Het lijkt me heerlijk als je zo’n goede muzikant bent, dat iedereen graag met je samen wil spelen. Zo iemand is de pianist en zanger Bruce Hornsby. Hij speelde met Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Don Henley (Eagles), Elton John, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac), Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Sting en Roger Waters (Pink Floyd). Maar net zo makkelijk ook jazz met Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Branford Marsalis, Pat Metheny en Wayne Shorter en bluegrass met Bela Fleck, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band en Ricky Skaggs.

In 1999 had hij een serie optredens samen met Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin, David Lindley (steel guitar) & Bonnie Raitt, en om dat onder de aandacht te brengen traden ze op in de tv-show van Jay Leno. Het lied End Of The Innocence werd in 1989 een hit voor Glenn Frey van de Eagles, die zelf de tekst had geschreven bij de muziek van Hornsby.

End Of The Innocence
Remember when the days were long,
and rolled beneath the deep blue sky.
Didn’t have a care in the world,
with mother and daddy standing by.
“Happily ever after” fails,
and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales.
The lawyers dwell on small details,
since daddy had to fly.

Oh, and I know a place where we can go,
still untouched by man.
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by,
and the tall grass waves in the wind

You can lay your head back on the ground,
and let your hair fall all around me.
Offer up your best defence.
Oh this is the end.
Oh this is the end of the innocence.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies.
Now those skies are threatening.
They’re beating ploughshares into swords,
for this tired old man that we elected king.
Armchair warriors often fail,
and we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales.
The lawyers dwell on small details,
since daddy had to lie.

But I know a place where we can go,
and wash away this sin.
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by,
and the tall grass waves in the wind

Oh you can lay your head back on the ground,
and let your hair fall all around me.
Offer up your best defence.
But this is the end.
Oh this is the end of the innocence.

Who knows how long this will last,
now we’ve come so far so fast.
But somewhere back there in the dust,
that same small town in each of us.
I need to remember this,
so baby give me just one kiss.
Come and take a long last look,
before we say goodbye

You can lay your head back on the ground,
and let your hair fall all around me.
Offer up your best defence.
Oh this is the end.
Oh this is the end of the innocence.