piloting his beloved Mooney single engine airplane in Death Valley, California.
This book is an important work of history, and a labor of love by his younger brother Gary. I know well the breadth of research and fact-checking that has gone into these pages. Bruce's uncommon letter writing and photography, along with carefully kept audio tapes opens up a window into an era that the world will never see again." - Julius Grafton
Madison Square Garden, August 1978: “It was something that always struck me, I'd say ‘I got Elvis's guy, Elvis's man is working for me in the house.”
“When I first met Bruce Jackson I only knew two things about him. I knew that he had worked for Elvis, which I thought was great, and that he was Australian. I don't think I knew any Australians and we started working together and he did the sound and I learned very early on that Australians are unique.
He had ultimate patience. For many tours we did every single thing we could to give our audience the best sound that was possible. He revolutionised the approach to my sound on stage. Working with him was funny, because he was an engineer. Engineers can be abstract, hard to get a hold of their mind. But the other side of Bruce was, Bruce was very, very loving. He was very warm. He had Australian irony. He was also sentimental. He'd get choked with emotion, you know, if you were at the end of a tour and told him how great the sound was he had put his heart deeply into his work. But at the end of the day he was just a good friend, he was a lovely friend of mine." - Bruce Springsteen
He had ultimate patience. For many tours we did every single thing we could to give our audience the best sound that was possible. He revolutionised the approach to my sound on stage. Working with him was funny, because he was an engineer. Engineers can be abstract, hard to get a hold of their mind. But the other side of Bruce was, Bruce was very, very loving. He was very warm. He had Australian irony. He was also sentimental. He'd get choked with emotion, you know, if you were at the end of a tour and told him how great the sound was he had put his heart deeply into his work. But at the end of the day he was just a good friend, he was a lovely friend of mine." - Bruce Springsteen
Stuart Coupe hosts Dirt Music Saturdays at 1pm
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Seems a lot of people dug the Dirt Music radio show on 2SER this afternoon. The first hour was a look at the career of Australian sound engineer Bruce Jackson who worked with Elvis Presley and Bruce Springsteen amongst others. Joining me in the studio was his brother Gary Jackson who has written and assembled an amazing book on Bruce's life and career. 
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BRUCE JACKSON ON THE ROAD WITH ELVIS is now available, online only. It's a beautiful book. An extraordinary tribute to Bruce Jackson and Elvis Presley.
Bruce Jackson: On The Road With Elvis is a warm-hearted biography written and creatively directed by Bruce’s brother Gary Jackson, with a foreword by Bruce Springsteen. It details his unconventional upbringing in a castle on Sydney Harbour (run as a boutique hotel by his parents), through to the formation of Aussie sound company JANDS in the late 1960s when he was still in his teens (he was the ‘J’ and Phil Storey the ‘S’ in J-AND-S) before heading to the USA to become a live sound man for the biggest stars of the day.
Bruce became Elvis Presley’s live sound engineer at the age of 22 during Presley’s hard-touring 1970s, working his magic behind the sound desk until The King’s death in 1977.
In the 1990s, amongst hundreds of other top acts, Bruce most notably became Barbra Streisand’s sound man on several tours and filmed specials, using a microphone modified with a RØDE capsule that RØDE Chairman and Founder Peter Freedman AM had custom-made for him, dubbing it the ‘Jackson Special’.
An accomplished pilot, Bruce died tragically in an aircraft crash in 2011.
Bruce became Elvis Presley’s live sound engineer at the age of 22 during Presley’s hard-touring 1970s, working his magic behind the sound desk until The King’s death in 1977.
In the 1990s, amongst hundreds of other top acts, Bruce most notably became Barbra Streisand’s sound man on several tours and filmed specials, using a microphone modified with a RØDE capsule that RØDE Chairman and Founder Peter Freedman AM had custom-made for him, dubbing it the ‘Jackson Special’.
An accomplished pilot, Bruce died tragically in an aircraft crash in 2011.
Bruce Jackson and Peter Freedman AM at Peter’s 50th birthday, 2008
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“Bruce Jackson was a bona fide pioneer of Australian pro audio,” says Mr Freedman. “He was an innovator and a genius, really. Over the years he was also a dear friend to another young sound man – me! – generous with his knowledge and support during key times in my professional life. Making the ‘Jackson Special’ for him when he was working with Barbra Streisand was an honour and a real source of pride for the RØDE team in our early years.
“Bruce Jackson: On The Road With Elvis is a tremendous tribute to Bruce’s life and work, providing incredible insight into the man on a personal level, and the technical genius his innovations proved he was. It’s also a very cool coffee table book and a must-have for Elvis fans and audio pros – every studio should own a copy. Congratulations, Gary, on a terrific celebration of a legend.” Bruce Jackson: On The Road With Elvis by Gary Jackson is available for sale at brucejackson.com.au |
