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(Thomas) Sumter Bruton III

October 31, 1944 - September 30, 2022

A unique presence in his record and music shop Record
Town on the south-side of Fort Worth, Texas, Sumter
Bruton knew and played with many of the top names
in Texas music. Sumter’s late brother Stephen was a
country star in his own right.

Sumter was an encyclopaedia of blues music,
especially in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. A very
competent guitar player, Sumter had played with
T-Bone Walker and many of the greats and was
guitar player with the Robert Ealey Band that
later became Robert Ealey and the Five
Careless Lovers, a name I suspect owed
much to Sumpter’s mischievous sense of
humour.

The legendary Texas R&B band, The Juke
Jumpers, was created in 1977 by Sumter and
Jim Colegrove. They recorded five LP's and
toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe.
Among the various artists with whom he
performed was singer, writer, and piano
player, Mike Price. In recent years, Sumter
and Mike formed The Swingmasters, a band
at the jazzy-end of the blues spectrum. If you
can, find it check out ‘Sumter’s Contribution
to Bop’ on the “Swingmasters’ Review”
album. You won’t regret it!

On my frequent visits to Record Town, I was
always stunned by the enormous range of the
stock. Country Blues, Rock and Roll, Jazz
Blues, Pop Music, Big Bands and a significant
section of Rock-a-billy of which Sumter
seemed to be a big fan—that and western-
swing.

Filled with insights and stories about a mess
of Texas musicians, Sumter was a musician’s
musician, the like of which is all too rare.

Sumter died of a heart attack at his home.

Bill Mecke, one of the current co-owners of Record Town, in a wonderful tribute said, “We
called him ‘Sumterpedia’ because you could ask him who played on just about any record and
he could tell you even if you just played the record for him…then you’d get a story about the
guy and the type of guitar he played.”

Ian K McKenzie