Bruce Hornsby - The Range

The Range

In 1984 he formed Bruce Hornsby and the Range, who were signed to RCA Records in 1985. Besides Hornsby, Range members were David Mansfield (guitar, mandolin, violin), George Marinelli (guitars and backing vocals), Joe Puerta (bass guitar and backing vocals), and John Molo (drums).

Hornsby's recording career started with the biggest hit he has had to date, "The Way It Is". It topped the American music charts in 1986. With a propulsive yet contemplative piano riff and the refrain, That's just the way it is / Some things will never change / That's just the way it is / But don't you believe them, the song described aspects of the American Civil Rights movement and institutional racism. It has since been sampled by at least six rap artists, including Tupac Shakur, E-40, and Mase.

With the success of the single worldwide, the album The Way It Is went multi-platinum and produced another top five hit with "Mandolin Rain" (co-written, as many of Hornsby's early songs were, with his brother John Hornsby). "Every Little Kiss" also did respectably well. Other tracks on the album helped establish what some labeled the "Virginia sound", a mixture of rock, jazz, and bluegrass with an observational Southern feel. Bruce Hornsby and the Range went on to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1987, beating out Glass Tiger, Nu Shooz, Simply Red and Timbuk3.

Hornsby and the Range's sound was distinctive for its consistent use of syncopation in his piano solos, a bright piano sound and an extensive use of synthesizers as background for Hornsby's solos, most notable on the tracks "The Show Goes On" and "The Road Not Taken". John Molo's drumbeats were often looped throughout the recorded versions of songs. They are typical double-time beats, which allowed Hornsby and the rest of the band to do more with their solos.

Hornsby and the Range's second album, Scenes From The Southside (on which Peter Harris replaced Mansfield) was released in 1988. It included "Look Out Any Window" and "The Valley Road" which many critics noted due to their "more spacious" musical arrangements, allowing for "more expressive" piano solos from Hornsby. It also included "Jacob's Ladder". which Hornsby wrote for musician friend Huey Lewis; Lewis' version became a number one hit from his album Fore!. Scenes offered further slices of "Americana" and "small-town nostalgia," but it was the band's last album to perform well in the singles market.

In 1988, Hornsby first appeared on stage with the Grateful Dead, a recurring collaboration that continued until the band's dissolution. Hornsby went on to appear on stage frequently as a guest before becoming a regular fixture in the touring lineup for the Dead a few years later. During the late 1980s and early 1990s Hornsby worked extensively as a producer and sideman, notably producing a comeback album for Leon Russell, an idol of Hornsby's. In 1989 Hornsby co-wrote and played piano on Don Henley's hit "The End of the Innocence", and in 1991 played piano on Bonnie Raitt's hit "I Can't Make You Love Me". Bruce continues to feature both of these songs in his own concerts. He also appeared on albums by Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Crosby Stills and Nash, Stevie Nicks and Squeeze.

During this era he slowly began to slip jazz and bluegrass elements into his music, first in live performance settings and later on studio work. In 1989, he first performed at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. He also reworked his hit "The Valley Road" with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for their album Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two. The song won at the 1990 Grammy Awards for Best Bluegrass Recording.

A Night On The Town was released in 1990, on which he teamed up with jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and Charlie Haden as well as bluegrass pioneer Bela Fleck. A change in style became apparent as the album was much more rock- and guitar-driven, making use of Jerry Garcia's guitar work on a number of tracks, perhaps most prominently on the single "Across the River". In concert, Hornsby and the Range began to stretch out their songs, incorporating more and more "freewheeling musical exchanges." Critics praised the album for its production, its political relevance, and Hornsby's gestures toward expanding out of a strictly pop sound by incorporating jazz and bluegrass. Ultimately, though, the core "rock band" sound of the Range limited Hornsby's aspirations, and after a final three-week tour in 1991, Hornsby disbanded the outfit to enter a new phase of his career. Drummer John Molo continued to perform regularly with Hornsby for another few years, although other members pursued separate musical endeavors. Following Hornsby's and Molo's involvement with The Other Ones, Molo left Hornsby to become the primary drummer with Phil Lesh and Friends.