Bruce Fisher

Last updated March 16, 2019

Bruce Fisher (born January 8, 1954) is an American songwriter, record producer, playwright best known for his collaborations with Billy Preston. Fisher's best-known songs include "You Are So Beautiful", "Will It Go Round In Circles", and "Nothing from Nothing", all co-written with Preston before 1973.^[1]

A songwriter is a professional that writes lyrics or composes musical compositions for songs. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre and film scoring, but is also associated with writing and composing the orignal musical composition or musical bed. A songwriter that writes the lyrics/words are referred to as lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers.

A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performer's music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many, varying roles during the recording process. They may gather musical ideas for the project, collaborate with the artists to select cover tunes or original songs by the artist/group, work with artists and help them to improve their songs, lyrics or arrangements.

A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.

Career

Born in Washington D.C., Fisher was raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his grandmother. He moved to Los Angeles, California, in the early 1970s, where he currently resides.

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, and the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often referred to as "Chicagoland." The Chicago metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States; the fourth largest in North America ; and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It has the 5th largest Gross Domestic Product by state, is the 6th-most populous U.S. state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in northern and central Illinois, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, contains over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports around the world from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway on the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in California and the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City. With an estimated population of four million, Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. The city is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis.

Fisher's best-known songs include "You Are So Beautiful", "Will It Go Round In Circles", and "Nothing from Nothing", all co-written with Preston before 1973.^[1] With his first LP release, Red Hot in 1977, he worked with Roy Ayers, Keni Burke (with whom he wrote the title song), Charles Earland, Mtume and the Brecker Brothers in 1977. He also played and performed with The Blackbyrds, James Gadson, David Williams, Leon Ware, Carolyn Willis, Wah Wah Watson, Ernie Watts, the late Richard Tee and Bernard Purdie throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He also co-wrote and produced songs for the group 3 for 3 in 1990.

You Are So Beautiful 1974 single by Joe Cocker

"You Are So Beautiful" is a song written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, The Kids & Me. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singer Joe Cocker released a slower version of the song on his album I Can Stand a Little Rain. Cocker's version was produced by Jim Price, and released as a single in November 1974. It became one of Cocker's biggest chart hits, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Nothing from Nothing (Billy Preston song) single by Billy Preston and The Kids & Me

"Nothing from Nothing" is a song written by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher and recorded by Billy Preston for his 1974 album The Kids & Me. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in October 1974, becoming Preston's second solo chart-topper in the United States. It spent four and a half months on the chart.

Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", "Searchin" and "Running Away". and at one time was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist.

He also wrote and performed the title track to Quincy Jones' first gold album, Body Heat .

Quincy Delight Jones Jr. is an American record producer, musician, composer, and film producer. His career spans six decades in the entertainment industry with a record 80 Grammy Award nominations, 28 Grammys, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992.

<i>Body Heat</i> (Quincy Jones album) 1974 studio album by Quincy Jones

Body Heat is an album by Quincy Jones.

Recent activity

In recent years, as a managing member at Speak of the Devil LLC, Theatre Production, Fisher has been producing a play that he wrote entitled "Hear No Evil", starring Tony Award nominee Keith David, directed by Tony nominee Obba Babatunde, with musical direction by Harold Wheeler and costume design by Academy Award winner Ruth E. Carter.^[2]

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette "Tony" Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

Keith David Williams is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and singer. He is known for his co-starring role as King in Platoon and as Childs in The Thing. He has acted in many mainstream films, such as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work.

William Harold Wheeler, Jr., better known as Harold Wheeler, is an American orchestrator, composer, conductor, arranger, record producer, and music director. He has received numerous Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations for orchestration, and won the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for Hairspray.

Fisher has also seen the release of several songs on Leigh Jones' debut album, Music In My Soul.

Partial discography

Singles

"At The End Of A Love Affair" (United Artists 1976)
"In My Life" b/w "Starlight Starbright" (Mercury Records 1977)
"Red Hot" b/w "Money's Funny" (Mercury Records 1977)

Albums

Red Hot (Mercury Records 1977)
Wet Dream (Kryptics 1996)^[3]

As writer or co-writer


Artist	Title	Album if applicable	Release	Date	Role	Notes #
Doug Gibbs	"I'll Always Have You There" Cloudy Day		Oak OR-108	1972	Co-writer	45RPM single
Billy Preston	"Will It Go Round In Circles"	Music Is My Life	A&M Records	1972	Co-writer
Quincy Jones	"Body Heat"	Body Heat	Mercury Records	1973	Co-writer
Leigh Jones	(selected tracks)	Music In My Soul	Peak Records	2008	Co-writer

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References

1 2 Bronson, Fred (1 October 2003). The Billboard book of number 1 hits. Billboard Books. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2 . Retrieved 13 June 2010.
↑ Bruce Fisher. "BRUCE FISHER (193274813806)". Plaxo. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
↑ Archived June 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine .

External links

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[Bronson2003-1] 1 2 Bronson, Fred (1 October 2003). The Billboard book of number 1 hits. Billboard Books. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2 . Retrieved 13 June 2010.

[2] Bruce Fisher. "BRUCE FISHER (193274813806)". Plaxo. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-26.

[3] Archived June 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine .