Sometimes his tone was great and other times it was a bit muddy. I liked both.
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Jack Bruce
- Thread starter Flyboyandy
- Start date
CREAM: choose your sides. Was it Eric Clapton or Jack Bruce? History indicates that Jack Bruce WAS Cream. Check the songwriting credits and who's singing. The rest is Clapton playing BORROWED (read that NOT original) Mississippi blues riffs over Jack's improvisational bass delivery. Jack Bruce was Jaco before Jaco arrived.
Probably in my top three Jack Bruce favorites. Pure beast mode. You could hear the thunder peeling off his fingers. There should be an Apostrophe fuzz pedal, but I doubt anyone can bottle a fraction of this magic.
Wow I’ve never seen that. Thanks!
Agreed. Definitely in that era anyway. There are some phenomenal rock bassist out now in the prog rock genre.
To answer OP, yes I think most people here will play Jack in their top 10, if not too 5. He wasn’t as flashy of a player. He didn’t slap like Vic and didn’t tap like Stu, but still an incredible player and some of those guys might not have come around had Jack not done what he did. It’s also been a long time since Cream and WB&L, so he hadn’t been on the spotlight much anymore, even before his death. I think it was @JimmyM that replied to a comment of mine on Facebook saying that Jack didn’t might like the limelight so that might contribute to some of it.
I had the pleasure of seeing and meeting him after a gig in NY probably close to 20 years ago, great show and great guy from what I remember.
It was a drag that his '74/'75 all-star band couldn't sustain itself, didn't even get to record. Initially formed to play out with his growing catalog of solo material(the bulk of the tunes in this clip was from his brilliant "Harmony Row" album), it could have been an amazing collaboration, but drugs and personal problems got in the way. Joining Jack was Mick Taylor, fresh off of the Stones, avant garde Jazz keyboardist Carla Bley, second keyboardist Ronnie Leahy had played in Stone the Crows and with Jon Anderson solo, and drummer Bruce Gary went on to be part of The Knack, believe it or not. It's often overlooked that he was a great keyboardist. Sure, Cream was a big deal, but I enjoyed his fleshed out solo stuff from this time period probably more...
First song from his first solo album, George Harrison on guitar(not that you could tell), rippin' bass work...
Plus all his sessions and side projects; one of my favorite performances of his is on this little ray of sunshine Lou Reed tune, Hunter/Wagner on guitars, Aynsley Dunbar on drums...
First song from his first solo album, George Harrison on guitar(not that you could tell), rippin' bass work...
Plus all his sessions and side projects; one of my favorite performances of his is on this little ray of sunshine Lou Reed tune, Hunter/Wagner on guitars, Aynsley Dunbar on drums...
We talked about this in another thread in the last few years, his work with Kip Hanrahan:
And the sonic assault of Tony Williams Lifetime, Bruce was always searching, a true artist.
And the sonic assault of Tony Williams Lifetime, Bruce was always searching, a true artist.
One of THE most important rock bassist and one of its greatest singers.
Hearing him on White Room by Cream is the reason I started playing bass.
Hearing him on White Room by Cream is the reason I started playing bass.
I like Jack's playing whenever I listen to him, some times more than others I guess.
But when I listen to what most other bass players were doing during the Cream era... well all of a sudden I'm in awe of Jack. Not many musicians redefine how their instrument is used.
Mike
But when I listen to what most other bass players were doing during the Cream era... well all of a sudden I'm in awe of Jack. Not many musicians redefine how their instrument is used.
Mike
I have two claims to fame:
1. - When I was 13, I was in a band with the future guitarist from Rend Collective.
2. - My Double Bass teacher at school had grown up with, played in the school orchestra with, and remained friends with, Jack Bruce.
I love those two facts. And knowing that I was taught by a friend of Jack makes me feel guilty that I'm not a better player.
I also think that the Warwick Jack Bruce signature is by far the coolest bass they ever produced, and I would have ordered one if they were still in production. As it is, I'm getting a Lakland 55-02 Fretless sometime this month, and Jack Bruce is definitely an inspiration for that.
I think the fact he used fretless gets overlooked; we don't tend to think of fretless as a rock sound. Probably because of Jaco's tone and influence, people want a fretless to sound 'thin': Jack Bruce had a big fat sound. I suspect that that sound is so uncommon that some bass players would regard it as the 'wrong' setting for a fretless instrument. A 'fat' sound is a P-bass with flatwounds and the tone rolled off going through a B15, not a Warwick fretless played through Hartke solid-state amps with a big mid-boost on the graphic EQ.
Which, BTW, makes Jack Bruce the definitive argument that the tone is in your fingers: How on earth can you get that bass, that amp and those settings to sound so fat?!
The man was a legend. A true legend, and a brilliant all-round musician. He encouraged others to lift their game too: famously, he got booked to play with a band and turned up to do the live show with no rehearsal. And played flawlessly, of course. Years later the guitarist said "We realised that he was able to do that because the chord changes were so obvious. It really made us more adventurous in our songwriting afterwards, being embarrassed like that."
We miss you Jack.
Peace,
SoundSupport
1. - When I was 13, I was in a band with the future guitarist from Rend Collective.
2. - My Double Bass teacher at school had grown up with, played in the school orchestra with, and remained friends with, Jack Bruce.
I love those two facts. And knowing that I was taught by a friend of Jack makes me feel guilty that I'm not a better player.
I also think that the Warwick Jack Bruce signature is by far the coolest bass they ever produced, and I would have ordered one if they were still in production. As it is, I'm getting a Lakland 55-02 Fretless sometime this month, and Jack Bruce is definitely an inspiration for that.
I think the fact he used fretless gets overlooked; we don't tend to think of fretless as a rock sound. Probably because of Jaco's tone and influence, people want a fretless to sound 'thin': Jack Bruce had a big fat sound. I suspect that that sound is so uncommon that some bass players would regard it as the 'wrong' setting for a fretless instrument. A 'fat' sound is a P-bass with flatwounds and the tone rolled off going through a B15, not a Warwick fretless played through Hartke solid-state amps with a big mid-boost on the graphic EQ.
Which, BTW, makes Jack Bruce the definitive argument that the tone is in your fingers: How on earth can you get that bass, that amp and those settings to sound so fat?!
The man was a legend. A true legend, and a brilliant all-round musician. He encouraged others to lift their game too: famously, he got booked to play with a band and turned up to do the live show with no rehearsal. And played flawlessly, of course. Years later the guitarist said "We realised that he was able to do that because the chord changes were so obvious. It really made us more adventurous in our songwriting afterwards, being embarrassed like that."
We miss you Jack.
Peace,
SoundSupport
Jack Bruce IS Cream. That band will live on long after we are gone.
I recall an interview in Bass Player many years ago in which Jack described his tone as “farty” or something to that effect. He talked about his tone being a result of the equipment that was available and how it became integral to the signature Cream sound. Might not sound pleasing isolated but it certainly works in the band setting 
Give Let it rain a good listen to, he was right up there with John Entwhistle in the rock trailblazers.
I read something long ago that he was reunited with his EB after many years, picked it up, said (That’s the one.), then put it back down.I recall an interview in Bass Player many years ago in which Jack described his tone as “farty” or something to that effect. He talked about his tone being a result of the equipment that was available and how it became integral to the signature Cream sound. Might not sound pleasing isolated but it certainly works in the band setting
Edit: It was in Vintage Guitar Magazine
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Ric5
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Jack was unique. Roger Waters famously said that Jack was "probably the most musical bass player that's ever been."
Like McCartney, Jack was a brilliant composer and vocalist who played many instruments, including bass. His huge knowledge of music, including modern classical music as well as jazz and blues, came out in his bass playing.
He was a monstrous, wild improviser in concert, but also an ingenious composer of melodic, interesting parts, in the studio.
I can't think of anyone else who sang Benjamin Britten songs as a child, composed a string quartet at 11, won a cello scholarship to a conservatory and then played upright bass in post-bop jazz groups as a teenager, and wrote a primal blues rock riff like "Sunshine of Your Love" in his twenties. Not McCartney, Entwistle, Squire, or any of his other peers, not to mention Geddy Lee, Flea, Sheehan, Wooten, Claypool, et al.
His solo albums are fantastic, especially my favorite, "Harmony Row", on which he played every instrument except electric guitar and drums.
He was one of a kind.
I'll just add that the DVD of the 2005 reunion shows probably isn't the best place to start with him. I saw one of the shows later that year, at Madison Square Garden, and he was very frail, even needing to sit for the second half. He had almost died in the hospital a bit earlier, and because he'd had a tracheotomy, he had trouble speaking and had to relearn how to sing. In 2005, he was clearly pacing himself. If you want to hear the young man, I'd suggest this:
Like McCartney, Jack was a brilliant composer and vocalist who played many instruments, including bass. His huge knowledge of music, including modern classical music as well as jazz and blues, came out in his bass playing.
He was a monstrous, wild improviser in concert, but also an ingenious composer of melodic, interesting parts, in the studio.
I can't think of anyone else who sang Benjamin Britten songs as a child, composed a string quartet at 11, won a cello scholarship to a conservatory and then played upright bass in post-bop jazz groups as a teenager, and wrote a primal blues rock riff like "Sunshine of Your Love" in his twenties. Not McCartney, Entwistle, Squire, or any of his other peers, not to mention Geddy Lee, Flea, Sheehan, Wooten, Claypool, et al.
His solo albums are fantastic, especially my favorite, "Harmony Row", on which he played every instrument except electric guitar and drums.
He was one of a kind.
I'll just add that the DVD of the 2005 reunion shows probably isn't the best place to start with him. I saw one of the shows later that year, at Madison Square Garden, and he was very frail, even needing to sit for the second half. He had almost died in the hospital a bit earlier, and because he'd had a tracheotomy, he had trouble speaking and had to relearn how to sing. In 2005, he was clearly pacing himself. If you want to hear the young man, I'd suggest this:
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I don't think it's a great stretch to say that without Jack Bruce there's no Geddy, Steve Harris, Les Claypool or dozens of other highly regarded bass players both in and out of the bass player community. He really changed the way people thought of and used the instrument as well as breaking new ground with what could be done with a trio in rock music.
I also read an interview in which he sounded pretty apologetic about his sound in Cream, because the gear had not caught up with what he was doing. I felt like telling him not to apologize! It was like another interview, with Mitch Mitchell, in which Mitch apologized for his youthful overplaying when he was in the Experience. What?! Please, please overplay! It was iconic!I recall an interview in Bass Player many years ago in which Jack described his tone as “farty” or something to that effect. He talked about his tone being a result of the equipment that was available and how it became integral to the signature Cream sound. Might not sound pleasing isolated but it certainly works in the band setting
I was a bit disappointed when I first heard Jack's album "I've Always Wanted To Do This", on which he had a new, cleaner sound. The sound of a Marshall amp begging for mercy was one of his most appealing features, to me. But apparently he was happier with the more pristine '80s sound.
He also once said that Ginger complained about the volume level, and he (Jack) replied that the music HAD to be that loud to "work." I think Ginger had envisioned a more commercial version of a jazz trio when he formed Cream.
Jack Bruce is a bass player that captured the "spirit" of playing bass, and for that, I owe him
He, along with Berry Oakley and JPJ were my models from my youth.
They took a bass line, and rather than just doing the root/5th thing, they used the root/5th thing as a framework, and put their own flavor and/or embellishment to the bass line. You probably won't hear them play the same song exactly the same way any two times. Granted, the lines will be similar from song to song, but they owned the tune and used their artistic license to change it.
Make sense?
He, along with Berry Oakley and JPJ were my models from my youth.
They took a bass line, and rather than just doing the root/5th thing, they used the root/5th thing as a framework, and put their own flavor and/or embellishment to the bass line. You probably won't hear them play the same song exactly the same way any two times. Granted, the lines will be similar from song to song, but they owned the tune and used their artistic license to change it.
Make sense?
I think that, in the 60's, he suffered the same problem that all bass player suffered with the exception of the Motown guys. The poor recording techniques for bass of the time made his tone lost in the mix. Later on, the art of recording got better. I particularly like his tone with the Warwick's. Suddenly, you can hear the full breadth of his talent.
