Is there any point trying to figure this out note for note???

[sanwin17]

Didn't see a link in your post, so I did a search. Don't think I turned up the version you were referring to, but turned up these:



Didn't know Jeff could sing!

 

[morebass!]

As many have pointed out learning a song off of a recording is great ear-training. I love this song and have been a JB fan for 40 years. So I was shocked to learn recently that this version had been edited down from a longer version. You can hear the splice at about 3:36.

 

[bobyoung53]

Not to take this thread off Topic (actually directing it back to the Topic of which this WAS about: Sir Jack Bruce ) & Not to take anything away from capnjim on the discussion of the Masterpiece “Crossroads”. Cream (& Jack) were light years ahead of their time. But as Stellar as his performance was in that song (and NOTHING disparaging to say about it, after all, how can you taint the polish on perfection?)… My all time Fav’s by him come from the West, Bruce & Laing album “Why Dontcha” Collection. The ENTIRE LP warrants a Study. My Personal Fav’s from it are:

# 1. (I will take a Formal Bow to the Bassist who can come even close to duplicating his efforts on this one):

Why Dontcha:



#2 The Doctor:



Take what you want from my humble opinion, but after all these years, I still manage to dribble up a little drool when I listen to these passages.

Crank them up !!

The bass on this tune is unbelievable, his bass tone was stellar along with his playing on this album, to me this was the peak of Bruce's playing and sound.

 

[bobyoung53]

Mr. Jack Bruce is the reason my daily player today is a Gibson SG bass...well, that, and I simply LOVE that bass! Like another poster here, I'm turning 65 this year. I started playing when I was 12. Must have played Crossroads a thousand times with bands, and practicing alone. Still can't exactly duplicate the "feel" Mr. Bruce put into parts of it. Some of the notes, and the timing are like a god is touching those strings. Many times I've asked myself, where did he get the idea to play those notes?

Remember, Mr. Bruce started out (musically) as a classically trained cellist. From that, he derived a feel and attitude for playing rock bass lines that nearly no one else had...especially in those days (1968), or for that mater, even today.

Ever play a cello? Even the tuning is totally different (usually C G D A). Notice, they aren't even the same spacing apart as a bass...not just higher in pitch. Think about that for a minute. Just a guess, but In my mind, this early training likely caused him to think quite differently about how he improvised his bass lines. That's one reason that studying Mr. Bruce's bass lines can be so productive to us mere mortals.

Personally, I like standing close to a bass god (the immortal Mr. Bruce certainly qualifies) by trying to play what they've played...perhaps after a while, a little bit will rub-off on me.

Dave O.

He was also an upright jazz player and was great with it, he was just a born phenomenal player.

 

[daveobieone]

My theory is, why not learn from the best!

My teachers included, Mr. Bruce, James Jamerson, John Entwistle, Bill Wyman, Chas Chandler, Joe Osborn, and Sir Paul McCartney. Those guys taught me what the proper notes are to play between the root notes, the fills, the runs, etc...all the things that make bass playing fun. Later, they were augmented by Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Greg Lake, etc. Now I stand in awe of the likes of Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller, and Jaco. I'll likely die before I can play many of their licks, but that won't stop me from trying while I can still pull a string.

Ya see, learning what the bass gods play will eventually evolve into YOUR OWN style...probably containing riffs and bits and pieces of all of those you learned from. Learning from them is a great thing to do. I'm still doing it 50+ years after starting my bass journey. Never stop learning.

Dave O.

 

[zontar]

It's useful as ear training and to learn how Jack thought 50 yesrs sgo. Utterly pointless if the idea is that THIS is only waybto play "Crossroads", because they never wanted to play it the same twice.

Pretty much--use it as a way to learn stuff, and then do your own thing.

 

[Grumry]

Self satisfaction.