16 Facts About Bruce Langhorne

Bruce Langhorne was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, primarily as a session guitarist for folk albums and performances.

Bruce Langhorne learned violin, but lost most of three fingers of his right hand as a child when lighting a homemade rocket.

Bruce Langhorne was expelled from Horace Mann Prep School, and later claimed that as a teenager he was involved in a stabbing, following which he lived for two years in Mexico.

Bruce Langhorne started playing guitar at the age of 17, and the loss of his fingers contributed to his distinctive playing style.

Bruce Langhorne began accompanying folk singer Brother John Sellers at clubs in Greenwich Village, soon starting to work with other musicians.

Bruce Langhorne first recorded in 1961, with Carolyn Hester, which is when he met Bob Dylan.

The title character of Bob Dylan's song "Mr Tambourine Man" was probably inspired by Bruce Langhorne, who used to play a large Turkish frame drum in performances and recordings.

The drum, which Bruce Langhorne purchased in a music store in Greenwich Village, had small bells attached around its interior, giving it a jingling sound much like a tambourine.

Bruce Langhorne used the instrument most prominently on recordings by Richard and Mimi Farina.

Bruce Langhorne played the guitar for Dylan's television performances of "It's Alright, Ma " and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" on The Les Crane Show in February 1965, a month after the Bringing It All Back Home sessions.

Two years earlier, Bruce Langhorne performed on "Corrina, Corrina", on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, and on the outtake "Mixed-Up Confusion", which was eventually released on Biograph.

Years later, Bruce Langhorne played on tracks for Dylan's album Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Bruce Langhorne composed the music for the Peter Fonda western film The Hired Hand, which combined sitar, fiddle, and banjo.

Bruce Langhorne provided the scores for Fonda's 1973 science fiction film Idaho Transfer and his 1976 vigilante movie Fighting Mad.

In 1992, Bruce Langhorne founded a hot-sauce company, Brother Bru-Bru's African Hot Sauce.

Bruce Langhorne suffered a debilitating stroke in 2006, but was able to live at home, surrounded by loved ones, until his death from kidney failure on April 14,2017, in Venice, California.