Country singer and songwriter and ‘Bret Maverick’ actor was 81 – deadline

Ed Bruce, the singer and songwriter who started during the Sun Records rockabilly era and went on to write or record a long string of country graphics producers, died of natural causes today in Clarksville, Tennessee. Bruce, who stopped being an actor in TV series like James Garner’s 1981 Maverick sequel and 1980 The Chisholms, it was 81.

His death was announced by publicist Jeremy Westby.

Co-writer of the country classic “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Be Cowboys”, Bruce was just 17 when he worked as a recording engineer for Sam Phillips ‘Sun Records, where he would soon write and record “Rock Boppin’. Baby.” In the mid-1960s, he wrote songs for pop star Tommy Roe, country singer Charlie Louvin, and later in the decade, he stood out with short hits “Walker’s Woods” and a cover version of “Last Train to Clarksville” by Monkees.

Bigger hits came in the 1970s, starting with Tanya Tucker’s successful recording of “The Man That Turned My Mama On” and Crystal Gayle’s “Restless”, both in 1974.

Bruce recorded his own moderately successful version of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” in 1976, co-written with his wife Patsy Bruce. Two years later, a cover version of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings became a huge success. Tucker had another success in 1979 with “Texas (When I Die)”, written by Bruce.

Although he went through the 1980s with recordings of his own songs, including “Diane”, “The Last Cowboy Song”, “You Turn Me on Like a Radio” (not to be confused with the previous “You Turn Me On” from Joni Mitchell [I’m A Radio”]) and his # 1 country hit “You are the best opportunity this old heart has ever had,” Bruce soon turned to acting, starting with a recurring role in the western series The Chisholms and, most prominently, Bret Maverick, co-star next to a postRockford files James Garner as the rude former lawman who partnered with Maverick at the Red Ox Saloon. NBC’s short western series was a sequel to the 1957-62 series Maverick.

Other TV credits would include Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long, Walker, Texas Ranger and, on the big screen, 1997 Fire Down Below starring Steven Seagal.

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